Youth Sailing, STEM
Magnus Liljedahl
SYSTEM S7-E2

The more we do it, the better we get! Today was the second of eight lessons in our fall session of Youth Sailing. Each Saturday will look the same. We are divided into two groups: the beginner sailors, ages 9-12, who attend our STEM class, the SYSTEM, and the intermediate sailors, ages 12-17, who attend our NEXT LEVEL program. Both groups began at 10 AM and finished at 3 PM. The SYSTEM classroom is indoors, and the NEXT LEVEL meets in the second-floor breezeway. The SYSTEM is based on REACH (US Sailing's STEM education series), while the NEXT LEVEL is based on US Sailing's Intermediate curriculum.

SYSTEM S7-E2
Youth Sailing
Magnus Liljedahl
Saturday Youth Sailing S6-E7

The weather in Miami, and many other places, follows a pattern: one day looks like the next. The weatherman calls for southeasterly winds of 5-10 knots, but it's calm in the morning. Then, as it gets warmer throughout the day, the land heats up, and the sea breeze kicks in. The wind on the water is affected by local topography, where land, buildings, and other structures block the wind and create turbulence. Also, there is usually a big difference between the highest and lowest wind speeds. We refer to this as puff and lull. Today, the puffs (gusts) were much stronger than 10 knots. In reality, after the fact, when we all know what happened,….

Saturday Youth Sailing S6-E7
Veterans Sailing
Magnus Liljedahl
Veterans Sailing S2-E10

Miami Fleet week

Today was a big Fleet Week celebration next door at the Coral Reef Yacht Club (CRYC). Hundreds of young sailors were invited for fishing, sailing, and boating. The first busload showed up at 0645 hours for a lovely breakfast buffet. As luck has it, the day coincided with our regular Thursday Veterans Sailing. Two uniquely named veterans, who had never sailed with us, arrived at about 1000 hours. The weather and wind were perfect for sailing across the Bay and joining the festivities at Stiltsviille. We tied the boat next to an anchored sailboat in what can best be described as a small lagoon behind the building. The CRYC dockmaster was on hand to ferry us to the lapidated building. We mingled with the sailors for a while and had some snacks and refreshments before heading back to the US Sailing Center. We had to leave before the current started ripping. The sail home was smooth and very relaxing. It was …

Veterans Sailing S2-E10
Veterans Sailing
Magnus Liljedahl
Veterans Sailing S2-E9

PERFECT DAY ON THE BAY!

Perhaps I might be getting forgetful, but today felt like the best Veterans Sail ever! We had two boats, six veterans, one veteran family member, plus me. Two of the veterans had never sailed with us before. Today was a perfect day on the Bay. The weather conditions were ideal, with just the "right" amount of wind speed. We aimed for the Biscayne Bay channel as we left the Seaplane channel behind, spotting some Dolphins along the way, then tacking through Stiltsville, we turned around and headed back home with the flooding tide pushing us along Bill Baggs State Park, Nixons Beach,..,

Veterans Sailing S2-E9
Veterans Sailing
Magnus Liljedahl
Veterans Sailing S2-E8

Home, sweet home!

Old friends meet new friends. Today, a young man who had just returned from active duty in Syria was visiting. It was super rewarding to offer him and his significant other a soothing and relaxing experience sailing on Biscayne Bay. As always, thank you guys for serving our country.

Veterans Sailing S2-E8

After school sailing with City of Miami Parks & Rec

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The days are getting shorter and the record high temperatures are giving in to more pleasant conditions. Summer is turning into Fall and before we know it, the Holiday season will be upon us.

Another sign of Fall is when kids from City of Miami Parks & Rec’s after school program come and sail with us on Wednesdays. The program spans ten weeks and the kids come from ten different parks located within the City of Miami. It’s the sixth year that Team Paradise has the honor of serving this very precious population.

Wednesday was particularly fun because the weather was super nice and the kids were exceptional. The experience that we have gained through our Summer Camp with the Bay-Play curriculum makes us very confident taking kids out sailing.

On this particular day, I asked the kids as usual: how many of you can swim if you can’t touch bottom? All seven kids said that they were swimmers. Five kids teamed up with me in the RS Venture while the remaining two kids went Sonar sailing with our ace volunteer skipper, Charles Nethersole and two counselors from the Park.

