Setting Sail: Moraine club celebrates past, focuses on future
WORTH TWP — The Moraine Sailing Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer. While proud of its history, the club's focus is on the future.
The club offers several programs to help promote not only sailing, but also the camaraderie that exists within the club's membership, which currently numbers 197.
Ten Learn to Sail days are held throughout the season with a number of instructors present to help members strengthen their skills.“You show up for a Learn to Sail day and you see the new members get excited,” said Joe Shields, who trains the club's instructors. “Sailing is sort of a mystery and their eyes open wide when they figure out part of the plot. It's contagious.”The club owns 47 boats, ranging in length from 8 feet to 19 feet. They are available at each Learn to Sail session.Bill and Kerry Baur of Cranberry Township were on the water for the Aug. 15 session in separate Sunfish boats.“We recently went out with one of the instructors, but this was the first time on our own,” Kerry said. “It's not as easy as it looks, but it looks like fun once you get the hang of it.”
“I always had that thought of doing it,” Bill Baur said of sailing. “One of our neighbors is a member here and was talking about it. That sparked my interest again.”Preceding each sailing season, which runs from April 15 to Oct. 31, the club offers a pair of Intro to Sailing sessions over the winter.“It gets people out of their cabin-fever mood,” said club Commodore Bill Paviol. “We talk about sailing and ask people why they want to learn. For many of them, it's a bucket-list thing.“I'd say that only 30 percent of new members have prior knowledge of sailing. We teach from the beginning.”There are 14 specific skills one needs to learn to sail.“Most of them come on the water, but some deal with rigging a boat and properly putting things away,” Shields said. “Once a person completes that training, an instructor signs off on it and they can reserve a boat here any day during the season.”One must be a club member to take part in any of its activities. The base membership fee for a family is $75 every year, with additional fees depending on which activity is desired.
The club was founded in 1970, the same year the man-made Lake Arthur and Moraine State Park were opened.It was during Shields' time of leading the club as commodore (1999-2000) that programs such as Learn to Sail were first offered.
“Up until that point, our club was just for racing and our numbers were dwindling,” said Shields, who joined the club in 1982. “I remember one year, we were down to 80-some members.”Racing is still alive and well in the club, with up to 10 competitions held each year.“Some clubs that remain just for the established sailor have floundered,” Shields said. “Switching to programs that provide instruction, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”Instructors provide invaluable time and knowledge on a volunteer basis. They must all be trained and remain versed in CPR, first aid and AED (defibrillator) use.Eleanor Martin was recently certified as an assistant instructor, putting in nearly 40 hours of training and completing tests both in the classroom and on the water. She is just 17 years old and will be eligible to become a full-fledged instructor next year.Her time with the club began by attending a youth sail camp several years ago.“That feeling you get when out on the water, it's hard to describe,” she said after she'd helped several novice sailors launch their boats into Watts Bay on the lake's North Shore. “Some people pick it up easier than others. Most have a good idea of what to do after three classes.”
Lake Arthur is a difficult challenge for people just learning to sail, but as Paviol explained, it prepares them.“It's very breezy here, and the wind comes from different angles, from the north, from the south ... and it can change direction in five seconds,” he said. “You have to be able to adjust to it.“If you can learn to sail here, you can learn to sail anywhere.”
The club helps to foster a love of Lake Arthur, too, which has become a home away from home for its members, who reside both in and outside of Butler County.“I grew up in Carlisle,” said Paviol, who now lives near Bridgeville. “My dad was into sailing, and I spent so much time on the water when I was a kid.“I moved to this side of the state and started sailing here in 1996. I already had that love of the outdoors and can tell you, Lake Arthur is a jewel. I'm out here almost every weekend during the season. My wife asked me, 'Why don't you just move out to the lake?'”The annual Youth Sail Camp was scheduled the week leading into the Moraine State Park Regatta, which was to be held Aug. 1 and 2. Both events were canceled due to COVID-19.More than 30 youths were expected at this year's camp.“We hope to bring it back next year,” Paviol said. “It's a blast. Everything we teach is sanctioned by U.S. Sailing. We do it by the book, but we also have fun.”At last year's regatta, the club gave free sailboat rides, and Sam Walker took advantage of the offer. The Portersville resident is now a club member and she plans on becoming an instructor next year.“I grew up swimming and have always been an outdoors-type person,” Walker said, “but I never humored sailing until recently. I started showing up at races to help out any way I could.”Her involvement with the club has given Walker reason to spend even more time at Moraine State Park.“I love it here,” she exclaimed. “I live for it.“This club is so amazing. There's so much community and it starts with Bill (Paviol). He has so much enthusiasm and brings everybody together.”“Sailors are naturally a friendly group,” Paviol said. “They'll help you figure something out; that's just the way they roll.”
