Hobbies Afloat

At Hawley Pond

By Kendra Bobowick

With feet sinking into a shoreline softened by the spring, three friends stood side-by-side looking across Hawley Pond Thursday, April 9.

Fred Goebel lifted a strap from around his neck and held his remote control box in his hands. Turning, he said, “Here, you try it.” With two-inch-long sticks pivoting up and down, left and right, a model sailboat midpond responded. With waves peeling away from its stern, Mr Goeble’s sailboat cut a leisurely arc toward land. “We’re sailing,” he said.

With their own sets of controls, Jim Walker and Cliff McCarty maneuvered their sails outward to catch a breeze and propel their crafts. At ease, enjoying the sun, and keeping track of wind direction, the three practiced a hobby silently, except for brief thoughts slipping past attentions trained on the boats. “My wife says it’s cheaper than a regular boat,” Mr McCarty said. With a smile prodding his cheeks, Mr Goebel soon turned his attention to geese following one another into the water.

Did the water crafts unnerve them? “They leave us alone; we try not to harass them,” said Mr Goebel. Possibly because they were quiet, making only the sound of water slipping along a foot-long hull, or because they were small, the geese did not dart away as the boats came nearer. Often left alone at their preferred spot at Hawley Pond, the men’s hobby at times attracts younger residents. Again indicating the set of controls hanging from a strap around his neck, Mr Goebel said, “I’ll let kids sail, it’s fun to let them try.”

The friends’ time at Hawley is just for practice and fun, however. As members of the Housatonic Model Yacht Club, they often travel to Hop Brook Lake, a park in Middlebury, where they set their boats in the pond. There, they rely on skills they acquired as sailors. Mr Walker admitted, “I sailed years ago and have the knowledge of what makes it go,” he explained, “Maybe it’s harder — the same rules apply.”

Rather than worry about their yacht club Thursday, they were happy for the cool spring breeze tickling the water’s surface, and a quick visit from a friend who walked his dog past the sailors. Mr Goebel’s advice? “Buy a boat, practice, have fun. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and take it from there.”

Hop Brook Lake is at 4 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury. For information call 203-729-8840. Learn more about the yacht club at Geocities.com/housatonicmodelyachtclub.