BY SKIP ALLEN, SR.

With the lion’s share of summer already past, I find myself reflecting on my recent pastimes and those of my family–especially the grandchildren. They are a privileged and varied lot as their summer experiences indicate. One granddaughter spent time in England visiting a childhood friend. Three traveled to Peru where they were captivated by the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu among other things. One, when not working to help offset college expenses, pursued his lifelong passion for fishing. Two other grandchildren continued to hone their sailing expertise and competitive instincts racing Optis. The 14-year-old participated in the North American Opti Championships in Curaçao. The youngest, nine years old, will speak for herself in this column.

When I read the enthusiastic description of racing Optis in Italy she wrote for her yacht club newsletter, I decided to take a different tack from my usual View topics (sometimes aka rants.) As a parent and grandparent I have always tried to instill in the kids the same love of boats–and the boating lifestyle–I have always been lucky enough to enjoy.

Now I have the chance to share with you the pride and pleasure I feel at seeing one of many tangible results that this effort at least partially inspired.

My name is Calli Lewis and I am nine years old. This summer I sailed in Optis in the Cadet fleet in Lake Garda, Italy, for the first time. A Cadet is a sailor who was born in the year 1997 or 1998. We are not allowed to sail with the big sailors. My coach was a Danish coach named Dennis. 

Lake Garda is surrounded by mountains, the mountains are everywhere. The water is very, very cold. It is like a bath tub with ice cubes. To sail, you have to dress in a dry suit, warm clothes, socks, and boots. Your hands freeze. While I was sailing in Lake Garda, it snowed and rained, [but] most days we had beautiful blue skies.

The wind was very light in the mornings and very heavy in the afternoons–it would blow more than 20 knots. One day, it blew so much that all of the Cadets came in early. I did not go back out because the wind was too strong for me. One of the things I did most while sailing was hiking. I never knew that I could hike for so long. It was hard!

This year Lake Garda held the record for the world’s largest-ever regatta. There were 1,000 sailors from all over the world. My friends counted all of the flags of the different countries and there were 32 countries. I made a lot of new sailor friends, especially three Irish kids and a Bermuda boy named Sam.  

There was time for fun as well. For example, my sister would fill up my dry suit with air and I would float around in the water. After sailing, all of the Danish, Irish and American sailors would play soccer at the square outside of our hotel. We had so much fun. (The Danish kids were always lighting off firecrackers late at night.)

I can’t wait to go back to Italy and sail with my [new] friends. 

You’ll pardon me if I feel like a proud granddad. I hope you make the most of YOUR summer on the water.