The Sound View Armada

The Sound View Waterfront looks across Drayton Passage towards Anderson Island.

One of my favorite times during a Sound View Camp summer day is “camper’s choice”. In the late afternoon, most of the camp is drawn to our amazing waterfront to explore beautiful Drayton Passage and the camp sand spit by boat.

As a not-so-young lifeguard, (and the boss), I take the cushy job of patrolling the perimeter in the speed boat so I can shepherd wayward craft back into the fold, or talk with and congratulate campers as they venture out to me, or occasionally rescue and right kayakers who forgot to negotiate waves head on.

“Corcls” are little, round, unsinkable boats

We have a lot of boats at camp and it is wonderful to see them all out at once. I always wonder what the passing boats are thinking when they see the splash of colorful canoes, kayaks, corcls, paddle boards, and safety boats swarming about. Maybe they hear the kids’ laughter first as sound carries very well over water. Most of the boats operating near camp are considerate enough to slow down and we appreciate that. We also enjoy the big boats operating far off - the ones who have no need to slow down - because their wake ends up as big waves for the fleet to practice surfing.

Our older kayaks will be replaced in 2020

Maintaining this large fleet is always a joy and a challenge but well worth it. The fact that camps such as ours integrate water safety with responsible, recreational boating surely helps prevent drowning accidents. Sound View serves as an excellent classroom for seamanship, small boat handling, and a paddling culture. We have a waterfront fund to keep this program up to date - to refresh paddles and PFDs especially.