Thursday morning began with no wind, and a forecast for little improvement before lunch. The entire camp gathered in the classroom for a brief introduction to the day’s feildtrip to Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, formerly John U. Lloyd State Park. Coach John, who is studying biology in college, showed campers some of the wildlife such as the elusive American Five-lined Skink (commonly confused with the Blue-tailed Skink which is native to Australia) Blue Crabs, and Turtles/Turtle nests as well as fauna located in the park. The campers were distributed among coach boats and set off on the adventure, after arriving they went on a nature walk and then went swimming off the beach.
After lunch the wind filled strong from the south, the camp split back into their groups. Beginner Opti discussed sailing straight and more precise sail trim using telltales. They then went out on the water and practiced their new skills with the follow the leader drill along with having some exposure to stronger winds. Green Fleet Practiced starts using a drill that gave points for being on the line and subtracted points for being over. After the drill was won by the first camper to reach 5 points the fleet set out on a long distance sail to work on technique. The 420 group did upwinds, focusing on what each person in the boat should be doing such as proper trim. The group also discussed puffs, lulls and wind shifts, along with what to do when they are encountered.
