Spending time on the lake is a summer pastime here in Michigan, and each weekend on Cass Lake, families flock for swimming, boating, kayaking and more. But during the week, this popular Oakland County lake is the perfect spot for kids ages 6-18 to learn how to sail as part of the Pontiac Junior Sailing Club.
This decades-old sailing program, which is hosted at the Pontiac Yacht Club, gives campers the chance to experience all aspects of sailing – whether they are a beginning or more advanced sailor. STEM activities are incorporated in the program, as well.
Through Learn to Sail beginning and advanced camp offerings, kids learn how to sail, rig and more. Campers will work side-by-side each morning to get boats out of storage and put them together before breaking up into groups. A morning “Chalk Talk” – a five-minute chat to go over the day’s happenings – follows.
Then, from 10 until 11:30 a.m., campers will set sail – and return to have lunch and swim off the dock or beach. For two hours in the afternoon, they head out on the water again. Once they’ve had their afternoon sail, kids are required to take the boats apart and put them back in storage.
Having to do the heavy lifting makes this experience even more enriching for campers, who can work their way up through the sailing program and even end up participating in the Junior Racing Team.
Interested in sending your kid to sailing camp this summer? Camp runs through Sept. 4, 2020.
Each camp goes from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. After-care is available.
Thanks to the Pontiac Sailing Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1984, needs-based scholarships to select campers make sailing instruction more accessible to families in and near Oakland County.
Content brought to you by the Pontiac Junior Sailing Club. For more information, visit psef54.org.
