Berkeley Yacht Club Summer Camp Sails Aboard ‘Pegasus’
“No child left ashore!” is the defining mission statement of Pegasus Voyages, whose 51-ft Alden-designed cutter-rigged ketch is used to take underserved kids out on San Francisco Bay for an exploration of the marine wilderness. The kids aboard are exposed to basic sailing skills using volunteer crew as mentors. Based in the Berkeley Marina, Pegasus has formed partnerships over the last 32 years with supporting organizations including the City of Berkeley, Shorebird Nature Center and the Berkeley Boosters, YMCA and Yacht Club.
On June 18, Latitude 38 was invited to join a midweek sail with nine kids, ages 5 to 10 years, and three chaperones from the Berkeley Yacht Club summer camp. Our departure was preceded by a lineup on the dock to allow Capt. Bob Kingston an opportunity to welcome these young sailors onboard, and provide basic safety instruction on how to sit (feet on the toe rail and both hands holding the grab rail) and move about using the sailor’s handshake while underway.
In the unlikely event of falling overboard, Lifesling instruction was provided, with the reassurance that the boat will quickly come back for you!
With the sails up and the motor turned off, Capt. Bob asked everyone to shut their eyes for a minute to listen to the sounds of the sea, and feel the direction of the wind on their faces. This brief sensory experience put the kids and chaperones in a mood to begin their awareness of the marine wilderness that the Bay encompasses by first observing nearby birds, like the gull, pelican and cormorant. When two dolphins surfaced near the boat, the kids were the first to spot them, and shrieked in surprise and delight. This enthusiasm carried over to a renewed interest in looking for a whale that might have found its way into the Bay.
Wind direction and force on the sails were simply explained by Capt. Bob, while the crew of seven volunteers took turns moving the kids from their positions on the aft cabin top up to the bowsprit and helm station. Under sail, we had the jib rolled out, one reef in the main and a full mizzen as winds began to steadily increase in the Slot while we reached back and forth. The crew nicely hove to for box lunches to be enjoyed while the boat held its position with little to no wave action.
After lunch, the jib was furled and the staysail deployed as winds continued to build to 20 knots. The full keel and heavy displacement gave the boat an easy motion through the building waves, and the decks (and kids!) remained dry during the entire sail. Our final point of sail was a broad reach into the Berkeley Marina fairway, where we were greeted by a sea lion to welcome us back to our berth! While it is a bit difficult to gauge the effect of a four-hour sail on kids this young, the basic Pegasus objectives of marine environmental awareness and crew-role modeling were certainly well met!
