The more we do it, the better we get! Today was the second of eight lessons in our fall session of Youth Sailing. Each Saturday will look the same. We are divided into two groups: the beginner sailors, ages 9-12, who attend our STEM class, the SYSTEM, and the intermediate sailors, ages 12-17, who attend our NEXT LEVEL program. Both groups began at 10 AM and finished at 3 PM. The SYSTEM classroom is indoors, and the NEXT LEVEL meets in the second-floor breezeway. The SYSTEM is based on REACH (US Sailing's STEM education series), while the NEXT LEVEL is based on US Sailing's Intermediate curriculum.
The weather in Miami, and many other places, follows a pattern: one day looks like the next. The weatherman calls for southeasterly winds of 5-10 knots, but it's calm in the morning. Then, as it gets warmer throughout the day, the land heats up, and the sea breeze kicks in. The wind on the water is affected by local topography, where land, buildings, and other structures block the wind and create turbulence. Also, there is usually a big difference between the highest and lowest wind speeds. We refer to this as puff and lull. Today, the puffs (gusts) were much stronger than 10 knots. In reality, after the fact, when we all know what happened,….
Today was a big Fleet Week celebration next door at the Coral Reef Yacht Club (CRYC). Hundreds of young sailors were invited for fishing, sailing, and boating. The first busload showed up at 0645 hours for a lovely breakfast buffet. As luck has it, the day coincided with our regular Thursday Veterans Sailing. Two uniquely named veterans, who had never sailed with us, arrived at about 1000 hours. The weather and wind were perfect for sailing across the Bay and joining the festivities at Stiltsviille. We tied the boat next to an anchored sailboat in what can best be described as a small lagoon behind the building. The CRYC dockmaster was on hand to ferry us to the lapidated building. We mingled with the sailors for a while and had some snacks and refreshments before heading back to the US Sailing Center. We had to leave before the current started ripping. The sail home was smooth and very relaxing. It was …
Perhaps I might be getting forgetful, but today felt like the best Veterans Sail ever! We had two boats, six veterans, one veteran family member, plus me. Two of the veterans had never sailed with us before. Today was a perfect day on the Bay. The weather conditions were ideal, with just the "right" amount of wind speed. We aimed for the Biscayne Bay channel as we left the Seaplane channel behind, spotting some Dolphins along the way, then tacking through Stiltsville, we turned around and headed back home with the flooding tide pushing us along Bill Baggs State Park, Nixons Beach,..,
Old friends meet new friends. Today, a young man who had just returned from active duty in Syria was visiting. It was super rewarding to offer him and his significant other a soothing and relaxing experience sailing on Biscayne Bay. As always, thank you guys for serving our country.
We are so thankful for the support we receive each year. Your generous donations help us build on our existing infrastructure of diversity, equity and inclusion in the sport of sailing. We recognize that part of our role as a community sailing organization is to lift up all voices in the sport and provide a welcome and inclusive environment for all.
We couldn’t be more excited about the challenges ahead and the increasing opportunities to help others and do better. With the support of our community, Team Paradise has managed to deliver on its mission for the past 15 years, having proven itself many times over. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
With one week of Bay Play Sailing Camp in the books, we are excited to share with you a little bit about how sailing camp is going during these unusual and challenging times. We have limited attendance to accommodate social distancing requirements and begin each day with a digital temperature reading of campers and staff. Our boats and equipment are washed down daily, and Team Paradise offices and high-touch areas are regularly sanitized. Hand Sanitizer with 80% alcohol is provided and frequent handwashing is encouraged.
Our Summer Camp is based on my experience growing up in Scandinavia. it's named "Bay Play" for a reason. Whether kids have prior knowledge of sailing, or not, it has to be fun, safe, and playful. Like in a restaurant or any other establishment, for patrons to return, their experience has to be the best!. Our boats are modern and very well maintained. We do not overload our boats and we prioritize performance. Thanks to becoming a Siebler Sailors Program, we now have a new fleet of RS Fevas.
