Ski campers take the plunge

Summer is here, schools are out and kids are eager for ways to cool down from the summer heat, so much so that they are walking on water ... well, almost.

"Who do we have next?" asks Mike Toolan from the back of the county's 2006 Ski Nautique.

Toolan heads up the water sports camps at Sugden Regional Park and started the water ski program this past February. Even with two boats making the rounds, campers are lining the shore waiting for their turn, while 87 have their spots on the growing camp waiting list.

Photo by KEN LANE, Collier Citizen

Corbin Craig receives a helping hand from ski camp instructor Mike Toolan, June 9, on Lake Avalon.

"People want it because it is new and it is cool," said Toolan who started out in the park system as a ranger. "People are seeing this and they think it is just awesome. It is really going well." The first of three, two-week long camps which include instructions on skiing, wakeboarding and knee boarding kicked off June 5. Upcoming camps are currently scheduled to begin July 3 and July 31, serve ages five through 17 and will accommodate up to 40 campers. Additional camps are being offered beginning June 19 and July 17. Here organizers are expecting approximately 60 campers who will also be introduced to sailing and windsurfing.

Many campers, some with hours logged at the local skate park, are quick to request their lessons on the wakeboard. Toolan says wants to see their skill on two skis first, the basics for all that follows.

"If you know the basics, everything else will come easier," Toolan said between balancing words of instruction and encouragement to seven-year-old Robert Devito, currently learning on the boom. The eight foot long steel tube jetting off the side of the boat, which is often used for barefoot skiers, is also an ideal teaching tool for the beginner.

"I'm right here with you," Toolan said, just a handshake away from his protégé. The encouragement earned a relieved smile from Devito, and eased his earlier apprehension.

"You can see a little fear in their faces," Toolan said. "I remember how scared I was when dad taught me. He cranked up that 327 Chevy and I started crying." Toolan said that after learning off the side of the boat, skiing off the back is a snap. Skiers progress to a five-foot rope off the boom, still easily within earshot of their instructor. From there, it is on to the long line.

"A lot of them don't want to ski off the boom, then, they are apprehensive about leaving it," Toolan said of the confidence it can help bring. "It can be like weaning a baby off a bottle." Once that is done, they are cutting across and jumping wakes, now in Toolan's rear view mirror instead of over his shoulder.

At the end of each camp, family and friends fill the stands at the lake for a show put on by the campers.

"Look at this place," Toolan said looking at all the lake's amenities.

"It is like Cypress Gardens out here." Sugden Park was founded in 1998. What is now Lake Avalon was formed in 1964 when a rock quarry owned by John Pulling filled with water after hitting an aquifer. Lake Avalon is the only county owned facilities able to serve such a program.