I am a volunteer with the Valhalla Sailing Project which assists Veterans and active duty military learn to sail. It provides them with a community and many of the newly minted sailors begin racing with us on the Bay. The sense of comraderie they get is so great to see. We have weekend clinics in June, July, and August. I was fortunate to be able to help both days of the July clinic.
On Day One we review points of sail, terminology, knots, etc on dry land before heading out on the water on three different keel boats. It was great to see the participants learn the knots - that is always my favorite part to teach.
On the first day we went on our group went out on a 44 foot Swan and on the second day we went out on Jay McGinnis' J30 Blitz (pictured here). All the participants were able to learn how to rig the boat. They each got time on the helm as well as time learning how to trim and adjust the sails. We all had a wonderful time and at the end of the weekend it was great to see them sharing stories having gotten to know each other a bit over the time we were together.
