The camp was desperate to find someone to take over the canoeing and sailing in the mid-fifties, so sisters Nancy, Judy and Pat O’Tool took over the job. “The three of us took the sailboat called “Snipe” out on the lake and instead of laying on its side, it would totally capsize. Over and over and over it rolled,” said Pat. “It pitched Judy into the water. We had a heck of a time righting it and getting back to shore!”

“I always thought sailing was so cool,”said Holly Foss (1966-72), “ but not many people advanced to that level. It was such a joy to be on that sailboat. It had two sails and it was very challenging, but we had to tip it over and right it for our Red Cross certification.”

Mary Lou Goggin (1950-61) was not old enough to sail when she arrived, but learned some skills as a C.I.T. There were no instructors for sailing, so during her free time at lunch, she had her friends help her assemble the smaller sailboat, so she could take it out on Loon Lake. Camp and sailing influenced her and to this day she sails on San Francisco Bay and has boated to Mexico on a trip of a lifetime.

Dorthe Balaskas, director, gave permission in 1964 for her sailboat to be used at camp, but according to Cara Prieskorn (1966-71), “–the coolest thing was the Kiltie sisters, who brought up their own sailboat to camp”. Despite the fact there never seemed to be enough wind and the rigging was difficult to hoist, Cara was both envious and looked up to the girls who were a few years older.

In 1967 Susan Kilte was a junior counselor and taught sailing and canoeing, The Lonestar LS-13 was an aqua blue thirteen-foot sloop made by Chrysler. ‘The boat went to camp with us for three years. It never got damaged at camp, nor did it ever go over, except to teach campers what to do if the boat capsized.”

She taught with her boat instead of the fifteen-foot Raven owned by the camp, which which only seated two. (Susan described it as a rowboat with sails.) She had been sailing since she was ten and if the wind was right, as a teacher, she could sail across the lake to the boy’s camp and wave to her “summer squeeze”.

In the “Loon” 1968 under favorite sayings Susan’s quote was, “Don’t bang the rowboat up against the sailboat, girls.” She also received a glowing report from Dorthe: “Susan did fine job. She has taught the basic skills of sailing so that they understand them and also made it an enjoyable experience for the campers. I consider her a great asset in the sailing program.”

Carolyn Waits, who had already learned to swim at Bay City High Schol and had her junior lifesaving badge, loved the sailing in the fifties. She remembered a day when the center board of the sailboat was dropped in six feet of water and she had to dive down to the board. “I don’t know if it was part of a test or if it just accidently fell in, but it was heavy!”

Some of Penny Mitchell’s firsts in the fifties were canoeing and sailing, but despite liking the sailing, it was the class that was held before lunch. “To tell you the truth, I was always so hungry that I could not enjoy it, but I loved canoeing and have done it in my adult life.”

And then there were the self-proclaimed screwup Missy Butsch. “If it could happen, it was us. And it happened. We sunk the sailboat.”

What were your sailing experiences like?