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

The Siebel Sailors Program #8

The Siebel Sailors Program #8

Thanks to the Siebel Sailors Program, we have plenty of stuff to do on days when we can’t go sailing. We spend almost 3-hours in the classroom this morning and the kids were focused and engaged the entire time. The classroom lessons are much-needed because we normally do not have a lot of time for this during a 3-hour sailing session.

Our intermediate students are being tested on the beginner level knowledge base to ensure that we all fully understand each other. Our Siebel Coach, MacKenzie McGuggin, has created a series of Jeopardy games which was very well received by the kids. We also handed out a couple of worksheets on Knot Making and Points of Sail. Their scores will be entered into the new app, Skill-Up, by US Sailing. Skill-Up tracks the progression of each student and it contains valuable information with videos and lectures on sailing. The Siebel Sailors Program is Awsome!

The Siebel Sailors Program #4

The Siebel Sailors Program #4

We observed how the current flows around fixed objects in the water. Then we wanted to prove that the earth is round. The kids were asked if they could see Soldiers Key, which is the first island south of Key Biscayne. The water was flat so we aimed south for about 20-minutes. Sure enough, the island popped up and we hung around for a while catching up on knot-making. Everyone was signed on the important Bowline and Square knots.

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What to wear when sailing!

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What to wear when sailing!

Team Paradise Youth Sailing Programs focus is to introduce kids ages 10 -14-years old to sailing. Most of the kids have little, or no prior sailing experience. Many have never been on Biscayne Bay and some can’t swim. How do we do it?

The Siebel Sailors Program #1

The Siebel Sailors Program #1

Kids from Breakthrough Miami and CARE Elementary joined in with our regular group today for a sail across the bay. Just like in the morning we sailed one long port tack to the West Point of Key Biscayne. Indifference to the morning, we anchored up and had some in-the-water fun! The weather was threatening all along. After a quick weather check with the office, we lifted anchor and reached back to port while being chased by a big black cloud. There was no lightning, but we needed to get back quickly.

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The 2021 TUUCI Orange Bowl Regatta

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The 2021 TUUCI Orange Bowl Regatta

For the first time since its inception in 2000, nominations for the Magnus Liljedahl Sportsmanship Award were submitted electronically. Anyone can nominate a sailor for sportsmanship-like behavior. Parents/guardians, race committee, judges, and fellow competitors may nominate a competitor from any of the sailing classes, Traditionally, nominations were submitted on a piece of paper which oftentimes were challenging to interpret. The online process is a lot more streamlined and it makes perfect sense in these Covid times.

The Siebel Sailors Program #17

The Siebel Sailors Program #17

Today we had kids from the Camillus House come for their final sail of 2021. It was nice to also welcome kids from Breakthrough Miami who had parents/guardians bring them to us. Some of them are actually returning on a near-weekly basis and it is encouraging to see how their young lives is impacted by a real change in what’s available for them to do on any given weekend.

Veterans Sailing

Veterans Sailing

Nice to have our regular Veterans Sailing Program back up and running again! Nine Veterans, two Veteran’s family members, and three fantastic volunteers participated. One of the volunteers is a ret. Coastguard Captain and also our senior sailing instructor. Do you know who that is? Anyway, he was busy giving the final on-the-water test for the sailing instructor certification course. The student is one of our local Veterans!

The Siebel Sailors Program November 20, 2021

The Siebel Sailors Program November 20, 2021

The week of November 16, 2021, was not just another week that just blew by for Team Paradise. While it did "blow-by" both figuratively and actual, it also put exclamation points behind our programming. It was a week when all the training and diligent work produced results, a week when preparations met the opportunity. It was a significant success for us!

City Sailing with Curtis Park (E-1)

REPORT FROM THE US SAILING CENTER - CITY OF MIAMI PARKS DEPARTMENT SAILING

Wednesday, November 17, 2021. This time we had 7-kids from Curtis Park visiting the US Sailing Center to go sailing. The program is offered by the US Sailing Center and we commonly refer to it as “City Sailing”. Team Paradise facilitates the sailing portion of the program. It is a lot of fun and kids love it!

The bus carrying the children arrived at the Sailing Center at 3.49 PM. The sails were being hoisted as the kids approached the docks. We had four awesome youth sailors show up to command the two RS Feva sailboats. Basically, we had the skippers and the crews! I’m glad we did because it was a windy afternoon with a median velocity of about 15 kts, gusting up to 25 kts, from ENE.

Out of the seven kids, there were 4 boys (3 siblings and a cousin). The youngest one was only five-years-old. The 3 girls were a bit older ranging from 10-14 years of age. It was a disappointment to see that none of the kids were dressed properly to go sailing. Nevertheless, they were excited to head out on the bay for a sail.

Yours truly was driving the coach-boat, taking pictures and cheering them on. We intended to reach the Sister Banks, but the boys were shivering by now and we had to cut the sail short and head back to shore. Boats were tied up at about 5.10 PM.

Thank you US Sailing Center for trusting in us to carry out your program!

Check out the video and the pictures below. Let’s go sailing again, soon!

City Sailing 11-17-2021 (Video) by Magnus Liljedahl
Give Miami Day 2021 by Magnus Liljedahl

City Sailing with Peacock Park (E-2)

REPORT FROM THE US SAILING CENTER - CITY OF MIAMI PARKS DEPARTMENT SAILING

Wednesday, November 10, 2021. Another 10-kids from Peacock Park arrived at the Sailing Center at 3.55 PM. This was the first City Sail with the clock dial back one-hour. Boats were ready to go. We had three awesome youth sailors show up to lead the way on the water. I didn’t think we would be able to reach the Sister Banks (a.k.a. Viscaya Sandbar), but we did. Some of the kids took the opportunity to go for a swim.

It rained north and south of us, but we were rather lucky to avoid it all. We sailed back and docked the boats at 5.30 PM sharp. I was pleasantly surprised by how far we sailed and the amount of fun we had in such a short time.

Thank you everyone for participating!

Peacock Park (video)-11-10-2021 by Magnus Liljedahl
Peacock Park 11-10-2021 by Magnus Liljedahl
International Pizza Day 2021 by Magnus Liljedahl