Check out some pictures from today's Sailing Camp:

Considering the usual business and goings-ons at the sailing center, this past week has been a rather quiet one, the calm before the storm, if you will. However the weather has not exactly been calm.

On a usual summer day in Vermont, the weather forecast typically reads:

"Patchy fog in the morning, followed by a partly sunny late morning with a slight chance of rain showers, and a likely chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon with possible heavy gusts of wind and potentially heavy rainfall, becoming partly cloudy in the evening with a chance of showers."

(Seriously, just read weather underground's forecast for Burlington, VT every morning, and that is what it will say, more or less.) With a forecast like this, along with almost totally unpredictable weather coming across the lake, the staff of the sailing center really have to be on top of our game when it comes to thunderstorm safety.

We use several different online websites that show current radar and storm systems, as well as forecast sites for thunderstorm and lightning strikes. Here are some of our favorites:

www.wunderground.com
www.erh.noaa.gov
www.iwindsurf.com

Weather coming across Lake Champlain is fairly unpredictable because of the Adirondack Mountains in New York, which are large enough physical barriers to channel thunderstorm systems either to the north or south of Burlington, or to increase the intensity of the storm and send it hurtling directly towards Burlington and the Sailing Center. Because of this unpredictability, when a storm reaches the opposite side of the Adirondacks, we bring all boats on the water into our restricted boundaries and prepare everyone for a potentially quick docking depending on the movement of the storm. In many cases, the storms are in fact funneled to the north or south, but we always have to be prepared for that storm that speeds across the lake in 15 minutes or less.

This past week and this weekend, storms have constantly been moving across New York or building just on the other side of the lake, really making us test our own forecasting abilities as well as our thunderstorm safety procedures. Our main goal is your safety.

- Caroline Robertson, Waterfront Manager

The Community Sailing Center is ready for the peak summer season ahead. We have had a lot of things changing around here as many of you know.

Yes, we have a new building but we still have the same Sailing Center friendly atmosphere as well as a superb staff to help you with all of your lakeside activities.

The peak of our season is coming up very soon and everyone at the Sailing Center is exited for all the fun to come. We have pieced together our atlas docks at the Coast Guard Station and are ready to get them into place for our upcoming events.

Speaking of upcoming events at the sailing center I can think of one that stands out for me. This event would be our third of July BBQ called "Rock the Dock" which many of you probably have seen on our web page. If you didn't then let me introduce you to an awesome time and the best view of the fireworks on Lake Champlain. It's called "Rock the Dock" and all proceeds will benefit the Mike McConnell Youth Scholarship Fund which helps many children learn to sail and relieves their families of any monetary commitment.

It's going to be a great time so and I am personally inviting all readers and their families to come on down to Rock the Dock and have a great 4th of July weekend. You can find out more by clicking on the main page link.

We are all exited here at the Sailing Center about our many upcoming events and the enormous interest in the Sailing Center this year. If you haven't made it down to see us this year then now is the perfect time to come down and see all the new changes that have happened. I hope to see many of you sometime this summer

-Jamie Wellman, Maintenance Coordinator

Burlington Free Press Article - June 26,2008
by: Allison Bryant

A 200-foot-long dock installed at the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center in August 2003 provided patrons with transient boat-docking space and protection from large waves. That is, until it sank during a storm in late September 2005.

The dock, built with the assistance of a federal Boating Infrastructure Grant administered by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, served the center for only two seasons. The structure was salvaged on New Year's Day of 2006 and stored on land for repairs.

Living without the dock was not easy for the sailing center, said Fritz Horton, a member of the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center board of directors.

"It was very challenging because we had a narrow dock, 10 feet by 70, that replaced a whole dock system," Horton said. "It was just a boy doing a man's job."

The sailing center was forced to curtail its programs for lack of dock space.

Now, with efforts of volunteers and the board of directors, the old dock with a new design will return to its post on the water today.

"We've been working with volunteers every weekend since February," Horton said. "They come because they either really believe in what we do or they want to be a part of what we call the mates program."

