There were more than a few kids tipping over in their sailboats out at Diana Lake this past week, and they were doing it voluntarily.
Prince Rupert's Big Blue Sailing School has helped bring back their kids camp, run by B.C. Sailing and the Mobile Optimist Sailing School (MOSS).
"[B.C. Sailing] sends up a couple of young, fabulous instructors with a truck and trailer and all these little dinghies," said Big Blue Sailing's Paul Bull.
The camp was even extended another week due to the popular demand of the program, which has the instructors separate the days into orientation day, "Wet Wednesdays" and "Pirate Fridays" where kids can dress up as pirates and plunder for lake treasure.
Wet Wednesdays have the kids tip the kayaks and sailboats near the shore to teach the participants about rescue scenarios.
"I've been supporting the school for three of their last four years personally," said Bull.
Kids aged six to 14 were welcomed onto the water by building their own boats and disassembling them when they were finished. The Optimist dinghy is seven feet long and specifically designed for sail training. MOSS provides training for kids with different skill levels and experience and they travel across the Yukon and B.C. every summer, engaging their campers on the water.
Bull's local school which helped sponsor MOSS to come to Prince Rupert, and as an instructor with Sail Canada, Bull offers introductory sailing courses for adults and also teaches crew and cruising courses in town.
His website at www.bigbluesailing.ca tells those interested his background in Ontario's lake country before locating his school on the north Pacific coast.
You can also find the school on Facebook at Big Blue Sailing School.
"It's just a fabulous time," said Bull of MOSS' school.
"It's been really neat."