Tag: sailing at camp

Sailing the high seas… or the camp lake!

January 18th, 2016

 

Screen Shot 2015-03-12 at 8.54.16 PMCamp is filled with activities that allow you to learn new skills and test your limits.

Perhaps one of the most unique activities here at Camp Weequahic when it come to having a blast and building character is sailing.

Sailing teaches many skills; how to tie nautical knots, understand the weather, and control a boat with nothing but the wind to guide you. But like any camp activity, the most important lessons being learned are team building, communication, and the power of believing in yourself!

Team Building

Sailing is a team activity, so learning to work with your “crew” is critical! Whatever style of boat you happen to be sailing, campers are constantly practicing team building skills with other campers on the lake.

  • Campers listen closely to what the rest of their crew is telling them, responding clearly and quickly to commands and questions. If you’re sailing solo, you will still have to communicate with other sailors on the water — so it’s lucky that all the sailing terminology is totally fun!
  • Sailing teaches you to trust in the skills of your crewmates (even if the worst that can happen is getting wet!) You won’t have time to check that every knot is tied correctly, so you’ll soon learn to trust that your friends will stay on top of their duties while you’re on the water, so long as you’re holding up your end of the bargain.
  • When you’re sailing, there’s a job for everyone on the boat. You and your fellow campers will quickly learn to identify situations where you can jump in and help each other.

Self confidence

It’s normal to feel a little hesitant your first time out on the lake. However, with practice you’ll develop your skills and, along with them, self-confidence.

Creating small, measurable goals such as learning new knots can slowly increase your confidence. Small setbacks (like having trouble steering!) followed by successes (catching the wind at just the right angle) teach the importance of bouncing back in the face of discouragement.

Organization and Planning

Managing any boat, even a single-person craft, requires organization and planning. You have to assess multiple factors such as the weather, obstacles in the water, and the lay of the shoreline to navigate your boat to your destination. You also have to keep your sails and lines organized for quick course changes — easily the hardest part of the sailing activity!

Sailing also taps into leadership skills, requiring campers to create a plan and divide responsibilities between the crew. Campers quickly learn to recognize crewmembers’ talents and divide the sailing tasks between everyone aboard accordingly.

Ready for anything

While you’ll learn plenty of physical skills while sailing the camp lake, you will also be practicing important life-skills that can help you at camp, in school, and everywhere else that teamwork and communication are important to success.

The secret to sailing is striking the balance between having a detailed plan and being adaptable when conditions change. Come to think of it, that’s a pretty good strategy for most everything at camp — and life in general!

So have a blast on the lake this summer. May the winds always be at your back!

 

Lots of Ways to Enjoy the Lake at Camp Weequahic

September 7th, 2015

 

Screen Shot 2015-09-04 at 12.29.19 PMCamp Weequahic is blessed with one of the best camp lakes in Wayne County. Sly Lake lies beautifully below our Senior girls’ bunks and is the stage for a wide variety of fun-filled activities.

The jumping off point (quite literally!) for most of our lake activities is our sandy beach. Campers find a buddy and check in with our head lifeguard before heading to one of their waterfront choices. Should they bounce on the water trampoline? Paddle a kayak or stand up paddleboard? Perhaps they should choose free swim or play volleyball on the beach? There are lots of good choices that require several trips to the waterfront to enjoy.

In addition to our waterfront activities, campers interested in learning how to sail do so under the tutelage of experienced instructors. Our Sunfish sailboats stay out on Sly Lake a good part of the summer and are used by complete beginners all the way up to experienced sailors.

Screen Shot 2015-09-04 at 12.29.47 PMWhile most of the activities at the waterfront are on the surface, one program that explores the depths is our fishing program. Anglers at CW get their lines wet every period of every day and we’ve got plenty of fish stories to tell.

Most of our fish are catch and release. However, when we catch a good large mouth bass or large ‘sunny’, our staff will teach the campers how to gut and prepare the fish to be cooked over an open flame. And, yes, they all get to enjoy a bite!

Not to be outdone, our waterski and tubing program is a frothy blast. Campers interested in learning to waterski do so with the help of experienced teachers and boat drivers. We have had many children learn to waterski for the first time at camp and even learn to drop a ski and go slalom! In addition to waterskiing, our wakeboard program continues to be a popular choice as well.

We hope that you will come have a blast at Camp Weequahic’s amazing waterfront next summer!

Sailing at Camp Weequahic

March 16th, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-03-12 at 8.54.16 PMWhen you think about summer, most of the images that race through your mind include two things: sun and water. Whether it’s laying out by the pool, running through the sprinklers, or zipping through the waves on a boat or jet ski, or contemplating life’s mysteries while casting a line out to fish, the summer is meant to be spent heating up in the sun and cooling down in the water. This is why so many campers enjoy learning to sail when they spend the summer at Camp Weequahic.

Sailing is an exciting water activity that allows campers to work as a team to reach a common goal. It is a great way to spend the afternoon soaking up the sun, and creates a bond between sailors that can’t be created anywhere else.

Campers who learn to sail aren’t just learning how to maneuver a large vessel through the water (however that is a big accomplishment!) Everything about learning to sail is a learning opportunity. Math and science are weaved into the fun and challenging sport of sailing. Sailors will learn about the importance of aerodynamics when it comes to the position of the sale. They will learn to read a compass and become confident navigating their way to and from a destination without the help of the GPS on their smartphones. They will learn to solve problems quickly, to be observant of their surroundings, and will find a new appreciation for Mother Nature. Campers who try sailing leave with a “boat load” of useful skills and practical information that will help them for the rest of their lives.

Screen Shot 2015-03-12 at 8.54.26 PMEven if they never have to deal with air pressure or thinking about the curvature of a sail, they will learn to work as a team, follow directions and appreciate the quietness. Sometimes young kids and teenagers have a hard time dealing with quiet, or feel anxious when they don’t have something to entertain them at every second. Sailing is good practice for just sitting back and enjoying nature, and is a great way for campers to learn to be comfortable in their own silence. All of the sailing adventures are guided and supervised by certified instructors, so everyone is kept safe while they are having fun.

The beauty of the lake surrounding Camp Weequahic is a reason all on their own to take up sailing. The view from the sailboat can’t be put into words, and campers write home how much they loved spending their afternoons out on the lake.

Campers have hundreds of opportunities to try new things while they spend their summers at camp, and learning to sail is another great way to expose them to things they may never have a chance to try at home. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment that they can succeed at anything they put their mind to.