I Sail Away

This is my kind of fun . . . .

Saturday morning, I headed up to the Cal Sailing Club in Berkeley to do a little sailing.

I have already discussed how I think the Cal Sailing Club is the best value in the San Francisco Bay for sailing.  But, to re-iterate–the Cal Sailing Club is the best value for San Francisco Bay for learning to sail and sailing.  At $60 and 4 hours of volunteer service to the club PER Quarter, it is the most economical–much more like a sailing co-op than a club or a school.

That being said, I showed up to the Cal Sailing Club a little after 9am on Saturday morning.  I helped rig a few dinghys, and around 10am, the instructors arrived and took us out on the bay for some lessons.

We sailed in a Laser Bahia–a lightweight, sport boat-type dinghy.  It is a bit tippy, but has a gennaker and retractable bow-sprit, is REALLY agile, and fast.  The square-topped sails keep the sail area high, and that little boat flies through the water.

A little time at the helm, some gybes and tacks, and then keeping my weight centered for the remainder of the time.

Great fun, great lessons, great people.  I love that little Cal Sailing Club.

A couple of months ago, I bought a Lido-14 dinghy.  I have been plagued with work lately (not a bad thing) and unble to find time to get the trailer wiring working properly.  Yesterday afternoon, I finished an emergency wiring for the trailer, and we were off for an inaugural cruise of the little Lido-14.

Morro Bay is protected and attached to a beautiful estuary called Los Osos.  There can be some stout winds, but there was a thick layer of fog over the area.

We stepped the mast in the parking lot, launched the Lido from the trailer at the public launch, and finished the rigging in the water.

Overall, we spend the day chasing wind (1 – 4 knts/hr) and fighting the ebb.  Fighting is a poor choice of words because it is sailing, after all, and terribly fun.  With an ebb of approximately 3 – 4 nm/hr, our little Lido did a bunch of side-stepping and wind-chasing to play in the bay.

De-rig and unstepping of the mast in the parking lot from the trailer, and a spray-down of fresh water for everything (me included) at home.

As far as an inaugural sail is concerned, the Lido-14 is a tank.  Ours is hull number 216 (you can see the numbers on the hull through a small patch of fiberglass without any gel coat), with original sails, sheets and gear.  The hull is built to a stout thickness, and has a solid feel to it.  It is PERFECT for teaching people how to sail.

The sail did produce a small list of replacement items: new sails (one batten is permanently bent and a bit troublesome in light wind sailing), replacement of all the lines, sheets, and halyards, and replacing a majority of shackles, snatch blocks, and gear.  Lastly, I have a tiny anchor for it, but it needs a rode . . . .

I love that little lido.

The Cal Sailing Club may be the absolute best value in San Francisco for learning and practicing how to sail, repair boats, and just about everything else sailing-related.  In addition to running a fabulous sailing-co-op style club, they also like to barbeque, share with everyone involved, are welcoming, fun-loving, love to race, and even have members who have completed the Mini-Transat–a 30-day race with two legs from France to Brazil solo in 21-foot boats.  Uhhhhm–yeah.

Okay, Saturday rolls around, and myself and a friend roll up to the Cal Sailing Club.  We get a rigging lesson on the relatively new Laser Bahia (fantastic little boat), and then she gets a sailing lesson in a 14-foot Hunter dinghy.  Super-fun!

If you are looking for me during most of the summer, I have an idea where you might start . . . .