User:Bob
From Sea Star
| A ship in harbor is safe. But that is not what ships are for. |
I've always loved sailing, but never did as much of it as I wanted up until 2002. Career, money, time--all conspired against it. As a kid, I learned to sail at summer camps in the Sierras on an old El Toro in the 60's and loved it, but it was really self-taught stuff--sometimes I was totally baffled. In my 20's and 30's, I occasionally got to either do beer-can races or help someone move a boat, and I learned a thing or two, but really not that much. I could name the major parts of a boat and its rigging and get it moving in moderate wind--that's about it.
In Tampa, Florida, I took sailing lessons at the Red Cross. It was great! I think it was 6 Saturdays, and again we sailed in Optimists and in slightly larger Sanibel 13's. Super fun, all inside a small harbor. After that, I again only had the odd pickup crew job.
In October of 2002, now back in the bay area, I decided I wanted to learn more about keelboat sailing. I signed up for classes at a great sailing school in Richmond, CA--Tradewinds. Not the fanciest, not the biggest, not the newest boats, but great instructors and a good fleet of boats with a wide range of types and sizes to select from. And affordable. I took 4 classes Basic Keelboat, Basic Coastal Cruising, Bareboat, and Coastal Navigation. I had a lot of fun doing it, learned a lot, and as a Tradewinds club member, I have access to a great set of boats for trips from 1 to 7 days long.
In the Spring of 2003 I started crewing on racing boats in the SF bay. My regular ride is Petard, a mid-70's Farr 36 cold-molded, fractional rig, sailing out of Berkeley. The owner/skipper is Keith Buck. I've raced on Petard and other boats in the bay and near-coastal area for 2 seasons now, and still thoroughly enjoy it. Racing is a lot different from cruising. I like both. It's interesting to meet the people in either racing or cruising who wouldn't think of doing the other. To me, they're both very satisfying, but for different reasons.
In the Fall of 2004 I qualified as an ASA sailing instructor, and I now teach basic keelboat classes at Tradewinds Sailing on the weekends. I love teaching sailing; it combines my job (teaching) and my passion (sailing).
In December 2004 I bought my first boat--a 1973 Cal 27 "pop-top". In March 2005 I decided on a name: Kestrel. You can't rush boat names; the old name has to be removed for some time or it's bad luck. You'd be amazed, bye the way, how many things are bad luck on boats! But this is a good name for this boat, it fits her personality. She's small and nimble, not showy, but a good, dependable beginner's boat just as Kestrels, or sparrow hawks, are good birds for beginner falconers. I raised and trained kestrels when I was a boy.
In September of 2006, my friend Steve Rosenblum and I bought Sea Star, a Cal 39. I was now a 2-boat owner and needed to sell Kestrel. In December I sold her and became a one-boat owner again.
Bob
