Grandsons Austin and Charlie Wright took a break from hiking Mt. LeConte and attended Sailing camp in Jensen Beach, FL, during the week of Monday, July 9 through Friday, July the 13th, 2007. My son Bob went with us on the first morning but he had to go to work so I got to take care of the two grandsons. The first morning was mostly classroom work and familiarization with the sailboats. The boys joined perhaps 20 other youngsters for their introduction to sailing. Later during the first day the staff had the guys and girls rig their sailboats and they were roped together and towed out into the Indian river Lagoon to get a feel for the boats. This is part of the inner costal waterway system and the center is about 1/2 mile from home. The students met in the morning on the upper deck of the building for assignments. It was amazing how much personal gear was involved. After the first day of sailing Austin drew this picture of the sailboat for me.

The following day the future sailors carried the accessories such as sails and rudders to their assigned hull and rigged the craft. After all crafts were declared sea worthy by a member of the very competent staff, they assembled to sail away. The sails of the boats made a very colorful display. Austin and Charlie looked like real sailors in their little sailboat. The boats stayed together and the staff kept them in formation as they moved into the open water.

Some of the students were repeat attendees and it showed. This young man was a real ball of fire, rigging boats and  and dedication to the tasks. Some of the future sailors were very colorful. At the end of each day they would take the removable accessories from the boat, roll it up, sometimes wash it and store it properly for the night.

The staff held open air discussions often before sailing away. They usually picked a shady spot because the temperature was in the high nineties and the sun was very hot. At other times the staff gave individual instruction at the boat. There were boats passing by that were not part of the class. For the five days they sailed and sailed and learned to take care of their boat.

On Friday the 13th, it was solo day. Austin was all gung ho but Charlie was not too sure about being out there alone. He was certainly in a reflective mood, but he joined the crew and sailed away. Austin is nine years old and Charlie just turned seven a day or two before the class started. Two years makes a huge difference.

After soloing, they returned to the sailing center, stowed their accessories, took showers. Austin ever washed some of his gear.

The sailors and staff assembled on the upper rear deck to await graduation. Graduation happened in an inner room off the deck and the staff presented goodies to the graduates. They gave each person a T-shirt, personal framed color picture, calendar and other goodies. The sailors assembled to have a group picture wearing their new T-shirts.

I was very impressed with this program. To me the entire staff exhibited all of the good qualities that you appreciate in folks handling youngsters. I hope that Austin and Charlie attend another advanced sailing class in the near future and that I can be a part of their sailing experience. I was pleased to see that the Sailing Camp rated a front page picture on the Palm Beach Post newspaper on 7-27-07.