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Sailing

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man (sic) is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." - Jack London


For my "Sailing" image gallery, click here.

When I was a young girl (about 15 years old), my parents sent me to a sailing day camp for most of the summer and did so again the next year. For two years I spent most of the day during most of the summer "skippering" a sunfish.

I didn't sail much again for more than 20 years until recently when I decided to rent a boat when I noticed them at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, CA. They were small boats in a relatively small lake (5 acres) and I had to pass a short written test to be allowed to rent one. But it reminded me of the fun that I had when sailing and caused me to be "bitten by the bug" again.

I soon started searching the web for places to do more sailing in a larger area and quickly found "Spinnaker Sailing" in Redwood City, CA. Spinnaker is located on a channel, but has access to San Francisco Bay --- known as some of the most awesome sailing in the world.

Merit 25I signed up for the club including the two basic classes: Basic Keelboat Sailing and Basic Coastal Cruising --- both of which are required to charter boats from Spinnaker.

They have great instructors as well as a wonderful program. I would highly recommend them to anyone in the South Bay area who wants to learn how to sail or who, like me, would like to rekindle their joy of sailing.

Sequoia Yacht Club burgeeIn early 2009 I joined Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City, CA. The club is a good place to socialize with other sailors and they have a very good junior sailing program that my daughter has enrolled in.

On October 18, 2008, I did my first solo sail. I was quite pleased with how much ground (water?) I covered before returning home. A map showing my path is here.

Did a nice sail with a few people on June 14, 2009. The plot of that one is here.

Another nice sail that I had with some friends out of Sausalito on 2009-08-08 on a large catamaran (a Seawind 1160) is viewable here.

A recent sail (10/23/09) with a good friend and my daughter produced this track. I got closer to the Dumbarton bridge than every before. The structure of the non-high-rising parts is quite interesting.

I usually bring my SPOT device with me and If I've been sailing recently (within 5 days) you can see the "track" of my most recent sail on this page.

I have since (in early December) taken the Bare Boat Cruising class and Catamaran Sailing class both at Modern Sailing Academy in Sausalito, CA.