Cape Explorer Camp Aug 15-19

Description

Inspiring independence, seamanship, and respect for nature.

The Cape is surrounded with water, the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Pamlico Sound on the other, so our exploration takes us to the water! We use our sailboats and coach boats to take the kids to hidden bayside beaches bordered by beautiful live oak canopies, where they can play in the shallow water and learn out the sea creatures. This is a 5-Day Mon-Fri day camp from 9am-1pm. Bring a bag lunch. Taught by Hatteras Sailing Coaches Maq and Ian.

• exploring
• sailing
• paddling
• swimming

Ages: 7-17 years old (coed)

When: Aug 15-19, Mon-Fi, 9am – 1pm

Where: Hatteras Sailing Center (old Fish House in Buxton)

Cost: $359 per child

Top Notch Instructors and Coaches!

Our Sailing Instructors are all US SAILING Certified Instructors with ample safety and first aid training. These are not just some bigger high school kids on summer jobs, they come from proven Intercollegiate Sailing Teams like Old Dominion University and Duke! They have a passion for the Sea and love to share that passion with your children. Our philosophy is introduce sailing in as fun, game based method as possible, to build a comfort level. Then as the kids become more comfortable with the balance of the boats and effects of the wind, we progressively increase the learning challenges. Its something that takes more than just a few hours, so that why a 5 day camp structure is so wonderful!

Each participant learns to be the Master of their own ship! Its always wonderful seeing the expressions of accomplishment on the kids faces when the light comes on, and they get it! Its their boat! They are in charge and everything that happens on that boat is a direct result of their actions. For smaller and younger children we use the Optimist Prams normally with a reduced sail plan, unless the wind is really light. For the older and larger build youth, we can use the 420’s Dinghies… Some dont like being their own skipper, so the 2 person boats mitigate by offering a chance to be the crew and let someone else drive the boat.

Makalynne (Coach Maq) Dyer is our Head Coach, and she graduates from Old Dominion University in Virginia this year class of 2022! In addition to 4 years of participation on the ODU Varsity Sailing Team, she has a great background teaching at different sailing organization in the mid Atlantic and Midwest US. She hails originally from Colorado and it was a local community sailing organization that sparked her passion for the Ocean. She has taken unique opportunities to sail in the Caribbean through the Seamester Program, which we highly recommend and Oakcliff Sailing in New England, started by Americas Cup Skipper Dawn Riley. Makalynne is a great person to help your children develop the same passion for the Sea.

Exploring the Cape in all its glory

Cape Hatteras has so much to offer, no one can really see it all in 5 days. Our goal is to give the kids a well rounded and fun exploration of some of the wonderful sites, nature, sports, and history that we all love about Cape Hatteras. From the Shipwreck Museum (as a good alternate indoor activity in bad weather days) to the Clam Shoals just a few mile out in the middle of Pamlico Sound. We can get to the North Side of Ocracoke to explore the rather untouched beaches along Hatteras Inlet. Catch and release some Blue Crabs, Ghost Crabs, and Sea Clams!

Emphasis on Safety!

Hatteras Sailing provides all the Personal Flotation Devices needed for the kids. We recommend all kids have a shorty i.e. short sleeve and legged wetsuit and water shoes to protect their feet from getting cuts from oyster shells. Understanding the Ocean is important and no visit to Cape Hatteras would be complete unless the kids get to learn about the Ocean and how to avoid getting into unsafe situations so they can really enjoy it for the rest of their lives trauma free! This includes learning about rip currents, side shore currents, wave safety, beach breaks, sand bars, and more. Weather permitting they can get an introduction to surfing, skimboarding, and even possibly some wakeboarding if the wind is calm. We learn about stingrays, skates and mantarays…. which are dangerous and which are not. Identifying potentially harmful critters like venomous snakes, alligators, and harmful jelly fish to look out for are all important topics to have some knowledge about.