Four Washington-area children participated in the weeklong Youth Sailing Program hosted by the Little Washington Sailing School. The sailing program, which is in its sixth-year, takes place on the Pamlico River in downtown Washington.

This week’s sailing program was the first of 10 sessions for the summer-long program on the river.

Three of the children did the week-long program last year with LWSS, while another got his sails wet for the first time.

Chris McLaurin, who had his first sailing experience, thought it was pretty simple once he got the hang of it.

One of the instructions the students learned during Tuesday’s class was tacking.

“Tacking, which is a 180-degree turn, was probably the hardest thing,” McLaurin said.

“We were riding in the wind and we’d turn and almost flip,” said Jack Shoemaker another LWSS student.

McLaurin and Kevin Shoemaker were teamed on the same boat with McLaurin managing the jib, which is the front sail. Shoemaker handled the back sail and steered the boat.

During the week, the children learned how to bring the boat in off the water and practiced what to do if the boat capsized. One of the requirements to participate in LWSS is to pass a swimming test.

“We did some capsizing drills where we flipped the boat and we had to get the boat back standing,” said Jack Shoemaker.

Kevin Shoemaker, older brother to Jack and Jake, said one of his favorite parts of sailing school was getting wet on the hot days.

“Sailing is fun, but it is also scary,” said Jake Shoemaker. “I wish there was more wind because I like it when it’s windy, but not too windy.”

As students navigated the rivers, LWSS teachers kept an eye on their students, following along behind them in their own boats.

“They are just smiling the whole time and had a great a time out there,” said Zak Matthews, lead sailing instructor at LWSS. “They were all doing great for a day with the amount of wind we had.”