The mates program offers unlimited sailing lessons and rentals for the season in exchange for at least 40 hours of service to the sailing center. Sixty people volunteered to work on the dock during the past few months and about 25 participated in the mates program, said Colin Davis, program director at the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center. The structure of the dock is steel, but the deck portion is wood, so most volunteers worked on the carpentry aspect, he said.

"Volunteers have been helping to cut lumber, put it into place and fasten it together," Davis said. "A dock of that size, there's a lot of little screws to get turned and when you have 10 hands turning screws, it goes a lot faster."
At least two to four people turned out to help each weekend, but sometimes the numbers reached 10 or 12, Horton said. The sailing center also hired a welder to repair the steel portions of the dock, which accounts for most of the expense, he said.

Much of the dock has been re-engineered, Horton said. The structure was split into four sections and reinforced considerably.

"A large part of what we hope will be the success of this new system will be resilient connectors and moorings," Horton said.

When the dock sank, it took the insurance company a year to pay, Horton said. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast a month before the sailing center lost the dock, so Horton said the insurance company might have been overwhelmed with claims, causing the delay.

Insurance provided about $155,000, the center and the federal grant covered the rest of the $355,000 project, Horton said.

"We sort of fell under the radar," Horton said.

The insurance company paid for some of the repairs, but waiting for reimbursement proved troublesome for the sailing center.

"It was just painful going through two summers without this dock while we wrestled over getting reimbursement from the insurance company," Horton said.

During those two seasons, the sailing center experienced a fairly significant growth in the number of patrons, Davis said. That caused difficulty in terms of launching boats and coordinating the movement of people on and off the water, he said.

"It's almost like air traffic control down there," Davis said. "That whole conjunction of people moving around on the dock space is the biggest challenge."

When the repaired and improved dock returns to the water via crane today, these problems will be no more, Davis said. The structure provides more physical space for boats, protects the launch area and provides a safe harbor when wind from the west or northwest creates swells, he said.

The sailing center will reconfigure the existing docks and make several changes to accommodate the new main dock, Horton said. Programs initially suspended due to limited dock space will return, he said.

"We're already planning it," Horton said. "We've already sold the programs. They've already been fully subscribed."

It will take a large crane and a good portion of the morning to install the dock, Horton said.

As a returning staff member I felt like I had seen and done everything around the sailing center. One of the aspects of my job I really love is that there is always something new to experience and when you think you know everything there is something new.

I recently ran my first Pirate Birthday Party, and it was a blast. I strongly encourage anyone who has kids to bring them down here for a truly unique birthday experience. The day was filled with games; such as "capture the life jacket" and "tie up the instructor" (my personal favorite). We also took the party out on the water and sailed around the bay. All of the kids were very interested to learn about the history of the several shipwrecks in Burlington Bay. The party ended with a sailing-inspired cake that was decorated with a boat made of cookies with little sails made from toothpicks. It was one of my favorite lessons I have done and I hope to get to do more this season.

- Connor Aswad, Instructor

Hello. You've caught me practicing my knots, like a good sailor. Earlier this evening, I asked my fellow Waterfront Coordinator, Amy - who was also, incidentally, practicing her knots - what was her favorite knot. "The square knot*," she said with little to no hesitation, this, before asking me if I knew who was responsible for the smart-looking paint job on the trim of the new Sailing Center.**Knot-practicing, building-painting: these are simply two things that have occurred during this, our busiest season on record at the Community Sailing Center

As many people know, the good citizens of Burlington voted to move forward with the Moran redevelopment plan this past March; this means, in effect, that we will have a new home in the coming years, a permanent home in a complex that will include an ice-climbing center, a children's museum, a rooftop observation deck, a fitness center, and a restaurant.

As an organization, we now find ourselves to be a part of a nascent business culture that takes the ecological welfare of Lake Champlain as its piece de resistance; our new mission statement is reflective of this burgeoning attitude. The mission statement reads: "To encourage and celebrate the responsible use and long-term stewardship of Lake Champlain, by fostering educational and recreational opportunities for all members of our community."

