Pathways: Sailing

[Kevin]

By Chris Howell
Copyright HoosierTimes

“You never thought that 5 miles an hour could be so terrifying,” 14-year-old Gareth Scott said.

He’s describing the feeling of navigating a small Sunfish sailboat across Lake Monroe for the first time. “There’s no feeling like it in the world,” he said.

“Usually when you are going fast on a motor boat or a JetSki or whatever, there’s that loud roar of the engine,” he said.

The water splashing off the bow and the sail snapping taut in the wind is about all that you hear while sailing.

It’s almost like it’s too quiet, Gareth said.

“Feeling the force of that wind ... you feel very insignificant,” he said.

Scott has been sailing for the past six summers at the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Youth Sailing Camp.

The boats and instructors are provided by the Lake Monroe Sailing Association at the Moores Creek Ramp on Lake Monroe.

This year, Gareth is an intern helping out with instructing first-time campers. The goal of the camp is to give students a chance to experience the sport of sailing, but it’s also about learning responsibility and gaining self-confidence.

Most students start knowing nothing about sailing. It’s instructor Walter Johnson’s job to change that.

“My favorite feeling is when I put a 10-year-old in the middle of the lake with a little bit of wind, and he’s sailing that boat ... he’s not playing X-Box,” Johnson said.

Johnson is finishing his master’s degree in teaching and appreciates the opportunity for the students ranging in age from 9 to 18.

“This is just an opportunity for them to be outside and to experience everything that ‘outside’ means,” he said. “Anybody can start a Jet Ski and go across the lake,” he said. “It takes skill and effort to make a sailboat go through the lake.”



Picture - Ari Pokral, 16, of Bloomington, leaps from the boat as he and the other campers race to right capsized boats as part of a capsizing contest during youth sailing camp at Lake Monroe Thursday. The goal of the contest was to turn the already capsized boats back upright as a team in the fastest time possible. On this attempt, the six students completed the task in just over four minutes.