The Guru of the Lakes

Werner Meybaum isn’t too interested in saying much about himself or his story when you first meet him. He’s just interested in teaching you how to sail. The resident sailing guru of Lake Calhoun, Meybaum is there everyday, from 3 p.m. til dusk, teaching people how to sail, and giving them words of wisdom along the way.  

When approached for an interview, Meybaum simply replied that anything anybody wanted to know about him could be found on his blog, and if a reporter wanted to find out what he was all about, she’d better get in the boat.  

“Good luck!” people call from the dock; everyone seems to know our sailing teacher. 

With some trepidation, this Patch reporter stepped into the small sailboat, in the hopes of getting the Yoda-like Meybaum to open up about himself. Why is he at Lake Calhoun every day, for example, teaching anyone who wants to learn to sail, for free?  

“Just breathe,” he says, as he hands me the rudder. “Breathe in, breathe out, until you feel the power of the present moment.”  

We set sail.  He tells me to push out the rudder, just a bit, and to pull in the sail, which I do, with my teeth, as I only have two hands.  

“Now pull!” he says.

I pull the rope.

“I mean the rudder, always the rudder.”  I do as he says.  And we go on like this, sailing back and forth in shallow water, near the dock.

“I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about yourself, Werner.”  

“It’s all on the blog,” he says. “Right now, just feel the wind, and the beautiful lake.”  

I do. It is a beautiful day, with a slight wind, and the sun shining. It’s September 11.  

Meybaum promises that we can be done now. So we go back to the dock, and he jumps out, pushing the boat out and forcing me to sail by myself.  

So much for the interview. Werner calls from the dock.

“Push! Push! Change sides now.”  

I sail to the edge of the buoys, come about and turn back, and amazingly land back at the dock. He snaps my picture with his camera, and is already on to the next person. 

Maybaum does say quite a bit about himself on his blog. Born in East Prussia, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia) during World War II, he came to the United States when he was 19. In 2006 he remembered the joy of sailing. “My life has never been the same,” he writes.  Now he teaches others to sail, every day. 

He writes:  

2011 is our 5th year sailing lake calhoun ... in magic ... from afternoon til sunset ... ... ... weather ... health ... energy permitting ... from afternoon til sunset ... 7 days a week ... 

thank you for your help ...

We are grateful ... to all ... that sailed with us ... that brought meaning into our life ...