ABLE To Sail teaches life lessons through sailing at Union Reservoir

On a sunny, summer day at Longmont’s Union Reservoir, the water’s surface bursts with color as a fleet of sailboats catch the wind.

Those sailboats are manned by the staff and campers of ABLE To Sail, a day camp for youth 12 through 18. Every week of the 10-week program brings a new batch of campers, who learn how to handle negative emotions and influences as they build sailing skills.

Ainsley Reid, left, and instructor, Leah McKay, prepare to set sail as Diane McKinney, camp leader, observes on the right on Tuesday. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)

This summer is ABLE To Sail’s 12th year in operation. Diane McKinney, executive director of the nonprofit, said the program has served more than 2,500 campers since it began.

“It evolves as I evolve,” McKinney said of the camp. “’Teaching self-esteem’ is kind of becoming the new tagline.”

On top of reinforcing everyone’s ability to sail, “ABLE” is also an acronym: A Better Life Experience. McKinney’s desire to start the nonprofit arose from her own struggles with self-worth growing up.

“I always felt there must be something wrong with me,” McKinney said. “I became the ‘not good enough’ girl.”

McKinney explained how those feelings led to her taking drugs for the first time at 18. “Painful belief seeks pain relief,” she said. “That led to 30 years of addiction.”

McKinney fell in love with sailing roughly 20 years ago, when she took the reins of her friend’s sailboat during a storm. She bought her first Sunfish soon after.

For McKinney, sailing and self-esteem have a lot in common. To turn a sailboat left, you steer right. This change in thinking, McKinney explained, is just like how she began seeing herself as a valuable person.

“Every lesson in sailing is a lesson in life,” McKinney said. “Predominantly, everything is, ‘How do I change my thinking?’”

As campers learn about capsize recovery and knot tying, they gain tools for off the water, as well. McKinney begins each day with a group discussion that affirms every camper’s importance and right to be there. Campers also fill out a survey on the first day answering questions related to how they see themselves.

“The shift that goes on throughout the week is amazing,” McKinney said. “They’re so happy to be among peers and realize, ‘Other people feel exactly like me.’”

Camp members take their boats out with an instructor on Union Reservoir on Tuesday. ABLE To Sail is spending another summer teaching youth self-empowerment through sailing. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)

This week, the sixth week of camp, has around 15 campers. Most come from Longmont and other parts of Boulder County, but ABLE To Sail has previously taught kids from Wyoming and Texas. One in three campers return to camp the next year, McKinney said.

Some of those campers have even gone on to become staff members. Reifi Rodriguez, head of staff, was introduced through ABLE To Sail when he attended the camp as a student at Boulder’s September School.

“It’s a life-changing thing,” Rodriguez said. “Not just for the kids — for the staff.”

Rodriguez is also studying special education at the University of Northern Colorado.

“I like to spend my time doing things that I believe can help people the most, and this is one of them,” he said of ABLE To Sail.

In the afternoon, the campers pair off and take their sailboats out onto Union Reservoir. After they return to shore, every camper shares something they think they did well that day.

In terms of the future of ABLE To Sail, McKinney said she’s open to passing the torch to another leader. She said she never imagined her camp would make it 10 years, let alone 12.

Camp members with ABLE To Sail take their boats out with an instructor on Union Reservoir on Tuesday.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)

“I’m not thinking of throwing in the towel today, or anything,” McKinney said. “But I’m looking around at who could take it from me.”

Another former camper, Leah McKay, joined the staff in 2020. She pursued a different summer job last summer, but she returned to ABLE To Sail this year.

“Coming back this summer, I can’t express how much happier I am,” McKay said. “This camp is just very uplifting, in a lot of ways.”

Campers can still sign up for the last few weeks of ABLE To Sail. To register, visit abletosail.org/able-sail-camps.

Camp members with ABLE To Sail take their boats out with an instructor on Union Reservoir on Tuesday. (Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)