Thanks to Emma Davidson with the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, youth in Williams Lake had an opportunity to learn water safety, boat handling and sailing skills recently.
For the past two weeks, the Mobile Optimist Sailing School (MOSS) has been hosting sailing camps based at Scout Island Nature Centre, and setting sail on Williams Lake.
Davidson herself learned to sail when she was 13 years old and involved in the Sea Cadets.
"It was so much fun and I had so many opportunities," she said, noting sailing helped give her a lot of confidence as a young person.
So Davidson was hoping to bring similar opportunities to current youth in the community.
"I was doing some research and knew [MOSS] hadn't been in town in the last 10 years," she said. She reached out to BC Sailing, who offers the MOSS program, and found they had availability this summer.
Davidson connected with Delani Hulme-Lawrence, program and communications manager for BC Sailing who organizes the MOSS schedule for the summer.
Hulme-Lawrence said the program is aimed at establishing more sailing initiatives in communities without sailing infrastructure. The program helps cultivate interest in the sport, as well as provide water and boat safety instruction at affordable rates to make it accessible to more young people.
The mobile program travels to communities with instructors, boats and safety equipment and is open to youth ages seven to 14 years old. The cost to participate this year was $300 per youth for the week.
MOSS was hosting camps in Fort St. James, Surrey, Revelstoke, Nakusp, Osoyoos, Gabriola Island, Ucluelet, Cowichan Bay and Williams Lake this summer.
In Williams Lake, the program was sold out, with all 15 possible spots taken for both weeks.
Locally, the MOSS program was able to also partner with the Scout Island Nature Centre, using the centre as a base, which she said was ideal.
"All of it was so perfect," she said.
Hulme-Lawrence said she has heard a lot of positive feedback from participants and parents so far, with inquiries about the possibilities of returning next year already.
She said applications for communities to request the program are due in October and registration for next summer will be open for participants in March of 2025.
Hulme-Lawrence hopes to be able to engage with more Indigenous communities through the program, something she has a passion for because she herself is First Nations and loves to sail.
"I could talk about it forever," she said, adding she started sailing when she was just four years old.
"Sailing really, really changed my life," she said.
Hulme-Lawrence not only works for BC Sailing, but is also a member of the Canadian Sailing Development Squad.
Students participating in the second week seemed to be enjoying themselves and were just bringing their boats in off of the water when the Tribune stopped by.
Griffin Nairn, nine years old, said it was his first time sailing but he'd watched a number of videos on sailing before coming to the camp, which helped him get a sense of the sport.
"It's fun," he said.
