Our Sailing Resume

It's probably fair to provide our sailing resume before people with no sailing or even boating background trust us with their lives.

My first sailing experience was in summer camp, sailing a Sunfish. I was in summer camp for a few weeks and got to sail every day. They didn't provide any training, they just turned me loose with the boat to figure it out on my own. By the third day, I had figured out sailing well enough I could get the Sunfish to plane, meaning it was going fast enough it rode over the water like a surfboard rather than in the water like a row boat. I was hooked. After that I sailed every chance I got, mostly just Sunfish or similar boats.

Solings rounding a course marker

I lived in Bermuda for 1983 - 1984. I quickly found a permanent spot on a racing crew, manning the foredeck of a Soling. A Soling is a former Olympic class 29 foot racing boat. We raced the Soling every weekend for a full racing season finishing fourth in the nationals. I had permission from the owner to take the Soling out anytime I liked, which I did whenever I could find a volunteer crew member.

International One Design boats with spinnakers flying

I also sub'ed on other racing crews, usually working the jib on International One Designs, a classic 33 foot racer. The big event for me was participating in the Round the Island Race on an offshore racer. It's a two-day race with an overnight in the St. Georges harbor. By the second day I was trusted enough to handle the flying of the spinnaker plus the usual jib work. We led the race the second day nearly to the finish line, being overtaken by a boat twice our length, but we still won our class. Hmmm, memories.

Leaving Bermuda, I knew lots about sail trimming, boat handling, and racing tactics. Then there were the busy work decades where there wasn't much sailing. In 2016, as part of the retirement plan, Helga and I joined the American Sailing Association and started working our way through their curriculum. Helga likes boats and was interested in sailing. I knew lots about racing but almost nothing about cruising, especially the systems aboard a cruising vessel. Most of the boats I raced had no engine, not even a little outboard. So we took the classes together.

(L-R) Helga, our instructor Michelle, fellow student Ben, a Catalina 22 on Lake Tahoe

In 2016 we took ASA 101, Basic Keel Boat Sailing on Lake Tahoe. This class teaches you the basic sailing abilities on a 22 foot long keel boat. As for all ASA training, there is a written test and a performance evaluation, so passing any class is not guaranteed. It seemed like most of the time sailing was spent doing man overboard drills.

Dream, a 2005 Hunter 36

Living aboard Dream, studying for tests

Captain H, our instructor

This spring we got a package deal from an outfit in St. Petersburg, FL. We signed up for ASA 103, Coastal Cruising, ASA 104, Bareboat Chartering, and ASA 114, Cruising Catamaran Certification. 103 is supposed to get you ready for coastal cruising on a 30 foot boat, and 104 is supposed to prepare you for bareboat chartering a boat 36 feet long. We did both classes on a Hunter 36 that we lived aboard. 

Catamarans have a really nice aft deck, ideal for breakfast

Helga at the helm of the Leopard.

After that we moved onto a Leopard 39 catamaran for four days, two of which were the 114 certification, and two days on our own as a bareboat charter. Bareboat means we chartered the boat but didn't hire a crew, we were our own crew.

The catamaran is an interesting  boat to sail. They don't heel much, but they can either be flipped or dismasted if they are sailed overpowered. The main sail on this catamaran was huge and   we learned to respect the main sheet.

Sailing Sonrisa, not yet renamed to Green Rosetta, back from the Golden Gate Bridge during the sailing trial before we bought her.

We bought our own boat in July, a Tartan 46 footer, and have been out sailing it on San Francisco Bay now over a dozen times. We have had it out past the Golden Gate Bridge on several occasions.

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