East Lyme — Eleven-year-old Vruti Patel clapped her hands as the 43-foot catamaran Destiny II brought her and five other members of her family out into Niantic Bay on Saturday morning.

It’s everything the day deserved, too, applause, for a truly collaborative effort by the community.

The Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut hosted its “Take a Kid Sailing” initiative for the second time this summer, with both sessions maxed out at 35 participants.

Fourteen boats combined to allow children from around the state and their families to spend the morning on the water, leaving from Niantic Bay Yacht Club.

“It’s a great opportunity for someone who would never get to experience this,” said Nilam Patel of Niantic, Vruti’s cousin, who also had her curious 6-year-old twin sons, Sai and Sid on board the Destiny II. “Just to be on the water, it’s the first time for all of us. These guys are kind of taking it all in.”

The program originated when Ken Shluger, president of the Niantic Bay Sailing Academy, approached Miracle League executive director Dave Putnam.

It was Putnam who spearheaded the $550,000 construction of the Miracle League field which sits on the grounds of East Lyme’s Flanders Elementary School. The Miracle League provides programs for children throughout southeastern Connecticut who have physical, cognitive and developmental challenges.

The spring season features baseball, lacrosse, kickball and dance. The summer brings iCan Bike, dance and adaptable kayaking.

This is the third year for the sailing event.

“I knew what he does with the Miracle League, which is just amazing,” Shluger said of Putnam. “And I said, ‘Could we do something as a partnership because we have boats, we have facilities?’ He said, ‘You know, we have these programs for disabled children and we do all kinds of sports and we’ve never had sailing.’

“I said, ‘Well, we could do that.’ ... The people who do it love to do it. Sometimes it’s hard to ask people to do something. They think it’s a favor. But once they’ve done it they realize they get more out of it than they put in.”

The gracious hosts on the Destiny II were Doug and Helen McDonald. The McDonalds lived in Lyme from 1986-2018, at which time they retired and sold their house, deciding to live on the 2000 Fountaine-Pagot model boat, heading as far south as the Bahamas in the winter months.

There were 12 members of the Patel family participating Saturday, including Nilam Patel and her twin sons on the Destiny II along with Nilam’s aunt and uncle Shobhana and Ishvar Patel and their daughter Vruti. Nilam’s husband Amit and her 10-year-old son Maanas were on another boat with other members of the family, Nilam said.

Sai and Sid — their mom often combines their names, addressing them as Sai-Sid — took full advantage of the Destiny II’s trampoline netting, stretching across the bow, as did Vruti. The trio laid face down to watch the water rushing by in between the twin hulls of the catamaran.

Nilam found out about “Take a Kid Sailing” while searching online.

“We are so thankful to Dave Putnam and the two people that own the boat,” Nilam Patel said. “We’re so grateful for the opportunity. It’s a great learning activity to be out on the water.”

For Putnam, it’s always been about the looks on the children’s faces, ever since conducting his first iCan Bike event, which precipitated his desire to raise funds for the Miracle League field.

“We want to integrate as much as possible,” Putnam said. “It’s for the whole area, the whole region. I’d have to go back and look but we’ve had people from Suffield, West Hartford, all over the state. We want to be inclusive to everybody, regardless of what their disability is or if they have a disability or not.

“We’ll try to make it work, whatever we can do to make it work. To see the smiles on their faces, to see the parents get to do something with their kids they might not have a chance to do ... I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com