Well, Matthew finished his Polliwogs class at the Shreveport Yacht Club. I cannot say enough good things about the club and its programs. Matthew learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Through Polliwogs, we felt richly welcomed by Shreveport's sailing community.
Principessa and I really enjoy the company of sailing enthusiasts. They are an interesting, helpful, and friendly group of folks. Unlike the stereotypes that "yacht club" conjures, sailors and yacht club members are mostly unassuming people whose company we greatly enjoy. If things change and our sojourn in Shreveport continues, I will be pestering them to make me a member of the Shreveport Yacht Club. What a great bunch of folks!
At the graduation get-together, Matthew's teacher told a story on him. On Matthew's first solo sail, winds began gusting to 15 knots or so. Matthew screamed (continually), pointed his Optimist dinghy toward the dock, trimmed the sail, and went back in. As I sailed out in another Optimist (for an adult, it's sort of like trying to sail your bathtub), he made a beeline past me in the opposite direction.
John, Matthew's teacher, told how Matthew, despite his fear, knew exactly what to do to get right back to the dock. John took pride in that, and he well should have. John, a middle school teacher during the school year, is an excellent sailing instructor and a great guy.
It was good for Matthew to get some experience in a more appropriately sized vessel. He likes to steer Bliss on Bayou Castine, but it will be a long time before he can sail her.
Looks like Matthew is a sailor in the making. And well he should be terrified, with respect for those waters. :)
ReplyDeleteKent, thank you again for helping us give Pop a proper sailor's farewell. He would have been very pleased. Wish it hadn't been so oppressively hot and that we had a little wind to test the sails, but we felt the love in spite of it all. Please keep in touch.