Go Sailing

            Every year millions of people flock to Florida from all over the world to play in our backyard. According to State figures nearly eighty million people visit Florida each year to enjoy what we have here, Sun, Sea and Sand and of course the “House of the Mouse” in Orlando. Numbers are expected to be down this year though as high gas prices and airline fares are keeping people nearer to home, the first time this has happened since the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001.

            While this might seem like bad news to those of us who depend on tourism dollars, and who in Florida doesn’t in some way, there is a silver lining to all this.  If the tourists are not coming here, we are not leaving to go anywhere either, so we will be spending our vacations and our dollars closer to home and what better place to spend it than the top tourist destination in the world.

            That’s right, eighty million people can’t be wrong, they spend fifty billion dollars a year here to prove it so we must have something good going on, and we do! We have more golf courses than any other state and more coastline than any other with the exception of Alaska and who wants to spend a day at the beach in Alaska?

            Although known as the sunshine state we could just as easily be known as the water state. Surrounded as we are by the warmest, bluest, swimmingest water and crisscrossed with eleven thousand miles of inland waterways is it any wonder Ponce de Leon sought the fountain of youth here. He was closer than he knew. There is nothing more invigorating and rejuvenating than getting out on the water in a boat. Though high gas and diesel costs can limit a powerboater’s enjoyment and rowing or kayaking are for the very fit, sailing is for everyone. With a good boat and a warm breeze to move you along, you and your friends can get away for a day or a weekend in Biscayne Bay.

            What? You don’t have a boat and don’t know how to sail? That’s no excuse.  You probably know someone with a boat already. There are 988,652 boats registered in Florida so that makes about one boat for every twenty people, it’s hard to get out of bed without tripping over one and learning to sail is, forgive me, a breeze. There are sailing schools dotted around the waterfront in a place that is convenient to you and classes cost less than filling up the SUV for a trip to see cousins in Kentucky.  Castle Harbor Sailing School at Matheson Hammock Park and Marina is a good place to start your adventure. You can get a boat and instructor from $60 an hour or take a three day course on skippering a small sailboat with certification for $695.

            Why certification? Because later when you want to rent or charter a bareboat, one without a captain, they are going to want to know that you know what you are doing. Like car rental companies, boat rental companies and clubs might want to see your license or certificate even before your credit card. If you don’t want to get certified there are still plenty of opportunities to go sailing as crew and there is no closer knit group of friends than those that crew together. In fact many major corporations send their people on these courses for “team building” a way to get people used to working together and being able to depend on each other.

            Another great place to learn to sail is the Coconut Grove Sailing Club  located right next to Dinner Key marina. Although it is a member supported organization, all it’s sailing classes are open to the public and their sailing programs have introduced more than ten thousand children in the community to sailing since the founding of the club in 1946. Of course families are encouraged to take classes together because team building is nowhere more important than at home.  Billing itself as “the Sailboat Racing Capitol of America” the club sponsors races and regattas with other clubs and quite a few Olympic dreams began here.

            Even if you aren’t competitive and simply want to enjoy the wind in your hair and the rhythmic slap of waves on the hull of your boat as you blend with nature and soak in the beauty that surrounds us, there is yet another benefit to be gained here. Sailing well demands that you are in tune with what is happening all the time but specifically right now. You simply cannot be thinking of paying the bills or the argument you had with someone this morning or the trouble in other parts of the world, and be sailing well. There is no room for those negative thoughts when you are sailing, so it can only be a very positive experience.

            To quote Richard Crisler, Chairman of the Adult Sailing Committee at the club, “When a man gets in a power boat he has somewhere he wants to go, but when a man gets in a sailboat he’s where he wants to be.”  That’s right, the enjoyment starts the moment you cast off and the wind fills the sail. It’s like a slow dance with the wind and the water for your partners.

            If you are thinking that sailing is too demanding or physical for you and you couldn’t do it then take a look at Shake-a-Leg Miami. The philosophy here is that whatever your impediment or disability, be it physical, developmental or emotional or even financial, you can still learn to sail. The doors are wide open to everyone and scholarships are available for those in need. Begun by Harry Horgan, a former sailor who was left paralyzed after a truck accident and refused to give up sailing, Shake-a-Leg is not only disabled accessible it is disabled driven.

            In fifteen years Shake-a-Leg has grown from one man’s refusal to let his disability stop him from doing what he loved, to the largest facility of its kind in the country , where the disabled and disadvantaged are given the means to discover for themselves that there is a life to be lived beyond their limitations. “Shake–a-Leg is more than a name” says Harry “it is an attitude; you can’t just sit around waiting for some-one else to do something.”

            So what are you waiting for? Biscayne Bay beckons you.