The days are getting shorter and the record high temperatures are giving in to more pleasant conditions. Summer is turning into Fall and before we know it, the Holiday season will be upon us.
Another sign of Fall is when kids from City of Miami Parks & Rec’s after school program come and sail with us on Wednesdays. The program spans ten weeks and the kids come from ten different parks located within the City of Miami. It’s the sixth year that Team Paradise has the honor of serving this very precious population.
Wednesday was particularly fun because the weather was super nice and the kids were exceptional. The experience that we have gained through our Summer Camp with the Bay-Play curriculum makes us very confident taking kids out sailing.
On this particular day, I asked the kids as usual: how many of you can swim if you can’t touch bottom? All seven kids said that they were swimmers. Five kids teamed up with me in the RS Venture while the remaining two kids went Sonar sailing with our ace volunteer skipper, Charles Nethersole and two counselors from the Park.
We sailed across the Bay to the west point of Key Biscayne, my favorite spot in Biscayne Bay. I’m not sure who had more fun, the kids or me. The journey was documented along the way and the video that was made gives you an idea of the fun we had. The sail back to port was fantastic. A prefect reach with gennaker and plenty of apparent wind made us all smile.
Out of the seven kids, all of them would like to come back and sail with us again. How can we make it possible? Please know that we receive no income from this program. There is no fee charged for providing this transformative and awesome experience. It’s only made possible through your generosity.
Unplug from electronics and tune in to nature! Team Paradise Sailing offers youth from Miami-Dade County access to the sport of sailing on Biscayne Bay. Read more about our community sailing.