Amy Zang, director and owner of the Youth Sailing Day Camp at the Washington Sailing Marina lays out the day’s activities for the campers. The camp runs from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. five days beginning May 31, the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Photo by Shirley Ruhe.
Amy Zang says this year all of the Flying Scots were painted in the fall and are looking beautiful. "We're now doing the bottom paint and then will check all of the boats to be sure they are ready to sail.” Zang is the Director and Owner of the Youth Sailing Day Camp at the Washington Sailing Marina. This year sailing camp begins May 31, the Tuesday after Memorial Day and ends the week of August 15-19th. “There won’t be many kids the first week because some schools are still in session, but we’ll have it anyway.” The classes run from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 pm.. and are open to rising third graders through 15 years of age.
Zang says the Sunfish is for beginners and the Flying Scot for intermediates. "But we're going to continue the Skippers Club this year for those kids who have received their Sunfish license and are ready for a less structured class. It's more like a club, more get out and play games and have fun on the boat." She says this really started by accident two years ago and became so popular that they have added another class this year. It is a small class of nine kids who have mastered sailing with instructors hopping on and off.
Sailing campers can move to the intermediate stage with a skipper or crew license. The Flying Scot is a 17-foot boat with five campers plus an instructor. It is a bigger boat than the Sunfish with two sails and heads out to the river. "Some kids learn better with the constant reinforcement of an instructor or they like the immediate feedback.”
“The advanced class sails a Hobie Cat that is harder to sail or some students choose racing 420’s.” Four weeks out of the summer, Adventures on a Big Boat is offered on Catalina 25. "The bigger the boat, it reacts differently."
Classes are already more than 50 percent full for the summer. "Last year we had the best summer ever in my 24 years here or even the 56 years the camp has been in operation." She continues, "we had just over 1,200 kids. Fantastic. It was due to my staff. If the kids are having fun, they want to sign up for more weeks." Zang estimates that more than 50 percent of the camp attendees come back, often bringing a friend.
Looking back over the years Zang says she makes constant adjustments. One of these is to have enough instructors to keep up with populations such as learning disabled. Zang is a special education teacher during the school year.
"A number of instructors return every year so we can fine tune their training which makes new instructors this year. " Although Zang has 65 staff on the rolls, on any one day she is juggling 40 sailing counselors, 70 boats and 130 campers in sailing classes. “I tell my instructors everything has to be in its place to make the camp run smoothly.” Zang says, "I feel blessed and lucky. We are like a family."
Zang says she is going to four weddings this year of previous counselors--in Argentina, Richmond, Alexandria and British Columbia.
Camp begins at 9:30 am with a half hour discussion on safety procedures and a look ahead at the plan for the day. Morning sailing is from 10-noon with an hour break for lunch, "and if it's really hot, I turn on the sprinkler." After a 15 minute recap of the morning lessons learned, they sail again from 1:30-3:40 pm. "The kids do it all. They put the boats together and take them apart." Zang says on the days they can't go out because it is too too windy they have come up with ways to occupy 130 kids on land by setting up stations where kids rotate from boat building, to flag making, to other things related to sailing. Zang adds there were only two of those non-sailing days last summer.