Learning to sail on a lake is how roughly 140 kids will spend their summer vacation in a camp offered by the Gulfstream Sailing Club in Hollywood.

 

The five day weekly sessions run throughout the summer from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Kids ages 8 to 14 learn basic sailing skills aboard an Optimist, a small single-handed sailing dinghy meant for kids. About 20 kids per session spend two-and-a-half hours a day actually sailing.

 

Joey, 9, of Orlando, enjoyed his first sailing class. Gulfstream Sailing Club requested that none of the students’ last names be used.

 

“I’m more excited than scared,” Joey said.

 

Campers learn knot tying, boat assembly, the importance of the wind and how to beat the wind. Sessions start with a swim test, according to Delroy Thompson, certified sailing instructor. 

 

“In the first sail we put one person that has already sailed before with somebody new, so that the person that is new can see what they need to do,” Thompson said.

 

Many kids take the classes for several weeks during the summer with others returning each year, said Luis Oliveira, program director.

“Most of the classes are full,” said volunteer Lee Ann Bennett. “We have a few classes in August that have a few spaces left in them.”

 

Safety is the number one rule at Sailor’s Point. All kids wear life jackets and an instructor is always nearby.

 

“We teach them about what to do to be safe on the boat, if the boat tilts over what to do, if somebody falls overboard what to do,” Oliveira said.

 

Nine-year-old Isis of Hollywood has been coming to the sailing camp for three years. She takes the classes for several weeks in the summer.

 

She likes to help newcomers who are often scared.

 

“I like to be in the water and I like swimming. I think sailing is fun and jumping in the water. I also like to go fast with the boat.” she said.

Austin, 9, of Miami, started the sailing camp in late June. He had never sailed before.

 

“I got braver and braver and I faced my fear,” he said. “The instructors taught me everything I know right now.” Austin now enjoys sailing. “I like the fact that you can relax in the boat and you need to find the wind. Now I know where the wind is coming [from] by looking at the ocean and how to control it and things like that,” he said.

 

The nonprofit Gulfstream Sailing Club was founded in 1957. Sailing classes are offered for children and adults throughout the year at Sailor's Point in Hollywood.

 

The Club also offers memberships, sailboat rentals, an annual regatta and races on the ocean and on the lake.

 

For more information visit the Gulfstream Sailing Club’s website online at www.gulfstreamsailingclub.org.