Catalina Mainsheet Magazine is a quarterly publication averaging 100 pages in length. It features 64 pages of Features and Class News as well as a 32 page Technical Notes Supplement.

Volume 27, Number 3, August 2009

Editor’s Bark
by Jim Holder, Editor

Memories Made
As this issue goes to press, I will have completed another six weeks of SAIL CAMP for the Augusta Sailing Club. The weather can be, and most of the time was, 92 degrees or more. Fortunately, we did have good wind most of the time. We usually have over 120 students, ages 8 to 14, many of whom are there for the second, third or fourth year.

But it is the newcomers who bring out the most emotion. Their big wondering eyes and questioning hearts, when they learn that the capsize drill is step one, on-the-water. By the second day they are wondering if they will really have to sail out to the middle of the lake, about a mile off shore, and what about the depth of the water, 200 feet, “Whoa! Wait a minute!” On day three, “We will sail to South Carolina to the swimming hole,” GULP, “and Thursday we will sail up the lake about three miles to Monkey Island.”
By now some are making up some pretty convincing excuses for later reprieves, but it all seems to fall into perspective as each day goes by and their confidence grows along with their newfound skills. However, the stories told around the dinner table each night, and related to us the next morning by the parents, have a far different tone. Seems telling sea stories comes naturally no matter your age or sailing skill.

Sometime during the latter part of the week, especially if thunder and lightning storms are in the area, we will do our IDD (Imminent Danger Disaster) Drill. We teach them that when sailing a small boat during a lightning storm or uncontrollable winds the safest place to be is sitting on a turtled boat (upside down) and waving for help. In past years we have experienced this many times. Once the boat is upside down with the sails still in their normal position secured to the mast, you have a platform that will remain stationary, barring any current. All boats have flotation and most are self bailing once righted. So the capsize drill, first learned, comes into play. In our drill, we sound a horn, all boats are flipped with everyone on the upside down hull and ready for the rescue boat in less than one minute. We pride ourselves in being able to have twenty kids aboard a power boat in five minutes. In real circumstances, we wait out the storm on shore, then go back out, flip the boats back up and sail home.

When Friday rolls around, there are lots of “thank you and hope to come back next year.” Many of the parents and grandparents tell us they had good sailing experiences as a child and really wanted their little ones to have the same. Sailing is such a great sport and includes so many memories along the way. There is no age or gender requirement, everyone can find their niche and have fun making lots of memories. But as a matter of fact, you don’t even have to be a human to enjoy sailing. See page 8 for details.

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