Blog
Today was a beautiful day for sailing on Biscayne Bay. The warm temperatures and moderate winds made it a pleasant experience. Although the kids from the Camillus House Verde Gardens housing project couldn't make it due to transportation issues, we had good attendance from both coaches and our regular students.
Coach Josh led the intermediate group, sailing the RS Fevas as usual. The rest of us stayed with the beginners in the RS Ventures. It's interesting to observe how the beginners are improving and catching up to the intermediates and how some intermediates are becoming skilled enough to belong to a more…..
Yesterday was another perfect day for our sailing school. The 10 AM lesson had a good breeze. We headed south to watch the Star Regatta. There is much to learn by watching and sailing next to the boats racing. It explains how close you can get to other boats and how it works. It is great for beginners to see what can be done. We managed to return to port on time for the 1 PM lesson.
Today was great in Paradise! The kids returned their homework and began the day with a written test on parts of the boat and sails. While we were sailing, Ms Susan reviewed their work, and at the end of the day, she gave everyone small rewards. Weather conditions were ideal: sunny with blue skies and breezy. Despite the small craft warning, none capsized, and everyone stayed upright. Sailing skills have come a long way. The new RS Venture sails look good and are a significant upgrade. Our new compact VHF radios, so generously donated, provide for much better safety. Ten units with private channels enable us to communicate between the Ventures, coach boat, and propeller-less safety boat without anyone listening in or interrupting our messages. Despite a few kids not attending, we had a sizeable group. Camillus House added one new student to the program. As such, she is required to perform our water-comfort test. At first, she hesitated to jump in despite the shallow clear water and sandy….
Today was a lot of fun! Team Paradise hosted our fifth corporate regatta for 2024. The group of eleven was amazingly diverse, representing four continents and ten countries. The breeze was up, and we ran three short races, using three Sonar with main sail only. We adhered to the four-hour time limit to near perfection. Our recently donated compact VHF radios featuring private channels helped communicate between the boats and the Race Committee. The After-Sail at the yacht club next door was a hit—it usually is…
The first Saturday of the SYS Spring session was postponed for a week due to "nuking" wind conditions a week ago, The first Saturday of the SYS Spring session was postponed for a week due to "nuking" wind conditions a week ago, but it happened today. We had a smaller group of kids because of spring break and the Easter holiday. Our students from Vera Gardens could not attend due to transportation issues. Nevertheless, today was an extra special day for us. The RS Fest is going on in Regatta Park. It's the first-ever multi-class RS event in North America. Team Paradise entered the regatta with one RS Feva, but they could only compete for one day. The rest of our team used our RS Ventures to sail around and watch the racing. ..
During spring break, we took a day to introduce our Sailing + Youth + STEM (“SYSTEM”) initiative. Partnering with the Miami Waterkeeper organization, we had student-sailors, coaches, and three graduates from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science participating in the class. We began the day with a presentation on water quality monitoring.
Today, we had four veterans sailing aboard one of our Sonar, of which one had never sailed with us before. Ed Marrero was leading the way as usual. Check out the pictures and video below.
Today, we had three veterans out sailing Captain Ed was in command as usual. They did an awsome docking upon their return to the dock. I witnessed it through my camera lens. Fantastic! See for yourself; view the pictures and video below.
Also, see the information about why and how to join us for our next sail on February 22.