Home are the sailors

Home is the sailor, home from sea:
Her far-borne canvas furled
The ship pours shining on the quay
The plunder of the world.

A.E. Houseman

The sailing course is over and we had a good flight home on Saturday. When we stepped back into winter in Grand Rapids we knew not to complain about a few days of chilly weather in Florida. The bright side of the fronts that moved through St. Pete is that they brought plenty of wind and some of the best sailing we have had in the 3 times we've taught this course. We didn't return with plunder (although Abigail and Devin gave a wonderfully entertaining presentation on pirates), but we returned with 20 new sailors, some of whom improved on prior skills and others who were introduced to an entirely new experience. Everyone in the class was successful in meeting the goals of the Eckerd College Advanced Sailing Course.

The staff at Eckerd was most impressed with this group of students because of their friendly personalities, good attitudes and genuine interest in learning to sail. Scott and I want to thank the class for being good representives Calvin College and making our teaching so enjoyable.