As Mother Nature is taking care of the earth, we are taking care of Team Paradise! During this unanticipated pause in our programing, we are minimizing expenditures and maximizing any assistance available to keep Team Paradise Sailing. We are also looking forward to the time when we can get our boats back in the water. We can’t wait to breathe in the fresh sea air, soak in the UV rays, and enjoy Biscayne Bay like never before!
We have elected to follow the directives of the CDC and WHO, and have suspended programming and events for the next several weeks. We will take this time to catch up on organizational duties, make plans to reschedule postponed events, structure our summer sailing camp and determine how best to successfully emerge from this unavoidable suspension of our programs.
During a practice session a few days before the race, our senior sailing instructor and retired Coast Guard Captain, Bob Hurst, trained with the team of Duane Smith and Julio Gonzalez.
Duane has been sailing with Team Paradise for several years. It took him a while to assume the responsibilities of becoming a helmsman, but he did. Duane is floating to the top, so to speak. He became Basic Keelboat certified, then sailing with us weekly before passing the Performance Sailing and Spinnaker endorsement certification. He raced with a team of Veterans in the Columbus Day Regatta last year and did very well…..
Another Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is in the books! As with every year, the Magnus Liljedahl Sportsmanship Award is handed out at the conclusion of the regatta. Sailors are nominated for this award by demonstrating courage, respect, integrity, kindness, good judgment, responsibility and self-discipline.
Something very unusual happened to me last week while on a Sailing Excursion with my new friends from Chicago. We were sailing along the shore between markers Red 4 and Green 3 just NE of Mercy Hospital. It was high tide and we were on familiar waters when all of a sudden we hit something very hard. I was stunned at first thinking, “What the heck was that?” Then we hit a second time! At first I thought that I had veered off course, but no, we were in the middle of the channel. It must have been a sunken boat but how could that be? This is where boats from Grove Isle come and go and someone else would likely have run into it before us. It was mind-boggling! We quickly checked the bilge and verified that no water was coming in then continued our sail, eventually making it back to port. I couldn’t wait to lift the boat and check out the damage.
Whatever we hit caused damage to the bow at the water line and the leading edge of the keel about 2′ up from the bottom.
This is when the Canadian coach, Larry Lemieux, offered to take me back to where the incident took place to see what we could find. We hopped in his coach boat and off we went. It was about sunset and it was cloudy, which are bad conditions for finding something submerged. We looked and looked, but there was nothing that we could find. What could it have been?
We had just about given up when I decided to show my friend the Viscaya Harbor. He’s been sailing in Miami since the seventies but has never been to this part of the Bay. The harbor can best be described as a driveway with an island in the middle.
I immediately spotted a black concrete piling floating in the water, hung up on a couple of wood pilings by the island. The piling was about 16″ in diameter and 20′ long, covered with a black rubber-like material that had barnacles growing on it. The damage to the boat was consistent with hitting an object of this configuration, which lead me to conclude that this was without a doubt what we had run into earlier in the day.
The incident was reported to the US Coast Guard and I sure hope they located and removed it. If a power boat would have hit this piling at high speed, it could have been fatal.
The lesson learned for me is to be more aware of what might be in front of my vessel as I navigate the Bay, especially when on a powerboat. I sure hope that you do the same.
Let’s go sailing again soon!
Magnus | Team Paradise Executive Director
The holiday season is here and it’s a welcomed break for us. We performed 137 program days for 1,115 people this year. We sailed in a variety of conditions, sometimes with winds above 30 knots and we drifted when it was completely calm. New for the year was that swimming and getting soaked was encouraged. Kids love the water and I venture to say that 80% of all the youth loved their sail with us and they would love to return for more fun and bay play.
Breakthrough Miami returned to sail with us on Saturday 12/14. This time it was a group of 5th-grade Scholars from Gulliver we had the pleasure to serve. It was a beautiful morning! I began launching boats at 5:23 AM and it was dead calm and dark. As the sun rose, the cloud formations were awesome. There was a red sky in the morning and we all know what that means!
