Sailing

So our major new activity this Summer was sailing. There is a long tradition in Mountain Lakes of kids learning to sail on the lake. The vessel of choice is the Sunfish. There is an extremely devoted group of men and women in town who organize and run a six-week sailing camp each Summer to teach the kids the ropes. And on Saturday mornings, a guy who grew up in town, but now lives in New York City, comes out to Mountain Lakes to give free racing lessons to any kids who are interested. This year, both Nina and David went to the sailing camp, and had a fantastic time while learning a great deal. Lisa spend a significant amount of time repairing boats -- first our boat, and then several of those belonging to the sailing club.

In late August, David capped off his first year of sailing by competing in the Sailing Association of North Jersey Lakes (SANJL) Sunfish Championship Regatta, right here on our own Mountain Lake. The competition involved five races, and the sailors earned points based on their placing in each race. It was David's first regatta, and he came through with a very impressive second-place finish in the 13-under division.

Here are the sailors lining up for the first race of the day (David is in there somewhere):

All in all, sailing was a great experience for the kids. We will surely be back for more next year . . . although Lisa might look to decrease her boat repair workload somewhat.