Sailing Education Adventures

It's not widely known that Albert Einstein was a sailor. Indeed his friends gave him a yacht for his 50th birthday in 1929. The sailing magazine Die Yacht described this boat in detail. Sadly, after the Nazis came to power and he moved to America he had to leave this boat behind in Germany, and the boat was eventually confiscated by the state. He continued to sail small boats while working at Princeton.

Einstein spent nearly every summer during the time he lived in the United States at a vacation home where he could be near the water. During the summers of 1937 to 1939, the eccentric German physicist selected quiet Nassau Point as his summer vacation residence. He rented a cottage on Old Cove Road (now known as West Cove Road) where he had access to Peconic Bay, well known for its pristine sailing conditions.

Residents in the area were quite familiar with the strange, straggly white-haired scientist. Though unable to swim, he regularly took out his small dinghy sailboat "Tinef," which was Yiddish for "worthless" or "junk," to sail, drift, and on occasion, even run aground, in the bay in front of his cottage.

Turner Construction Company has has begun work on the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27 in San Francisco in preparation of AC34.

Date: Sunday, Feb. 12
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Location: SEA Docks
Cost: Free

Dear friends, sailors and members.
Our fleet needs a rub-down and some TLC to get ready for the 2012 sailing season. Weather is looking great, let's get out there!

Roll up your sleeves, bring your tools and let's get to it on Sunday, Feb 12 10:00.

Lunch / Snacks will be provided.

Want to sail Catalinas this season? Sail to the Farallon Islands in 2012? Then SEA has new news for YOU!

Two meetings were held last month, one in SF at UCSF Mission Bay and one at Sausalito’s fish Restaurant, to discuss a new ‘bottom-up’ direction for SEASails – i.e. all those sails that come free with membership in SEA: Catalina sails, family, keelboat, racing and adventure sails, even full moon sails. A goodly 25 or so members attended over a pint and niblets: they signed up to their Sails of Interest.

From hereon in,  members will form teams around their Sail(s) of Interest and help each other plan via email lists. They will schedule and help realize the SEA Sails program for 2012.
Please visit each area of interest below to get on the mailing list. You must be logged into the system to see the mail signup info.

• Catalina
• Family
• Keelboat
• Racing
• Adventure

So, now, how do you get involved and then enjoy those 11 free sails a month between April-October? Register on line for the sail(s) that most interests you: your team of similar interested sailors will get in touch and you can help make participation in one or more sails happen. For fully paid up members only!

Questions to Director or John Paul.

Date: Week of Adventure Sail See Below
Time: 18-20
Location: SEA Docks
Cost: $15 Members | $30 Nonmembers
Requirements: ASA 101 or equivalent
Category: Adventure Sails, Workshops

Get ready for offshore sailing in SEA's two hour prep session for all Adventure Sails.
It will be reviewed in our Navigation Planner sessions by skippers with their crew as part of the Trip Planning process and covers:

Incredible timelapse imagery of Richardson Bay by local sailor and Richardson Bay Marina neighbor Alex Pearce.
I hope he will accept our invitation to attend our Community Sailing event this week.
More info at Latitude 38 article

Bottom up!
Something Different for 2012

You, as SEA members and sailors, make the choices, select the destinations, define the practices, choose the skippers.

Over the past 15-20 years, SEA has annually scheduled hundreds of Sails for its members.
Between April and October of any season, a Member could sail many times a month free:

• Advanced Catalina
• Keelboat
• Family
• Racing
• Adventure

These sails cannot happen without member participation. Join us to shape Sails for 2012.

Lack of Communication Triggers USCG Search and Costs Taxpayer $

A recent story about a massive search by USCG for a sailor who took longer than expected to return.
Broken VHF and no cell range triggered the search (Ex-wife who cares).
This is a challenging situation: If your comms gear fails, there's a lot more to worry about than just your own safety.
SEA takes safety and trip planning seriously. See our great Navigation Planner sessions to find out more.

Read more in Seattle Times Article

... Ira (Foreman) was reported missing nearly a week after he was due to arrive on Oahu. The Guard unsuccessfully searched more than 200,000 square miles, then suspended the effort Thursday. He was surprised to hear about the massive effort to find him, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Leigh Cotterell. Winds apparently pushed his boat out of their search zone

...Ira had enough supplies and food, but his VHF radio wasn't working and he was out of cell phone range, Cotterell said.