All Sailing Programs Completed!

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.

Sailing with Breakthrough Miami

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.

Veterans Sailing

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:)

City Sailing

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!

Sailing School

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!

Sailing Excursion

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

Sailing with the Siebel Sailors

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 with Little Haiti Soccer

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

Youth Sailing with Breakthrough Miami

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).

The S.T.E.M. Lesson

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.

The Sailing

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