We are, in this way, moving beyond the trappings of a single-faceted business - albeit a nonprofit that has always had what I think are very noble goals - and entering an exciting new phase, one in which sailing is but a fraction of the plenary enterprise, one [key] aspect of a larger whole. This having been said, sailing remains integral to our whole operation, and, as we grow in other ways, we remain extremely excited about the prospect of introducing an ever-increasing number of people to the sport.

"Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be just a dream," Christopher Cross sang thirty-eight years ago, his lilting falsetto firing on all cylinders as he evoked images of his seafaring contemporaries - the brave men, women and children of 1980 - hoisting the jib, feathering their hair, and setting sail. He also sang a song about getting caught between the Moon and New York City. So. Grain of salt.

Here's to an excellent season at the Sailing Center. The best so far, one imagines.
____________________________________________________________________
*Amy never actually asked this.

The first Level II sailing camp was a huge success this week. We had a large range of abilities for this camp. This difference of sailing ability enabled some of the kids to engage in more a leadership style role to help out their fellow campers. The campers were very eager to get out and practice their skills on the water. Whatever skill was acquired the previous day was put to the test the following class on the water. Sailing on Wednesday was particularly challenging due to the heavy-air conditions of about 18-20 knots. The heavy breeze combined with good-sized waves out on the lake tested the camper's abilities to deal with these conditions. They were all very proficient in the boat just after this one-day of exposure to heavy sailing conditions. All of the kids now have the knowledge and skill to advance to the racing side of the sport. We all achieved our most important goal of the week, and that was to have as much fun as possible.

- Mike Collins, Instructor

I am really excited to be returning to the Sailing Center for my second summer as an instructor and I wanted my first week back to be perfect. But this week started off with a forecast of thunderstorms for the entire week - not the best sailing conditions for my Level 1 sailors. I was bummed but then my students showed up.

Immediately the campers put a smile on my face. One sailor, Theodore, made me laugh – he had an attitude like he was on top of the world. He was crazy, and funny. He reminded me of Beaver Cleaver so I gave him the nickname of Beaver and it stuck. At first he didn't understand why I kept calling him this but by it grew on him and by the end of the week the rest of the class had adopted it. Like this particular camper this week grew on me as well.

My students despite the variable weather conditions progressed and grew as sailors. They grew as people as well – conquering their fears in the water regardless of their small size and wanting to improve their sailing skills.

This week reminded me why I love my job and the sport of sailing so much. Size and stature doesn't mean much when it comes to being on the water and the glory of sailing is being at the mercy of mother-nature.

- Justin Dorey, Instructor

Week one of the summer season is in full swing at the Sailing Center. It has been a welcome change to see a steady stream of new faces walking through the door of the center, as last week was fairly quiet except for staff members and volunteers. However, the time was spent well in the past couple of weeks, training new staff members, such as myself and working on team building activities with the staff as a whole. The staff spent a lot of time around the center, learning the ins and outs of the new digs as well as learning about fellow staff members. Both are equally important, and it was great to get out as a group, we even ventured to Petra Cliffs where our rock climbing, and ropes course skills were used and where we participated in many team building games that stressed the importance of communication and working together as a team.

In one particular activity we formed a circle around an apparatus of strings all connected to one single marker in the middle. Each staff member took the end of a string and the objective was to use the marker, as a team, without letting any of the strings drop, to draw the CSC logo on a large piece of paper. It made us think about the way in which we communicate with each other. Depending on where you stood in the circle, the right, left, top, and bottom of the paper are all different. Directing someone to "Move right," only works if the person is seeing the drawing from your same perspective -- which is often not the case. It was quite a task... the final product is hiding in the sailing center office. It doesn't look quite as good as the real logo, but it is a fine product of teamwork, considering the challenge. We're off to a great start and the summertime has begun...

- Amy Stetson, Waterfront Coordinator