We sailed across the Bay to the west point of Key Biscayne, my favorite spot in Biscayne Bay. I’m not sure who had more fun, the kids or me. The journey was documented along the way and the video that was made gives you an idea of the fun we had. The sail back to port was fantastic. A prefect reach with gennaker and plenty of apparent wind made us all smile.

Out of the seven kids, all of them would like to come back and sail with us again. How can we make it possible? Please know that we receive no income from this program. There is no fee charged for providing this transformative and awesome experience. It’s only made possible through your generosity.

Unplug from electronics and tune in to nature! Team Paradise Sailing offers youth from Miami-Dade County access to the sport of sailing on Biscayne Bay.  Read more about our community sailing. 

Bart’s Bash 2019

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Team Paradise hosted Bart’s Bash on September 15th. Bart’s Bash, the largest sailing race in the World! Youth programs from neighboring yacht clubs and private schools were invited. Team Paradise entered two teams for the event, both with kids form the FOCAL program in Moore Park. These were some of the kids from our summer camp who came back for more fun on the water.

I tapped our board of directors to run the race. We had great help from other volunteers as well. We settled for one start with all boat classes on the line at the same time (Optis, 420, Laser, 29er and RS Venture). There were 55 boats and 72 participants in total. The black flag was in effect right away. The course was a triangle with the leeward mark below the starting line and the finish on the starboard side if the Race Committee boat. The course was 1.06 Nautical Miles. Judging from smiles, cheers and laughter, it seemed like everyone had a great time as the weather cooperated nicely. Next years event takes place on September 13th and we sure look forward to that.

Bart’s Bash is a global sailing race taking place at 100’s of venues, with 1000’s of sailors in 100’s of different classes of boat around the world. Founded in 2014, the event was verified by Guinness World Records as ‘The Largest Sailing Race in the World’.  How about that?

Unplug from electronics and tune in to nature! Team Paradise Sailing offers youth from Miami-Dade County access to the sport of sailing on Biscayne Bay.  Read more about our community sailing. 

Sailing practice with FOCAL kids

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We had scheduled for two training sessions before the Bart’s Bash, but had to settle for one Practice day only.(September 8th). It was certainly great to see the familiar faces from Summer Camp again. Three girls and four boys sited along with the FOCAL Program founder, Mrs. Barbara Hardemon.

We had planned on using two RS Venture boats, but as it turned out, our practice switched from Saturday to Sunday and we lost some valuable volunteers to help us. Instead, we took our Castoldi Jet-tender and one RS Venture only. Half of the crew boarded the Castoldi and we met up at the Viscaya sandbar. We switched the crew and everyone got some practice. Mission accomplished!

2019 Inclusive Summer Camp

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This year we invited campers who are able to swim, or at the very least would pass a float test. Being on the water is sure a lot more fun for those that swim. We used our Inclusive Summer Camp as a motivator to encourage the kids to learn how to swim. Our “Bay-Play” curriculum uses Biscayne Bay as a unique classroom while exploring several fun destinations around the Bay. Our Inclusive Summer Camp was funded by donations and was 100% free for the campers. We served 212 kids in total and everyone had a fantastic time.

The FOCAL Program

Team Paradise Sailing welcomed 20 kids each day from the City of Miami’s Moore Park FOCAL Program to sail with us during the period July 1st through the 19th. FOCAL’s Barbara Hardemon commented that the parents were calling her, praising our program and how much fun the kids had on the water! 

Breakthrough Miami

It was a memorable day when forty (40) 5-graders from Miami Breakthrough came to sailed with us! We divided the group in two and while one group went sailing, the other group had class room activities such as S.T.E.M. education in the class room. The lab for the day was air pressure and how it also correlates to sailing. Kids also learned how to tie some of the most common knots.

By the time the first group returned to shore, the second group were finished in the class room and were ready to go sailing. We switched and repeated our tasks. Fun, fun, fun!

Down Syndrome Association of Miami

Other summer campers visiting during July were a couple of groups with special needs kids along with their parents from. The Miami Down Syndrome Association was one of the groups visiting. The other group were friends with special needs kids that really enjoyed a day on the water. Let’s go sailing again, soon!

About our Community Sailing

Unplug from electronics and tune in to nature! Team Paradise Sailing offers youth from Miami-Dade County access to the sport of sailing on Biscayne Bay.  Read more about our community sailing.