DockTalk ##Evan McCarthy, Brendan Sailing head instructor. Photos by SpinSheet
##SpinSheet contributor and Brendan Sailing board member Rick Franke along with a camper at the helm and Capt. Jen.
##A nice breeze for a July day aboard the Woodwind.
##Woodwind crew member Jack Elstner with Brendan campers.
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A Perfect Summer Day for Schooner Sailing
ids + mentors + a beautiful sailboat + sunshine + wind = perhaps the perfect equation for a summer sailing day on the Chesapeake. This certainly was the case on July 14 as the students, parents, instructors, and a few board members and guests of Brendan Sailing took a two-hour sail on the Schooner Woodwind in Annapolis Harbor out into the Bay. SpinSheet readers are familiar with the Brendan Sailing program for youth with learning differences, as it’s been featured in these pages many times over the years, including the May 2021 article “A Zeal for Teaching” by Meghan Coburn (page 42) about Brendan’s Evan McCarthy, who’s gone through the program from the age 10 as a student to head instructor 10 years later. For the July 14 sail, Evan was onboard the Woodwind, along with a few fellow instructors 22 August 2021 SpinSheet.com
and board members Jim Muldoon, Rick Franke, Pat Ewing, and Todd Lochner. Woodwind Captain Jennifer Kaye and her team led the group in safety instruction and organization for the educational portion of the sail. Brendan students were divided into three groups, which rotated around the boat every 15 minutes for lessons in Chesapeake Bay nature, boat nomenclature, and steering. Capt. Jen quizzed the students on what they learned—anything from how to determine wind direction to which birds were perched atop a channel marker—and whoever answered first was able to steer the boat first. Every student and most guests steered the schooner for a while before the twohour sail ended. SpinSheet’s editor Molly Winans overheard one parent talking about her son’s participation in Brendan Sail-
ing this summer for the first time. Her husband had been worried about their son making it all day long without screen time, in the outdoors, in the company with other kids he did not know: all things that seemed challenging for the teenager. When she picked her son up the first day, he’d had a great time. On day two, he said “Sailing is hard,” but he continued to enjoy himself. The mom counted his entire camp experience as a huge success. His smile while steering the schooner said it all. To learn more about Brendan camps and programs, visit brendansailing.org. To learn how sailors of all ages may take a private group or a public sail aboard the Schooner Woodwind, visit schoonerwoodwind.com. Thanks to Brendan Sailing and Woodwind for inviting SpinSheet onboard for a terrific sailing afternoon!