Classes

Well the boy scout in me has surfaced again. After sailing for 5 years (and learning to sail by trial and error) I have finally decided to get some real training. I figure that after taking a series of organized courses I will be more prepared to handle emergencies on the water (thus complying with the boy scout motto: Be Prepared!) I just completed the basic keelboat class through Club Nautique in Alameda CA and received my US Sailing certification. Tne next course is basic cruising followed by bareboat cruising and ultimately CPM and OPM. Through taking these courses I hope to better understand the correct procedures for sailing so I feel more prepared on the water. Hopefully, this process will also make my adventures on the water safer and more relaxing. The downside to taking classes is that I do not get to use my boat as much as I would like. Oh well, life is full of trade offs.

Pictues

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New Years

On New Year's Eve we motored Wildcat from its slip in Alameda to South Beach Harbor in San Francisco. It was a beautiful day, clear as a bell and in the mid 60's. Unfortunately there was virtually no wind. Certainly not enough to make any progress under sail. I guess we could have let the tide pull us across the bay, but we wanted to get into the slip before the Marina's office closed and also wanted to meet up with our friends Pete and Bethany for cocktails (they had their boat Nanaimo at South Beach for the holiday as well.

We had a great time, as usual, with P&B and Lynne and I went to the Opera Theaters to see an Indie movie set in China during WWII. Interesting movie, but the subtitles scrolled through a bit quickly. Afterwards I hailed down a limo to take us back to the boat. We watched he midnight fireworks from the back to the boat while in the slip. Very civilized!.

The next morning we had breakfast with P&B, and the attempted to sail home. P&B kept the sail up, but mid way across the bay I took my sail down and motored because we had another party to go to. It was another beautiful day and I wish we had the time to sit on the boat, regardless how slow it was going.

Total distance traveled 16 miles.