Great Sailing Conditions!
The sailing conditions were great today! How about partly cloudy skies, temps near 80 to mid-80s, water temps in the mid to upper 70s, and the wind blowing out of SSE at 9-13 knots.
Today was extra special! The US Sailing’s Siebel Sailors Program Manager, Blair Overman, took part in our afternoon programming. together with our regional head coach, MacKenzie McGuckin. They contributed both on and off the water. We all learn from MacKenzie when she visits us. She is the best!
Thanks to the Siebel Sailors Program, we now have the ability to track each student’s progress in a much-improved way. The “SKILL-UP” App contains lesson plans, videos, and other educational material. It’s a skill tracker allowing students to follow along the thirty (30) focus skills listed and see what skills they have completed and what they need to focus on next. This should be a great motivator for both students and coaches. The parents/caregivers of our 34 students should all have received the access login information to SKILL-UP by now.
Intermediate Sailors - Morning Session
It’s Spring Break, so only four students showed up for class this morning. The US Sailing Center was very busy, so we made sure to leave the dock before everyone else. The kids quickly rigged two RS Fevas and I followed them out in the coach boat. Today’s practice was about balancing the boat, trimming the sails while sailing right next to one another. This is what I call “Lining-up”! The kids got better as the morning progressed. It is important that students attend as many classes as possible. Sailing is an art form that requires a lot of practice.
Homework
In order to speed up the learning process, I’m encouraging the kids to visit www.teamparadise.org/classroom in order to prepare for their next lesson!
Beginner Sailors - Afternoon Session
Kids from Camillus House and Breakthrough Miami joined in with our regular group today. We used two RS Venture and three RS Fevas. Three kids from the intermediate morning session stayed and helped as mentors. Basically, they sailed onboard the RS Fevas, showing the beginners how to do it.
Our destination today was the Twin Sisters sand bar located close to the Vizcaya Museum. We anchored up just outside the Deering Channel. The sailors arrived and tied up to our safety boat. Kids were swimming around the boat and had some fun in the water. This is an important part of our program.
We returned to the US Sailing Center at about 4.15 PM. It took a bit longer than normal to haul and put the boats away due to heavy traffic at the Center. We then gathered on the second floor for a debrief and the Keep-Start-Stop segment. This is where the “Student Voice” is heard. Most of the kids were picked up by 5.15 PM.