May 25, 2008. Canyon Lake, Texas. Sailing Camp.

From 7 to 17 said the brochure. Sailing camp at the Canyon Lake Sailing Club, Saturday and Sunday for two weekends. Sarah and Abigail were keen to attend but Samantha and Allison were too young, so on Saturday David took Sarah only as Abigail was not feeling so well. Suzanne and the other girls stayed home and played games. David took Sarah over on the boat, and ended staying the whole day, helping out with his boat to monitor the sail boats. And what a day they had. Their system was to spend about fifteen minutes in the class room, then take the kids out to the boats, where the boats are fitted out with sails. After all the kids could set up and take down the sails, they all went in the boats, two to the boat, where the protected harbor kept them safe. It was amazing the amount of learning that took place, mostly by trial and error. David talked to the director, and he told David that classes and theory go right over the children's heads, but putting the kids in the boats on the water catches their attention. At the end of the first day Sarah went solo right out of the little protected harbor, around the marker, and then back to the protection. But a lot of funny scenes transpired too. One young boy, about ten, was sailing fast toward shore, and could not remember how to turn, so he ended right up on the shore. Several times the boats had to be towed in, because the sailors could not turn the boat around. It was all in good fun, and certainly the kids had a blast.

Today Ken and I went over to watch the action. I loved watching the kids catch on to sailing. The camp was run by three men and six teenagers, all accomplished sailors. One of the high school kids was calling instructions to a ten year old girl. He called out "push the tiller over." Nothing happened to make the boat move, so he called out "push the tiller the other way of over." And like magic, the boat sailed away. In the afternoon, they had races, first as relays and then in solo races. Sarah was the first on her relay team. She had to go out to the far marker, then go around the marker close to shore, then bring the boat over to the dock so the second sailor could jump in and take over for the second lap. Sarah did well, but she came up to the dock about two feet too far away, but rather than take time to do it again properly, the next young sailor just jumped in the water, climbed in the boat, while Sarah jumped out. All very neatly accomplished. And in the solo races, Sarah came in third. The most important part of the classes was that she loved it. The kids were fun, and the most part for her was being in charge of the boat, all by herself.

I watched all afternoon, and several times other parents and grandparents were reminded by the camp director about coaching or instructing the kids during the races. This camp wants the kids to think for themselves out on the boat, not wait to be told the next move. Evidently some parents and grandparents continue to give the kids instructions, even though the philosophy has been explained to them. David said that at first blush it seems like bedlam with kids and boats everywhere, but at the end of the two days, a lot of learning had taken place, but the best part was the confidence you could see on the faces of these kids. They felt like sailors.