Today was the first lesson of the Spring session. Except for a couple of the kids, none had sailed since the end of the Winter session on February 21 st. That is way too long. We all become “rusty” if we don’t sail on a regular basis. Once a week is not enough, but that is all we have, so we make the most of it. A small craft advisory was in effect, and we estimated the wind at about 15-20 mph. Coach Ella was prepared with various land drills, but we decided to go sailing instead and headed out through the Seaplane Channel.
With the Olympic opréning ceremony taking place in Italy last night, hosting our own Olympic Day was a great idea. The classroom was decorated with Olympic memorabilia. Olympian Nikki Barnes and her crew, Ryan, and coach Pat Downey were in attendance. giving motivational speeches to all of us.
Another cold front was supposed to descend on us today. It would bring rain, thunderstoms and windy conditions. It was suggested that we may need to cancel the day before. Looking at the weather radar this morning, it didn’t look good. The SYSTEM sailors stayed inside the classroom doing lab work, while our Next Level sailors did chalk talks and some land drills.
Today was a very good day, perhaps the best day we ever had in our youth sailing program. I know, it's a big statement. We have had many good days before, and I can't remember ever having a really bad day. What made today so extra special was, in no particular order: watching kids who had never skippered a boat before now wanting to sail singlehanded or with any number of crew; and the camaraderie between the kids and the coaches: By now, the coaches are basically our best friends. Susan, our Executive Director, called for a debrief at the end of the day. We all need to stay on top of our certifications, such as Red Cross, SafeSport, and US Sailing; Team Paradise is the only Accredited Community Sailing Program on Biscayne Bay. We are honored to be in the position we are in, and we care about protecting….
Despite the lack of wind and cooler temperatures both in the air and water, Team Paradise delivered on a safe and fun-filled day, both on land and on the water. While waiting for the wind to pick up, Coach Ella and Coach Justine had the Next Level sailors teach the SYSTEM kids about the Thin Ice Challenge while the volunteers prepared and launched the sailboats. Eventually, we towed out behind our Boston Whaler and our propeller-less safety boat….
Saturday Youth Sailing is completed for the 2022-2023 school year. It began on October 1st. of last year. Since then, we have sailed on 24 Saturdays. It’s been an amazing experience, not only for the kids but for the coaching staff as well. I’m thrilled to have witnessed the transformation the kids have gone through. What began with a water comfort check ended up with the majority of the kids enjoying sailing and everyone loving Biscayne Bay.
It was perhaps our best-ever Saturday Sailing day, and here is why. Kids are awesome and get along with one-and-other. Our team is well-rehearsed. Boats and equipment were prepared well in advance, which is necessary for a quick departure. The sailing was purposeful, and everyone seemed eager to learn. The beginner group sailed the RS Venture all by themselves. The intermediate group caught on to it and sailed another RS Venture. What a sight! If sailing is music, we have begun to sound pretty good!
A great big Thank You to our volunteers and parents/guardians. Our program would not exist without you!
It doesn’t get much better than that. Add boats and great kids learning how to sail. That’s a perfect day! Running our Intermediate and Beginner programs at the same time works great. Our awesome volunteers make it all happen. Kids from diverse backgrounds share this healthy experience and play well together. Our focus is FUN and LEARNING in a SAFE environment. Check out the pictures below and see for yourselves.
Eleanor was nominated for her perseverance and toughness in her first regatta since suffering an injury at the Atlantic Coast Championship in October. Lara Dallman-Weiss selected Eleanor and presented her with the award during the Tuuci OBIYR award ceremony on December 30th.
During the award ceremony, Lara remarked, "It was an absolute honor to announce the 2022 Magnus Liljedahl Sportsmanship Award recipient. Eleanor Moore exemplified courage in many ways: after breaking her arm while helping a parent at the boat ramp, she gave her boat to another competitor with a damaged boat. Thinking of others while injured shows sacrifice, inclusiveness, and bravery. The sport of sailing must encourage our community to be happy for others'’ success; it is completely possible to teach and lift each other up and still be the fastest boat on the race course!" Congratulations Eleanor!
The final week of Summer camp belonged to the US Sailing Center - City of Miami Parks Sailing Program. Coach Lauren was new on our volunteer staff, but no stranger to our community. She grew up sailing on Biscayne Bay and fell in love with our sport. It was no wonder that I jumped on her offer to help us for the final week of Summer Camp before heading back to college in Main.
As normal when kids arrive at the US Sailing Center (USSC), we gather on the second-floor breeze-way for an introduction and a float plan of the day. Yours truly prepared a whiteboard and handed it to Lauren saying “if you can improve on this, please go ahead”……
These are exciting times! The US Sailing Center (USSC) chose Team Paradise as their vendor to take the children of Miami out sailing for a Summer Camp experience on the beautiful Biscayne! This week, the USSC hosts 75+ kids from five different parks within the City of Miami. Each day brings 15 unique named kids out for adventure sailing. Only a few of them have any prior boating experience. They love it! Check out the pictures below and see for yourselves:
The final two weeks of our Summer Camp were very inspiring for the coaching staff. as well as camp counselors. All the kids seemed to really enjoy the sailing and more so than ever before. It’s nice to hear “I want to sail”, “I want to trapeze”, “let’s fly the kite”, it’s so quiet out here” and “I love sailing”!
Our Summer Camp is all about having fun while learning how to sail. It begins with water safety and comfort, then moves on towards sailing more and more. The campers spend as little time in the classroom as possible. We follow US Sailing’s small boat beginner student-level skill evaluation and use the scope and sequence parts to build our curriculum. It works really well.
The term, Inclusive Sailing, is very fitting for what it is. It brings the parents of special sailors and their children together with Team Paradise volunteers for a play-day sailing on Biscayne Bay. The purpose of inclusive sailing is to bring people from different backgrounds together to create an understanding of one another in order to better appreciate who we are.
We are so thankful for the support we receive each year. Your generous donations help us build on our existing infrastructure of diversity, equity and inclusion in the sport of sailing. We recognize that part of our role as a community sailing organization is to lift up all voices in the sport and provide a welcome and inclusive environment for all.
We couldn’t be more excited about the challenges ahead and the increasing opportunities to help others and do better. With the support of our community, Team Paradise has managed to deliver on its mission for the past 15 years, having proven itself many times over. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”
With one week of Bay Play Sailing Camp in the books, we are excited to share with you a little bit about how sailing camp is going during these unusual and challenging times. We have limited attendance to accommodate social distancing requirements and begin each day with a digital temperature reading of campers and staff. Our boats and equipment are washed down daily, and Team Paradise offices and high-touch areas are regularly sanitized. Hand Sanitizer with 80% alcohol is provided and frequent handwashing is encouraged.
Once upon a time, long ago, a little boy grew up on the Swedish West Coast. His family had a summer home on the Isle of Tjörn.
The house was simple: a primitive, two-story structure lacking running water and a sewer. The oversized waterfront property featured a well and an outhouse.
My dad and my uncle shared the summer home and a 33-foot sailboat named Capella. Since both siblings were schoolteachers, they would split the summer between the boat and the house. The families always exchanged practical gifts, such as boat cushions, fenders, or whatever else could be used aboard Capella……
Another Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta is in the books! As with every year, the Magnus Liljedahl Sportsmanship Award is handed out at the conclusion of the regatta. Sailors are nominated for this award by demonstrating courage, respect, integrity, kindness, good judgment, responsibility and self-discipline.
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.
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.
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:)
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!
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!
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
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 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
