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.
These are exciting times! The US Sailing Center (USSC) chose Team Paradise as their vendor to take the children of Miami out sailing for a Summer Camp experience on the beautiful Biscayne! This week, the USSC hosts 75+ kids from five different parks within the City of Miami. Each day brings 15 unique named kids out for adventure sailing. Only a few of them have any prior boating experience. They love it! Check out the pictures below and see for yourselves:
The final two weeks of our Summer Camp were very inspiring for the coaching staff. as well as camp counselors. All the kids seemed to really enjoy the sailing and more so than ever before. It’s nice to hear “I want to sail”, “I want to trapeze”, “let’s fly the kite”, it’s so quiet out here” and “I love sailing”!
Our Summer Camp is all about having fun while learning how to sail. It begins with water safety and comfort, then moves on towards sailing more and more. The campers spend as little time in the classroom as possible. We follow US Sailing’s small boat beginner student-level skill evaluation and use the scope and sequence parts to build our curriculum. It works really well.
As a program director, the most challenging decision might be when to cancel an event because of inclement weather, or not. The weather forecast is posted by 7 AM daily. Today it looked like very light wind and a big chance of thunder and lightning. Not good! I usually go to the US Sailing Center between 7 AM - 8 AM for a morning workout. It gives me an opportunity to check the skyline and read the wind. It didn’t look good. I send out an email message saying “The weather conditions are iffy at best, today. We may go sailing, or we may not. It will be a last-minute call. Ed and I are here so if you are coming you are most welcome. There is always something to do”. Yet by 10 AM four of the five Veterans who had signed up, showed up. We hangout out together for a while, then the wind picked up a bit, and the radar did not show any approaching weather cells. We decided to launch two Sonar sailboats and go for a sail. The wind was light, but we did get to sail. It’s the worse feeling when I cancel an event when we actually could have gone sailing. It’s like losing a day and it’s disappointing.
This was the final Siebel Sailors Program for the 2021-2022 school year. We did not waste any time. The kids rigged five RS Fevas, three with main only and two with both main and jib, for double-handed sailing. It was slow sailing out but with the technique they have learned, it was all possible. Coach Ed and I dropped a couple of markers for a windward-leeward course. Everyone looked good and they sailed well. Their progress has been tracked in the Skill-Up App and all passed the test!
There is a lot of good stuff to report from yet another fabulous Veterans sail today: We had the pleasure of adding another unique named Veteran (Paul) to our attendance record; Ed and Mark are continuing to learn how to sail, and they are super stoked about it; We sailed for 3.47-hours today, covering 18.9 Nautical Miles. When Ed was asked about his helming skills he summed it up by saying “I was focused on staying in the groove today”. How about that?
Well done guys. Let’s do it again!
SIx kids came to sail this morning. An even number of students works great. We used three RS Fevas and sailed double-handed. Everyone did great! The teams stayed close together, sailing up and down, having a blast. We sailed hard for about 1-1/2 hours and then headed back in. A coaching friend of mine was observing us from his apartment. He said: “I can’t believe that you guys were out there this morning, it was pretty windy. Your kids are fast learners!”
Yours truly could not be more pleased. For the second week in a row, I let my friends take the boat out by themselves. It’s been light air and perfect conditions to let go. It’s about😃 time! No more Magnus aboard, barking out orders, telling them what to do! They are eager to build their confidence and become good sailors. The sky is the limit!
Today was about sailing around two marks, upwind and downwind, in the most efficient way. It includes: being able to sail in close proximity to other boats; keeping the boat speed up; and knowing where the next mark is, in order to sail the shortest distance. the breeze eventually faded out and we towed everyone back to por
Growing a program organically to me is when gravity works to your advantage. “Things” simply come together without a lot of effort, just like our Veterans Sailing Program. No advertising is necessary. As explained in the previous blog, Dreams Come Through, we do not mind keeping it small for now.
The wind conditions were perfect for continued learning. Not so windy so that everyone would capsize, but windy enough where some do. We had nine students and two coaches, so we decided on double-handed sailing using Four RS Fevas. Teams were established and then send off to prepare the boats. We had a short skippers meeting just before leaving the dock.
Our regional Siebel Sailors Program coach McKenzie MacGuggin joined our session today. She brought Palm Beach Siebel Coach Jenny with her. It was the perfect timing because we were a bit short-handed. We divided up the teams for two RS Ventures, the Castildo Safety Boat and the Boston Whaler coach boat. The plan was to sail around for a while and then stop at the sandbar. While on our way there, coach McKenzie came on the radio and strongly suggested that we skip the sandbar and head back for a penalty meeting in the classroom.
We had 6-sailors participate in the morning session, so we rigged three RS Fevas with main and jib. Today’s drill was to sail Beam-Reach between two markers, clockwise around. The trick is to stay on a straight line between the marks, keeping the spacing between the boats at 2-3 boat lengths. On a whistle, all boats are to trim in and begin sailing a Close-Hauled course. Does this sound like the beginning of racing? (The pictures below have a frame describing the drill).
Looking at the wind and weather forecast too far in advance can sometimes be intimidating, especially when we know that our coaching staff will be short-handed. I may take a peek at the forecast a few days out, but other than that, my final plan comes about the morning of the event. Coaching sailing is not much different than coaching any other team sport. Who is available to play and who are the coaches to assist me?
Our Team was almost back at ‘full strength’ today. We used five RS Fevas of which three boats sailed singlehandedly with mainsail only and the other two boats sailed doublehanded with jib. We had perfect wind conditions for what we wanted to accomplish. The day began with a short chalk talk on the Safety Position, continued with a Land Drill, and then hands-on Sailing Practice. In my view, this focus skill is the beginning of racing. The Safety Position is where you slow the boat down, which is perfect for waiting for other boats to catch up so that everyone can Line-Up and sail together, just like when Racing. What’s equally important is to learn how the get started quickly so that other boats do not have to wait for you. Otherwise, it could take all day to Line-Up!
All the boats were on the first run when I realized that none of them had a stern plug! Boats started to float lower and lower. Everyone capsized numerous times, and some more than others. I was glad to be in our propeller-less safety boat. I was very close, motivating the kids to keep fighting! Each boat had to be rescued and towed back in, one by one.