The bus transporting the kids arrived promptly at 10 AM. We gathered on the 2nd-floor breezeway for introductions, briefings and team assignments. The conditions were still calm and there was no rush to head out early. There were sixteen kids total, with four kids per team for our two Sonar and two RS Venture sailboats.
The breeze began to fill in as we fitted the life jackets. Sails were up and boats ready for the departure. There was an onboard briefing by each captain before leaving the dock and with the US Sailing Center being as busy as it is this time of the year, the runway for departure can change pretty quickly. It’s important to have enough volunteers to help fend off, hold the boat and assist with safe boarding. This particular morning had ideal conditions with the wind out of SW, but when there is a strong easterly flow, boats can get pushed into the dock pretty hard.
The breeze picked up very quickly so jibs were not hoisted on our keelboats. We had a couple of safety boats following us wherever we sailed. The wind increased as the day progressed and it was comforting to have two safety boats following us wherever we sailed. The clouds were growing darker and the wind stronger. We decided to return to port a bit earlier than planned. Better safe than sorry.
Special thanks to our volunteers for making this day happen. They are very special people, Jonah, Bob, David, John, Richard, Peter and Moises. Also, a BIG thank you to Pat and his brother for helping out at the dock and for lending us the USSC coach boat.
Our Veterans (and me) are lucky to have Bob Hurst as a friend. His background as a Coast Guard Captain and certified Sailing Instructor Trainer make him very valuable for our program.
Veterans Sailing on Thursday 12/12 started out in the classroom with Bob teaching Julio a Basic Keelboat certification lesson. Duane and Ericka joined in and they all went sailing.
The normal pizza order which delivers at 2.30 PM was replaced with a take-out order from the Coral Reef Yacht Club. It was about time to try something new:)
Wednesday 12/13 was the last day of City Sailing. Again, it was Little Haiti Soccer who came to visit. It wasn’t the same kids as last time, but they were just as nice and entertaining. Thanks to having a safety boat on hand, we were towed out and back. In between that, we sailed a little bit, just enough to get the kids excited. We hung at #Paradiseisland305 for a while. The air was a bit cold to go swimming even if I did to take a picture. That was a special moment!
Sunday 12/15 was the time to bring some new friends out sailing. It was Charles, a veteran that we met during the recent Veterans event at Opa Locka Airport. Then there was Erbil who had just moved down from Connecticut and Brother Moises who has volunteered with us a couple of times. I gave them a sneak preview of what our sailing school is like. They all had a go at the helm, taking and gybing, moving from side-to-side. Sailing different points of sail, learning how to control the boat. They did very well and I hope that they all stick to sailing and become certified!
On Monday 12/16 I took Cliff and Ann from Chicago out sailing on a Biscayne Bay Excursion. We took the scenic route, clockwise around the Bay. We sailed close to shore, passed Grove Isle and Mercy Hospital, through the Viscaya harbor, then across to Key Biscayne West Point, Nixon’s Beach and around Marker “B” and then back to port. The trip took about 2-1/2 hours to complete.
As we passed Mercy Hospital, we hit an object in the water that made a lot of noise and caused a fair amount of damages to the boat. I will describe the incident in more detail in my next Blog.
Let’s Go Sailing Soon,
Magnus Liljedahl | Team Paradise SailingExecutive Director
Pictured above: Blair Overman, John Pearce, Chris Childers, Janel Zarkowsky, Meredith Dart, flanked by Magnus Liljedahl (selfie) and Bob Hurst on the left and Steve Schwartz on the far right.
South Florida is becoming increasingly busy as winter solstice nears. This is when sailboat racers from around the world come to visit and have another season of training and competing on Biscayne Bay. No wonder it’s so popular! It’s the warmest metropolitan area within the continental United States.
US Sailing just had a bunch of meetings down here, one of which was the National Coaching Symposium. Among those in attendance were the coaching staff from the new Siebel Sailors Program, which is a new initiative from US Sailing. I realized what great opportunity this was for Team Paradise when the Siebel Sailors Program Manager, Blair Overman, asked if they could test sail our RS Venture.
