Three in one!
As usual, we do sailing for Veterans and First Responders on Thursdays. For many years, Team Paradise has participated in Coral Reef Yacht Club’s (CRYC) celebration of Fleet Week. Fleet Week Miami is a vibrant maritime celebration that brings U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard ships to the Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale for a week of public engagement, ship tours, and community events. CRYC offers a big breakfast in the early morning, followed by activities such as fishing, boating, e-foiling, and sailing for our men and women in uniform. Most everyone visits one of the historic homes in Stiltsville, which a member of the CRYC club owns. I had the pleasure of taking a group of three extraordinary individuals on a sail aboard one of our Sonar to Stiltsville. My crew represented three branches of the military - the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. We sailed by the Stiltsville house, but we never docked because of strong winds and low tide. It didn’t matter, everyone had tiller time and we bonded well. After returning to the Sailing Center and putting our boat back on the trailer, we head next door to CRYC for a fantastic lunch. All was complimentary, thanks to the generosity of club members.
BTW, a couple of my crew members today are soon to become Basic Keelboat Certified!