Sailing

I've been meaning to post this for a while now and am finally getting around to it now.  Austin and Samara both signed up for sailing this year in June.  Austin had done it two years ago and this year I asked Samara if she would also be interested.  Because of their ages, they were able to go in the same group - and therefore in the same boat most of the time too.  I'm still amazed that my kids have taken sailing . . . they would have never done it or even been exposed to sailing without this opportunity.  

The classes were held for three hours twice a week for the month of June.  They were taught not only how to sail, but everything else that goes along with it.  Each day they had to get their own boat ready, hooking up the sail the proper way and then pack it all up properly at the end of the class.  This was always a lot of work but they got pretty proficient at it by the end of the month.  

Austin and Samara were usually together in the same boat - once in a while the instructors would switch the kids around but they preferred to be together.   And they worked so well together.  The instructors even commented on how well they steered and maneuvered their boat working together and with the wind to go exactly where they needed to be.  It was really cool to see.  Often times buoys were set up as a course and Austin and Samara would whip around them almost without effort.  I loved watching it.  Sometimes if the wind wasn't too strong and the water wasn't too rough, they would sail out into the lake . . . but other times they just sailed down the river.  I only have pictures of them in the river as I could watch from a bridge up above.  

And speaking of rough waters, on the third last class of the session, the waters ended up being quite rough - more rough than it looked from the marina.  Samara ended up getting quite an upset stomach and the instructor had to bring her in to me.  She was pretty sad and decided she NEVER wanted to sail again.  When the rest of the kids came back in, they all looked a little green too - including Austin.  I tried not to talk too much about more sailing but I did want them both to finish up the classes.  It turned out that the next day the kids both had bad colds so we missed the class.  The next time we went was the last one and Samara was determined she wasn't going to get in a boat - and Austin wasn't thrilled about going without her.  I talked her into at least preparing the sailboat with Austin and when it was time to get in, she was pretty determined not to go.  After much discussion and coaxing (from me and the instructors), she got into the boat.  It helped her to know they weren't going far (not into the lake) and that if she started to feel sick at all, she could come right in.  It ended up to be the best class of the whole session.  Austin and Samara really showed what they had learned and when they had competitions with other sailboats, they won every time.  And Samara was so glad she ended up going as she had a really good time.  And I was glad we ended the sailing season on a high note!