The following day was Thursday, when we usually have Veterans Sailing, which means that our senior sailing instructor and retired Coast Guard Captain, Bob Hurst, was present. The 4Helm-360 adaptive steering station was installed in one of the boats and we were ready to go when Blair and her team showed up. After a rather short land demonstration we launched the boats and off they went. Bob, Steve Schwartz and I followed in our Castoldi Water Jet safety boat. (BTW Steve is an awesome volunteer who also sails a Laser).
I sure hope that everyone had a good time. It should be noted that had they worn the trapeze harness it would have enabled them to keep the boat flatter and also would have made sitting in the test seat more comfortable. The RS Venture with the weighted center board is great boat for a sailing center. It’s utility friendly and easy to adapt. Come and experience it for yourself!
City Sailing continued on Wednesday with 7 kids from Little Haiti Soccersailing with us. Captain Bob Hurst brought the boys out and Liv Keefe, our fabulous U of M student volunteer, had the girls in her boat. It was light, almost calm and the bay was flat. We could follow both boats from shore, so we didn’t find it necessary to use the safety boat. Luckily, they had just enough breeze to return to port.
I always ask the kids if they would like to come back and sail more. If we had the resources needed, we could get the majority of the kids to return. There is a huge supply of kids in Miami-Dade County and we know how to reach them. Keeping them happy is easy! Who wouldn’t want to play on the Bay?
Let’s go sailing soon,
Magnus| Executive Director Team Paradise Sailing
Team Paradise Community Youth Sailing planned on taking 28 precious 5th graders from Break Through Miami sailing on Saturday 11/23. The 4-hour visit was carefully mapped out. There would be two departures using two Sonar and two RS Venture. The group left on shore would attend a S.T.E.M. class and then swap out with the other group and go sailing.
Team Paradise was stacked with talented sailing volunteers for the occasion. We usually have excellent help, but this time was extra special. The level of help that we had was second to none! All amazing friends with extensive sailing experience, stacked with knowledge, certifications and licenses. How about Nikki Barnes, Team USA 470 sailor and Olympic hopeful? From Ransom Everglades sailing program came Capt. Joseph Joe Logan III (physical education teacher and sailing coach) and Marc Buller (Waterfront Coordinator, USCG OUPV licensed). Then there was Captain Jennifer Wirth, an ASA instructor with Blue Water Sailing School and also a USCG 100 ton Master Captain’s license holder. There was Cathy Buller, a PRO Race Committee person and a heck of a sailor. There was David Moore, our own Basic Keelboat instructor (ASA Basic Keelboat certified and US Keelboat Certified). Others were: John de Olazarra, driving the safety boat; Steve Schwartz, Laser sailor; Raul Figueroa, a Blue-water sailor) and last but not least, educator David Furer teaching the S.T.E.M. class (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Only 12 of the expected 28 kids came to play. Disappointing yes, but as it turned out it was our lucky day. There was no wind in the morning, so we were not able to go sailing as scheduled. Instead, we brought everyone in to the class room for a short presentation by yours truly, followed by the S.T.E.M. lesson by David Furer. Everyone agreed that David did an awesome job. You can tell by the pictures he had everyone engaged! He performed a series of experiments with air pressure, blowing up plastic bottles and aluminum cans. He even fired of rockets powered by pressurized air. I was concerned that the loud noise of the explosions would draw attention from our neighbors. But as it turned out, the laughter that followed the experiments was enough for them to understand that we were just having fun while learning.
By the time we were done with the experiments, the wind had picked up enough for us all to go sailing. It took a while for everyone to line up, mostly because the students were helming for more of a hands on experience. I’m not sure who had more fun, the girls on-board with Nikki, or one of the other teams? The volunteers certainly had fun and so did yours truly.
Our youth sailing experience was delivered in 3-1/2 hours, as planned. Everyone was back on the bus in time for their departure. I give our performance high marks, much because of the outstanding people involved, both volunteers and students.
BTW Our next event with Breakthrough Miami is on December 14th.
