Over the course of the next few weeks, we are going to try to profile some of our personal choice activities (PCAs). PCAs are the activities that the campers go to every morning where they learn specific skills in a more specialized way than they may with their cabins. Each PCA has a staff member or two as its dedicated head.
The first PCA we would like to tell you about is sailing. Our sailing PCA staff Maddy Moritz and Gill Love are eager sailors and experienced teachers whose enthusiasm for sailing is contagious. Not that the campers need any encouraging - this is by far one of our most popular activities at camp. Last year, we were lucky enough to almost entirely re-outfit our sailing area.
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| The new dock and sailboats at the start of a day |
The maintenance staff built a beautiful new dock, and we received five brand new Hobie Cats. Having the Hobies makes it possible for campers who are Juniors and Intermediates to learn to sail, while the more experienced campers can improve their skills on boats like our Picos.
A Hobie has a catamaran-like base, with two hulls connected by a taut piece of mesh for the campers to sit on. Steering is simple, with a bar being moved back and forth that is connected to the rudder. The addition of the Hobies to the fleet has made our sailing PCA much more hands on and gives the campers more freedom in their learning than they may have had previously.
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| Learning to rig and de-rig a boat on shore |
Campers spend time on land learning the basics of sailing theory and then are taught to rig and de-rig a boat on the dock. The sailing PCA lasts for the full two PCAs slots since it is a lengthy process to get the boats out on the water and get going for the day. I’m sure the campers are happy to have as much time as possible in the boats. Throughout the week that they are at sailing, campers work towards obtaining a Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 certificate of achievement. They receive this in their end of session envelopes just before they go home. It’s an exciting PCA, and there’s nothing quite like having the wind in your hair out on Koshlong on a sunny morning!
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| Two Hobie Cats out on Koshlong Lake |
The second PCA we’d like to tell you about is windsurfing. Windsurfing is very similar to sailing in theory, but presents its own set of challenges - particularly in the fact that it is an individual sport. The windsurfing head Andrea Gallagher is excellent at teaching young and old campers alike to be successful windsurfers. Windsurfing is another activity that lasts a full two slots in the morning, as it is quite a complicated sport and takes time to master. This summer we added some additional smaller sails to make it easier for intermediate campers to manipulate the board and sail on the water.
One of the greatest tools we use in the windsurfing PCA is the simulator. It is a board that is raised and on land, so that a sail can be attached for teaching purposes.
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| Andrew Kacsor, one of our resource staff members, on the windsurfing simulator during a lesson |
This gives campers a chance to go through all the motions of windsurfing without the instability of being on the water right away. Once they make the transition to the water, they will already have had the chance to perfect their skills on land on the simulator.
This is one of the most challenging PCAs to become proficient in, but one that provides an immense sense of accomplishment when you manage to stay up on the board for any length of time. Campers who return to this PCA year after year find that they improve in leaps in bounds with a little bit of time and practice.
Check back in a few days time for a profile of a couple more of our PCAs!
-- The Wanakita Staff Team
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