Shore Leave
Sailors in this fleet enjoy plenty of R&R on the land
By Shari Kaplan
Photographs by Kathy De La Torre
With their white sails flapping briskly against a blue sky, sailboats dot the cool, blue-green waters of the lake. Their cautious skippers and crews harness the wind to carry their vessels away from the safe docks and out into more open waters.
The sailors hoisting these sails aren't the grizzled sea dogs that may spring to mind. They certainly could be, however, based on their familiarity with technical skills such as tacking and jibing; their skillful avoidance of the swinging boom and the confidence with which they guide the tiller.
Instead, however, they are youths between the ages of 8 and 15--some with prior boating skills but many with none--piloting sailboats between the tree-lined shores of Vasona Lake in the county park of the same name. They're all attending either Boating Day Camp or Beginning Sailing.
Sailing instructor Chris May pulls up alongside his students in his motorboat--the only motorized boat allowed on Vasona Lake.
The classes are two of the summer's more popular programs offered through the Los Gatos-Saratoga Department of Community Education and Recreation. Although both teach boating skills and safety, the day camp also includes "shore activities" such as noncompetitive lawn sports and lessons on marine biology, nature and other environmental topics.
At the helm of both programs is Dr. Chuck Dougherty of San Jose. Not just any outdoor enthusiast, Dougherty is a former Captain in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. He is now a full-time instructor at DeAnza College in Cupertino, where he coaches men's tennis and teaches--depending upon the quarter--tennis, soccer, park management, camping and strength development.
Christy McCarthy, 9, of San Jose takes a turn steering the boat she and her friends sailed across Vasona Lake.
A native of Iowa, Dougherty fondly recalls a Huckleberry Finn-like childhood surrounded by rivers, lakes and woods. Although water has always been his element, Dougherty discovered this fact by accident. After an argument with his father, the elder Dougherty--apparently he also knew his son was born a water baby--tossed the younger into the water with instructions to sink or swim. And swim it was!
"I remember going out to the lake as a kid and swimming out to the big floating platform out there, and then jumping off it or going down the slides," Dougherty says of his annual summertime exploits.
While attending a sailing class as an adult, Dougherty found himself bored by an instructor who droned on for hours and never let students get into a boat, let alone go out on the water.
"I thought 'how much do we have to know to get in a boat?' I decided that if I ever taught sailing, it would be enough to get them out safely on a boat the first day," he says.
Several years ago, Dougherty did just that, with a series of sailing classes at Lexington Reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains--also offered through the Rec Department. After some red tape arose concerning county, state and federal regulations on the use of Lexington, Dougherty decided to move the classes to Vasona Lake this year.
Joining him in that move was Los Gatan Graham Nuttall, 15, a veteran of the Lexington classes who helps Dougherty and Chris May, the other sailing instructor. "I've always liked boats so I signed up for the sailing camp after I saw an ad in the newspaper," Graham says of how he got involved three years ago.
"I like working with the kids. When you see them finally take everything they've learned and use it, it's rewarding," the sandy-haired teen says of his position as one of several junior instructors. "It's also fun just seeing them having a good time."
Christy McCarthy, 9, of San Jose pulls a rope to help adjust the sails as her boat cuts through the Vasona Lake waters.
Although his family will be moving soon to the Auburn area, Graham hasn't let this dampen his spirits. In fact, he says, his family plans to get a boat to use on Folsom Lake. He may also look into being a lifeguard or instructing with the sailing programs offered at that lake.
In the meantime, Dougherty and May are running Boating Day Camp and Beginning Sailing in four- and five-day sessions through Aug. 18. The first session ran June 19-23, and they have continued every week throughout the summer. Dougherty says this has been something of a test run. Next summer he will pare down the offerings to a handful of the best-attended dates.
"A lot of the parents have big boats; they sign their kids up so they can get experience. Here you really learn how to work with the wind. You have to know how to use the wind to make the boat go and how not to capsize. Little boats tip over and big boats won't," he says with a telltale grin.
Two groups of students practice their sailing skills on Vasona Lake. Instructor Chris May offers advice to one crew from his motorboat.
Many beginning sailors find capsizing in Vasona to be one of their most important learning experiences. Not that it's all that bad on a hot summer day, Dougherty admits. No matter what kind of swimmers the youths are, however, all are required to wear life vests.
The water doesn't bother 9-year-old Christy McCarthy of San Jose. In fact, aside from learning how to pilot a real sailboat, the water might be her favorite thing.
"I've seen other [boating] camps where they say things like 'oh no, you can't do this or you can't do that,' or where you feel like you're never going to get on the water. This camp is more relaxed. And here you get to get wet every day!" she adds with a giggle.
Christy's friends, 10-year-old Ali LaVelle of San Jose and 12-year-old Cristina Arthun of Los Gatos, are similarly enthused.
"They give you all the important information you need to know, but they use simple words," Ali says. "They tell you how to do things and then they let you go out and do it!" adds Cristina, who says she has learned more here than she did in her classes in southern California where her family had lived.
Los Gatan Cristina Arthun, 12, says she loves the feel of the wind when sailing. Keeping the tiller steady is 10-year-old Ali LaVelle of San Jose.
Twelve-year-old Campbell resident Michael Lee's favorite aspect of sailing is that it reminds him of something else he enjoys: video games. "It's fun sailing because when you steer, it's kind of like using a joystick, except you just move it backwards and forwards," he says.
Young people who think they missed the boat by not signing up this summer need not worry, according to Dougherty. This fall, he plans to form competitive sailing teams in three age groups: middle school, high school and junior college. Eventually, he hopes Vasona will be the venue for sailboat races and regattas attended by teams throughout California and perhaps from other states.
Dougherty's not waiting for his ship to come in--he's sailing it himself, and teaching others how to do the same.
For more information, call the Vasona boat docks at 408.399.7689 or Dougherty at 408.864.8645.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
