Junior Summer Program Session 3
These past two weeks, July 20th - July 31st, marked the third session of our Junior Summer Program! Campers made lasting memories and enjoyed unforgettable adventures as they explored marine education, fishing, and sailing on the beautiful Oyster Bay Harbor.
Marine Explorers
Bay Buccaneers
The Bay Buccaneers were a large group this session, with campers bringing a variety of interests and silly personalities. They focused on species in different environments and evaluated which would win based on strength, size, and persistence. It was an incredibly successful session filled with energy and fun!
First Mates
The First Mates engaged in marine education activities, learning about hydrodynamics, sharks, gyotaku, beavers, and natural disasters. Throughout the session, they made slime, built a dam with a surrounding canal, kayaked, and enjoyed a visit from a local bird sanctuary where they learned about different birds. In sailing, they began the session with land drills due to high and unpredictable winds. As the session continued, the First Mates improved their Hobie Cat and Opti sailing skills out on the water.
Mariners
Sound Swashbucklers
The Sound Swashbucklers began the session with simple drills to learn the basic mechanics of sailing an Opti. As they built their skills and confidence, they progressed to sailing fully rigged Optis and eventually advanced to Hobie Cats.
Skippers
Skippers spent Session 3 exploring a variety of marine science topics, including mythological sea creatures, moles, plankton, and water quality. During the second week, they celebrated Shark Week by learning all about sharks and even painting their own shark-themed T-shirts.
Youth Sailing
Discover Sailing
Adventure Sailing
Adventure sailing spent this session learning how to sail Hobies. Campers challenged themselves while practicing upwind sailing and enjoyed the speed and excitement of sailing on a beam reach. They also crossed Oyster Bay Harbor to visit a beach in Bayville, an exciting adventure for these campers on the water!
Beginner Sailing
Opti Race Team
Opti Sailing
After covering basic sailing maneuvers during the first week, the Opti Sailing group completed drills to reinforce those skills. They also focused on more advanced techniques, such as telltales and maximizing boat speed, before putting everything into practice in a race to finish off the session.
C420 Open
The C420 Open group quickly learned the fundamentals of upwind sailing before refining more advanced techniques such as telltales. Campers were also introduced to trapeze and spinnaker sailing. They practiced these new skills through several races throughout the session.
C420 Race Team
The C420 Race Team took a step back from regattas and continued building their sailing skills, both physically and mentally. Physically, they refined their roll tacking, spinnaker work, starts, and other techniques on the water. Mentally, they learned how to better prepare race strategies, manage a fleet, and execute effective form tactics.
Specialty Camps: Reel Explorers Fishing Camp
Bay Masters
The Bay Masters had an awesome week of fishing on IDA MAY out on Oyster Bay Harbor. They were a great group of kids, and the bite was on. While the Porgies were still hard to come by, the Fluke and Weakfish (Sea Trout) bite more than made up for it. Although the forecast looked ominous for the week, the weather held out, with only one day of rain and no thunderstorms. The rain didn’t deter the campers at all, as the kids embraced the conditions by catching fish while working with Mother Nature.
In terms of fish stories, they shared many and created some new ones, including a big striped bass being lost at the boat after a 5 minute battle and multiple long runs. Although they’ll never know for sure, they estimated it weighed over 25 pounds based on how it fought.
The catch of the week included Fluke, Weakfish, Dogfish, and Sea Robins, and unfortunately the one that got away.
As always, the dredge was a hit, as the marine education staff described the species collected from the bottom of Oyster Bay.
Gallery
