I booked a sailing afternoon with Captain Doug for my family of 5. The wind Gods were not happy with the hot summer, so we had to postpone the sailing until the conditions were right. Captain Doug was great at communicating about this, he understood that my 3 kids (7,6 & 4) were not going to be happy in those calm conditions because it tends to be too hot and a little boring.
After a couple of reschedules, we went out on a cloudy day. We were a little concerned about rain but this man knows his weather and assured us it would be fine - maybe a couple of specks of rain, and it was exactly like that. Besides, he told us about his bimini (the big umbrella-like top that covers the whole sitting area) in his beautiful Lady Anne, a 30' Catalina boat, and exactly how to dress for the occasion.
My kids were super excited, more about the innards of the boat, which he graciously let them explore, than anything. They went to see the cabins and the head (bathroom), and they were thrilled about the kitchenette. Then he let them grab the wheel, and at the same time he taught my wife and me about pulling the sails up, getting the front sail (Genoa) nice and tight, and a very awesome general 101 about sailing.
We had a blast out there, realizing that Lake Lewisville is bigger than we knew. For a few hours, we forgot about everything else, we were the crew of a sailing boat that was able to harness the wind power to move pretty fast. We zig-zagged through the lake, then under a bridge where the Captain commanded the 3 little crew members to yell their lungs out (while taking some energy off, thanks!!), and then back to the marina. The whole afternoon created some memories that will be with us forever. read more