Intermediate Sailors
Beginner Sailors
Speed-up Learning!
For both beginners and intermediates, please visit our online classroom and learn more. Our time together is so limited together. Parents, please encourage your kid(s) to visit our classroom.
The Siebel Sailors Program S3-Ep4
Intermediate Sailors
Beginner Sailors
Speed-up Learning!
For both beginners and intermediates, please visit our online classroom and learn more. Our time together is so limited together. Parents, please encourage your kid(s) to visit our classroom.
The Siebel Sailors Program S3-Ep3
Intermediate Sailors
Beginner Sailors
Speed-up Learning!
For both beginners and intermediates, please visit our online classroom and learn more. Our time together is so limited together. Parents, please encourage your kid(s) to visit our classroom.
The Siebel Sailors Program S3-Ep2
What’s different this fall session is that our sailors are the same kids each and every Saturday Afternoon. It’s nice to get to know one other better and build comradery. Today we made sure to learn everyone’s nickname (as you can see in the picture). Thirteen kids came sailing with us. Our coaching staff consisted of Marite, Mo, Aryan, Natasha, and yours truly. We used two RS Ventures, and 1 RS Feva, The Castoldi safety boat, and the Boston Whaler coach boat.
The Siebel Sailors Program: S3-Ep1
Welcome to another school year of the Siebel Sailors Program! It marks our third year in the program. Eight Saturdays are scheduled between now and mid-November. Our focus on teaching kids how to sail is the main goal. In order to continue, we expect each and every one who joined to be present every Saturday. During the afternoon beginner class, we will be following US Sailing’s Small Boat Beginner Curriculum, and during the morning intermediate class, we will adhere to US Sailing’s Small Boat Intermediate Curriculum. We will be tracking each sailor’s skills development accordingly. It is not expected that everyone will pass the skill requirements in eight weeks, but we do hope that all skills will be introduced, in progress, and about 30% completed.
THE MURAL AT USSC
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”……
Let's go Sailing!
USSC - City of Miami Parks Sailing
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:
Summer Camp week 3 & 4
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”!
Summer Camp
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.
Veterans Sailing
As a program director, the most challenging decision might be when to cancel an event because of inclement weather, or not. The weather forecast is posted by 7 AM daily. Today it looked like very light wind and a big chance of thunder and lightning. Not good! I usually go to the US Sailing Center between 7 AM - 8 AM for a morning workout. It gives me an opportunity to check the skyline and read the wind. It didn’t look good. I send out an email message saying “The weather conditions are iffy at best, today. We may go sailing, or we may not. It will be a last-minute call. Ed and I are here so if you are coming you are most welcome. There is always something to do”. Yet by 10 AM four of the five Veterans who had signed up, showed up. We hangout out together for a while, then the wind picked up a bit, and the radar did not show any approaching weather cells. We decided to launch two Sonar sailboats and go for a sail. The wind was light, but we did get to sail. It’s the worse feeling when I cancel an event when we actually could have gone sailing. It’s like losing a day and it’s disappointing.
The Siebel Sailors Program #19
This was the final Siebel Sailors Program for the 2021-2022 school year. We did not waste any time. The kids rigged five RS Fevas, three with main only and two with both main and jib, for double-handed sailing. It was slow sailing out but with the technique they have learned, it was all possible. Coach Ed and I dropped a couple of markers for a windward-leeward course. Everyone looked good and they sailed well. Their progress has been tracked in the Skill-Up App and all passed the test!
Veterans Sailing
There is a lot of good stuff to report from yet another fabulous Veterans sail today: We had the pleasure of adding another unique named Veteran (Paul) to our attendance record; Ed and Mark are continuing to learn how to sail, and they are super stoked about it; We sailed for 3.47-hours today, covering 18.9 Nautical Miles. When Ed was asked about his helming skills he summed it up by saying “I was focused on staying in the groove today”. How about that?
Well done guys. Let’s do it again!
After School Sailing
The Siebel Sailors Program #18
SIx kids came to sail this morning. An even number of students works great. We used three RS Fevas and sailed double-handed. Everyone did great! The teams stayed close together, sailing up and down, having a blast. We sailed hard for about 1-1/2 hours and then headed back in. A coaching friend of mine was observing us from his apartment. He said: “I can’t believe that you guys were out there this morning, it was pretty windy. Your kids are fast learners!”
Veterans Sailing
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!
The Siebel Sailors Program #17
Today was about sailing around two marks, upwind and downwind, in the most efficient way. It includes: being able to sail in close proximity to other boats; keeping the boat speed up; and knowing where the next mark is, in order to sail the shortest distance. the breeze eventually faded out and we towed everyone back to por
Veterans Sailing
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.
The Siebel Sailors Program #16
The wind conditions were perfect for continued learning. Not so windy so that everyone would capsize, but windy enough where some do. We had nine students and two coaches, so we decided on double-handed sailing using Four RS Fevas. Teams were established and then send off to prepare the boats. We had a short skippers meeting just before leaving the dock.
