The Joy of Sail and the Kids that Learn
Round the world, somewhere, at any time, there are kids learning to be sailors - even very BIG kids learning to be sailors. Following is a scene occurring at the Thames Yacht Club, but could be happening anywhere in the world 
'Instructor towing young sailor - photo by Tim Cook'
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" 'Goodbye, life,' " says Olivia Shluger, as she smiles across the water. "That's what he said. 'Goodbye, life. I'm going to crash, I'm going to sink, I'm going to die.' "
Shluger tells this story even as her subject, 12-year-old Matt Tytla, cuts his stubby boat back and forth across the wind, executing perfect pivots at each end of a "box" marked out with orange floats.
"Matt wouldn't even go sailing the first day," says Liz Santovasi, the chief sailing instructor for the Thames Yacht Club.
"Matt," she yells. "Are you the last one left?"
"Yep," answers Matt, his face set in ferocious concentration.
"OK," says Santovasi. "You win."
It turns out that Matt, of Waterford, wins a lot at this nautical game of musical chairs, but when asked how he honed his skills, he's modestly laconic.
"I've done it before at certain camps and things," he says. "Just a year or two. At the camp I went to we always did it in groups of three because we didn't have enough boats."
Matt is one of six children piloting the boats known as "Optimists" on the Thames River on this hazy, sunny day last week.
They crisscross the waves - tiny boats bearing big boat names like Phantom, Jaws, Go Fish, Popeye and Destroyer - as they try to stay in the box and force their opponents out.
"No collisions!" shouts Santovasi, not for the last time, as they crunch into a scrum in the middle.
Santovasi, 18, of Old Saybrook, teaches the class with the help of Shluger, 17, of Glastonbury, and 15-year-old Nora Greene of New London.
The three preside over their charges from a skiff, from which they coax and cajole and shout instructions. They also come to the rescue of those who find themselves in irons or in danger of drifting away.
So when Christopher Philopena, 12, of Manchester, who's piloting a sailboat for just the second time today, gets stuck, Santovasi shouts, "Christopher, pull in your sail, OK?"
Christopher, frustrated, stubbornly keeps at it.
Is he afraid to be out in the middle of the river like this with so little experience?
"A little," he says, "but, you know, the instructors are the best. They tell me what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve upon it, so I don't really feel that scared. Some people, initially - I'm not going to name any names - they were afraid to go in the boats, but I really didn't have any problem."
Others, like Mackenzie and Morgan Gagne, 14 and 12, of Stonington, have had a fair amount of experience sailing with their families and enjoy learning how to sail on their own.
"It's a lot of fun," says Mackenzie. "I get to learn how to do stuff."
Today she is partnered with Jessica Harpell, 9, of Waterford, who, shortly into the lesson, gets smacked in the nose by the boom.
Michael Debiasi, 12, of Waterford, is similarly wounded, struck by the boom in the back of the head.
Clearly, a key skill in sailing is knowing when to duck.
None of the injuries is serious, though, and the victims, after taking breaks, are soon back at it.
After each contest to see who is last to stay in the box, the instructors pull up the buoys and move them to make the box smaller.
"Ewww," says Santovasi as she hauls up the rope. "Jellyfish tentacles!"
A pink goop clings to the rope.
"I don't understand how they get on the line like that," says Shluger.
"They just swim into it," says Greene.
"Don't they see it?" asks Shluger.
"They don't have eyes!" says Greene.
Jellyfish, they say, have been bad this summer. So, when it's time for a swim break and all the boaters tie up to the raft they call the "Queen Merry," only a few brave the water.
"We have vinegar," which is good for jellyfish stings, says Santovasi, trying to encourage them to swim. "They don't hurt that badly. I was out here for an hour last week and I only got stung twice."
For Santovasi, teaching sailing is, perhaps, as natural as breathing.
"I've been sailing since I was 8," she says. She started teaching at 16. Today, a month away from her sophomore year at Boston University, she's a member of that school's sailing team.
And she loves her job.
"I like that it's outside and that it's on the water," she says. "And we can go swimming, and I love sailing . and the kids are really cute; they're really nice, and they're very interesting.
"This is the best summer job anyone could ever have," she says. "You can quote me on that."
by Kenton Robinson,TheDay.com/Sail-World 
