As usual, we do sailing for Veterans and First Responders on Thursdays. For many years, Team Paradise has participated in Coral Reef Yacht Club’s (CRYC) celebration of Fleet Week. Fleet Week Miami is a vibrant maritime celebration that brings U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard ships to the Port of Miami and Fort Lauderdale for a week of public engagement, ship tours, and community events. CRYC offers a big breakfast in the early morning, followed by activities such as fishing, boating, e-foiling, and sailing for our men and women in uniform. Most everyone visits one of the historic homes in Stiltsville, which a member of the CRYC club owns. I had the pleasure of taking a group of three extraordinary individuals on a sail aboard one of our Sonar to Stiltsville….

To me, every day is special. Today, we had four veterans and one volunteer sailing in one of our Sonars. We noticed a Pelican sitting next to the boat as we approached it. Something was wrong because the bird did not move. My first thought was to call somebody. Suddenly, one of the veterans said, “No worries, I’m a veterinarian!” She asked me to run and get some big towels, and I did. When I returned, the bird was gone. Our veterinarian veteran had realized that one of its legs had an old fishing line wrapped around it. As soon as she had cut her loose, the pelican jumped into the water and swam away.

Our team for the day went sailing, and everyone had a go at the helm. After returning to port, they all lowered and rolled up the sails, washed the boat, retrieved it, and put it back on the trailer. The debriefing that followed lasted over an hour. The group bonded exceptionally well in a very short time.

The Miami VA Hospital brings us new Veterans one Thursday per month. Today we made four new friends! In total, we had six veterans. Only a couple of them had sailed before. My “brother” Ed is one of them, and he is a good sailor. Ed and I divided the group into two teams. It was a windy day, so we went out with mainsails only. The bay was choppy, so we stayed close to shore to avoid splashing the crew too much. Our path took us around the sunken Bertram east of Grove Isle towards the Viscaya and the Little Island. We continued southward along the shore past Mercy Hospital to Grove Isle. The second part of our excursion took us through the mooring fields towards Coral Gables Waterway. We returned to port through the Brennan Channel and tacked through the Dinner Key Marina to the US Sailing Center….

It was an exhilarating two-hour sailing experience. It was a windy day, somewhere between 17 and 23 knots. We covered a great distance but only spotted a couple of other boats out there. Our voyage took us across the Bay toward the West Point of Key Biscayne, onward into Hurricane Harbour, around Nixon’s Beach, and finally, an awesome reach back to the US Sailing Center in Coconut Grove. Throughout the sail, we chatted away, getting to know each other. Sailing is perfect for expanding comradery!

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!

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.

Keep on dreaming, It’s about never giving up! Ask our addition to Veterans Sailing friend, JCP. He will tell you that he kept calling Team Paradise for about four months wanting to go sailing and today we did!

Biscayne Bay hardly ever disappoints! How about ESE winds 10 to 15 knots with a moderate chop and perfect temperatures? Captain Bob gave an awesome sailing lesson to Eric and Ed.

Great sailing today! Captain Bob, gave really good sailing lessons to a couple of Veterans. The other boat was skippered by Guy Siegel, who had his family members aboard. Yours truly launched the coach boat and went out to take pictures (see below). Guy’s team was also practicing docking the boat, several times. It can be a bit intimidating, especially when there is a lot of boat and traffic.

Great sailing today! Captain Bob, gave really good sailing lessons to a couple of Veterans. The other boat was skippered by Guy Siegel, who had his family members aboard. Yours truly launched the coach boat and went out to take pictures (see below). Guy’s team was also practicing docking the boat, several times. It can be a bit intimidating, especially when there is a lot of boat and traffic.