Summer Camp sailing

S

SailingSarahSue

Sarah Sue
HI. I'm new to the forum, and I thought a few of you might be interested in my summer occupation. I teach sailing on sunfish at a summer residence camp in Alabama. Sailing has been an activity there for sometime now since the camp is located on a lake. Boats have come in and out of use for some time now. The boats in current use are in horrible condition, because the sailing program has gone unloved for some time. It takes a lot of patience to teach sailing to 9-15 year olds.

I fell in love with sailing at this particular camp as a young child and moved my way up to teach it some years later. I want to beable to pass on the joy of sailing to kids who may never get that opportunity.

At the moment, we have 6 boats in the water. They are doing quite well, for the shape thery are in. There are multiple cracks and holes in the fiberglass that have to be patched quite often. You must remember, since these beautiful boats have been neglected for so long, along with the treatment they get because they are sailed by Young sailors, they are about out of sailing time.

This summer, this cativity at camp has gone from seven kids at most in attendance to 18! I need a way to keep up with the new demand. I need some advice on options I might have with a small budget.

Is there a place where I may get a significant discount?
Is there a used boat dealer that could get me a deal on good solid boats?
Is there anyonce who might enjoy making a donation?

Advice would be wonderful as well.

Also, Camp has a fine selection of older sunfish boats that have been retired. I have looked them over and they would be quite easy to restore with low costs. I'm not sure what year they are, but I know two of them have a blue guard with yellow and blue stripes on the bow and stern. The otthers are completely white with black pin stripes on the side. They all seem to use older dagger boards and rudders.

If anyone is interested, please let me know.

Thanks.

Sailing Sarah Sue
 
Sarah Sue,
Why don't you start a rehab program on the old Sunfish you mentioned? I suspect that with some effort you can make the older boats usable. Spend the money on hardware and rigging and sails. We have 7 Sunfish in a junior program, all have been donated and we repair them as needed. Sunfish are tough boats and with a little work will last almost forever. Good luck with your program
 
Where in Alabama? I may be able to arrange a donation of repair material, if you've got somebody to do the work

Jeff
terra firma is for farmers
 
I would also check with any nearby yacht clubs. It is in their interest to promote sailing and boating activities as that is where they will get their future members. Boating gets into ones soul and will last a lifetime. I got my first boat, a Sunfish when I was 13 and had just returned from a summer at the Bahama Sailing Camp where I had learned to sail. I spent many summers on Lake Chataqua on that Sunfish. Now I'm looking for another. Maybe this time a minifish if I could find one. See, we just bought a Carver 28 from the Lady who sold me that sunfish 30 years ago and joined the yacht club. We need something that will stow on the swim platform. My kids will learn how to sail over the course of this and next year. The Sunfish or minifish is the perfect platform that they could handle themselves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top