Let’s go sailing soon,
Magnus | Executive Director Team Paradise Sailing
Veterans Sailing on Thursday 11/21 had one new Veteran and his wife come sailing with us. Charles and Cindy discovered us at the 2019 Community Salute to our Military at the Coast Guard Air Base in Opa Locka. The couple had never sailed before! They loved it so much that they will be coming back for sailing lessons on 12/15. We are definitely making a difference changing lives through sailing!
This was a special day because more and more of our Veterans are now able to independently helm (steer) our Sonar, so that we can have Veterans teaching Veterans. How about that? Actually, this is nothing new. Bob Hurst who is a retired Coast Guard Captain is also a disabled Veteran and a certified US Sailing Instructor. Bob has been teaching sailing at Team Paradise for several years.
Team Paradise welcomed kids from City of Miami’s Legion Park on Wednesday (11/20). Two RS Venture were launched for the occasion, but only three students plus one counselor showed up. I was sad for the kids who didn’t make it, but this was a great opportunity to work with our new volunteers. Liv sailed with the kids in one boat while Bob gave sailing lessons to Pam in the other. Yours truly went in the safety boat with Rick and Raul. We took pictures and cheered them on. We anchored up at @Paradiseisland305 in order for the kids to have a short swim before sunset. The kids were back on the bus promptly at 5.30PM
Team Paradise was invited to the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary 2019 Community Salute to our Military – A resource event honoring our veterans. The event took place on Saturday 11/16 at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Opa Locka.
We had an early morning start, towing one of the RS Venture with adaptive seating for display. It was too windy to set any sails, but was otherwise a clear and beautiful day. Our display was right next to Miami-Dade Parks & Rec, which is our partner in Veterans sailing.
Susan came up with the brilliant idea of giving out raffle tickets in exchange for name, phone and email address. The prize was a sailing excursion on Biscayne Bay for up to 4 people.
We collected the contact info for 27 veterans during this event. Not bad for a days work!
We were just starting to de-rig the boat and load up as a couple of officials came to us. They gave us a stern warning not to post any pictures of military equipment on our website or on social media. That was disappointing because we had taken some cool pictures of vintage airplanes, U.S Coast Guard helicopters and other cool equipment.
Let’s go sailing soon,
Magnus | Team Paradise Executive Director
Have you ever heard our local weather forecast talk about small craft advisory, scattered showers, a chance of thunderstorms and that the bay water will be choppy? For us living in South Florida, we know how local and scattered the weather conditions usually are. It may rain in one block while it’s dry in the next. It’s very local. Inland towards the Everglades usually gets more rain and storms while further east, like Key Biscayne stays dry and sunny more often. Just because there is bad weather in one neighborhood it doesn’t mean that it will be bad where we sail on Biscayne Bay.
The wind direction is never constant. It may oscillate 5-15 degrees throughout the day, or have persistent shifts of any seize at any time. Be prepared for windspeed that far exceed what was expected when leaving the dock.
Most sailors usually have favorite wind and wave conditions until they realize the need to be prepared for anything and everything that nature has to offer. The weather is fascinating and it’s amazing in how it all works and how much info there is available for us to absorb.
It’s common knowledge that it is better to keep a positive attitude because it is easier to succeed when doing something that you really like. Sailing is no different. To do well, you have to be able do it all, at least when it comes to racing. I have learned not to look at the weather forecast too far in advance and get excited about what I might see. Instead, I monitor the forecast days in advance and note how the predictions for my specific date of interest likely will change.
Despite a pretty windy period over the last couple of weeks, we have managed to run our program as normal. Canceling program when conditions are not safe could sometimes be the right move, especially when there is thunder and lighting. But to cancel just because it’s windy is not good. To me, that’s an indication that either staff is not skilled enough, or the equipment is not good enough, or that there is not enough of a safety plan established. Canceling is an easy way out and if that is put in place as a go-to option, something is very wrong.
On Wednesday of last week, the wind was “honking” all day. I was thinking about cancelling the day first thing in the morning, but the information I had called for the wind to drop around the time kids would arrive and then pick back up around sunset. We had a breezy sail and everyone got soaked, but we made it back safe, just in time before the breeze picked back up to 30 kts.
The following day was Veterans Sailing and again, it was pretty windy. I asked myself, should I cancel, or not? Most program would have, but not us. Again, the forecast was for the wind to drop around Noon and it did. We went sailing and had a great time!
My favorite wind app is Sailflow, which I find to be spot on accurate 5-days a week. It has great detail, especially when subscribing to the PRO version. My favorite weather app is NBC 6 Local First Alert weather, which has the most awesome radar.
Let’s go sailing soon,
Magnus | Team Paradise Executive Director
The Island Race used to be called “Around the Island Race.” That was back in the day when we used to race around Key Biscayne, Virginia Key and Fisher Island. The course went around Cape Florida, through Government Cut, then turning near the mouth of the Miami River before heading south through Rickenbacker Causeway to finish just east of Key Biscayne Yacht Club. Nowadays the racecourse has a turning marker just east of Bear Cut. The race then returns back into the Bay, rounding the same marks as on the way out.
The Island Race has become an annual, reoccurring event for Team Paradise. It’s a lot of fun because we sail on the ocean side of Key Biscayne, a bit different than sailing around in the Bay. The big trick is to observe the current and wind, and try not to run aground. Anyone who would like to join us and start preparing for next year, please let me know.
It was a windy day for sure! It was so windy that that racing was cancelled even for the much bigger boats. We knew that there was a great potential for strong wind, but we decided to sail and made the starting line on time. The race was postponed and boats started to sail back in. Then came the announcement that the race was cancelled! This is when we said, “Let’s go reaching instead!” Given the time stamp of the video and the computerized anemometer reading from nearby Biscayne Bay Light ’20’, we had gusts hovering around 40 Kt. That’s a lot of wind and I’m so proud of my team for being able to handle such tough conditions. Let’s hope that there is a re-sail of the event, but knowing how busy everything is, we might have to wait for September 2020.
Thursday’s weekly Veterans Sailing turned into spinnaker practice for our Veterans who were planning on racing in the Island Race. It turned out to be the nicest day with comfortable temperatures and a perfect breeze for what we wanted to accomplish. We had enough people to make it a two-boat practice, which is always more fun and more worthwhile from a training perspective. Bob Hurst, our retired Coastguard Captain had just returned for the season and we are so fortunate to have him working with us.
Yours truly was the onboard coach on the other Sonar with Duane on the helm and Julio on mainsheet/spinnaker trim. Duane has come a long way! He graduated Basic Keelboat and Performance Sailing & Spinnaker Endorsement and is now well underway with competitive racing. The Island Race would have been his 3rd regatta in less than a month. We did a bunch of spinnaker gybes with me on the foredeck. Julio showed good talent for flying the spinnaker and crewing in general. I felt encouraged going into the Island Race on Saturday. Unfortunately the race was cancelled, but we had some major fun and we learned a lot.
Let’s go sailing soon,
Magnus | Executive Director, Team Paradise Sailing
We are pleased to announce that our partnership with Miami-Dade Parks & Recreation Open Spaces Department of Disability Services continues for the next grant cycle. Team Paradise is a County vendor, providing sailing the V.I.C.T.O.R. Adapted Sports Program (Veterans Integrated into the Community Through Outdoor Recreation). This translates into free sailing for disabled veterans and disabled members of the armed forces. All you have to do is to pre-register and sign-up at https://teamup.com/ksvfiym4wm3c3vpxri.
Trust your sailing to us! Sailing is what we do and we have done so for a long time. I have spend my life around sailing, crossing oceans, winning Olympic and World Championship gold medals and awards like “Rolex Yachtsman of the Year” and “World Sailor of the Year”. I’m also a certified sailing instructor for Basic Keelboat and Performance and Spinnaker Endorsement. When Team Paradise Sailing became an accredited sailing school a few years back, I realized that if you want to learn sailing, you should have a plan on what to sail after graduating from class. I welcome you to sail with us as a passenger at any time, but if you like the idea of continued education and you want to keep sailing, we have a plan for you! It’s the Veterans pathway to sailing.
