Sailing Education Adventures

The ship is 1201 feet long and displaces 166,000 tons.

We are happy to announce that  ASA 101 Basic Keelboat classes are now open for registration.

Cost: $399
Location: Clipper Yacht Harbor, Sausalito
Prerequisites: None 
Days: Four Days, 32 hrs instruction!
Two Weekends Saturday + Sunday 8:30 - 16:30
Boats: Catalina 16.5 Keelboat

Thanks to the leadership of Maintenance Chief Thad Glass, SEA members met on Sunday, March 18, Friday Mach 23 and meet again tomorrow for a great week of boat and dock updates.

John Paul Watts, Thad Glass, Kenichi Uyeda, Andy Wright, Dale Riva, Baron Hershberger, Bill Crowley and Joyce Jones have been working hard and braving cold weather to get the fleet in shape for 2012.

Catalina 16.5s had their bottoms cleaned like never before - they are smooth and fast!

Dale has re-epoxy'd rudders and done a big reorg and labeling effort in our dock box. Bill has powerwashed the safety boats. He cleaned them up, checked all safety/teaching gear, lines for towing and docking, updated the bridles for towing. He also created 2 towing lines and bridles for Santanas (out of line donated by JP).
Joyce measured and re-calibrated Santana anchor rodes, checked on all safety gear on Catalinas, inventoried Santana sails with JP.

SEA's Summer Camp and Spring Sailing schedule are now online and ready for registratoin!
Please let your Sailing friends and families know.  Below is our schedule for 2012

Spring Sailing

Spring season kicks into action in Sausalito. Details: http://sfsailing.org/spring
8 Sessions on Wednesdays
Time: 3pm to Sunset
Dates: April 18 - June 6

Summer Camp Sessions

10 Weeks at the Marin Yacht Club in San Rafael - June 25th to August 31st.
Details at http://sfsailing.org/camps

The SYC 2011-2012 midwinter racing series wrapped up on Sunday, March 4^th. Shockwave came into this final day at second place in the standings and it was our goal to not lose any ground to the competition. The series was to consist of 5 races spread throughout Nov to March. However due to lack of wind some races were abandoned. To help make up for this, two races were scheduled for Sunday. Myself (Adam James) and the great crew of Dustin Dovala and Joe Wong motor sailed out to the start line in splendid weather. The sun was shining and the winds were consistently blowing from the North.

The race committee gave us Course 1 which we identified by the red and white flag they hoisted from their boat. We sailed well but due to some stiff competition we finished 5^th in the first race. Between races we discussed how we could improve for Race #2 of the day and this helped us out a lot. For Race #2 we had the best start in our division. When we rounded the first mark, we were better prepared with the pole and smoothly sailed downwind. These improvements helped us to be the second boat to cross the finish line, but due to our boat’s rating, we owed the 3^rd boat some time and we ended up taking 3^rd place in this race.

The Department of Boating and Waterways — a.k.a. Cal Boating or DBW — is still on Governor Brown's list of agencies to kill.

If you want to keep access to affordable sailing (Some of SEA's boats are possible with the help from DBW funding), or the Delta as weed-free as possible, or you use boat launches, or you ever use pump-out stations, or you like that a government agency has your back, or . . . the list goes on . . . then be sure your representatives know how you feel. Budget subcommittee meetings in Sacramento are scheduled for this Wednesday, March 21 (2:30 p.m., Capitol Room 2040), as well as March 28 (9:00 a.m., Capitol Room 447), and if you can't attend the meetings personally we're encouraging you to contact the subcommittee members to urge them to vote no on Brown's proposal to eliminate DBW.

The latest update from the Recreational Boaters of California notes that the proposal "may be removed from the state budget process and pursued instead as a formal government reorganization plan." If that happens, the proposal won't be heard or voted on, but since it's still on the schedule, it's a good idea to let your voice be heard. See RBOC's Call to Arms for each committee members contact info.

NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Asks Bay Area Boaters to Watch Out for Whales

NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary advises San Francisco Bay Area boaters to watch out for and steer clear of whales. Multiple whale species migrate into the area in large numbers during the spring and summer. Boaters should use caution year-round, but springtime presents a higher chance of coming into close contact with whales.

Date: March 25 Sunday
Time: 10:00-16:00
Location: directions
Cost: Free
Food: Lunch provided by SEA
Sailing follows for participants

SEA needs YOU to get its ships into shape. Refreshments provided all day on the trawler!
Join us Friday starting at 10:00 and help us get our fleet back into shape for the season.

There is plenty of work to be done to get our fleet ready for the summer season.  If you have not attended a maintenance party before, no experience is necessary and everything you need will be provided.  We simply need some willing helpers :)

Please RSVP below so we can plan our food and refreshments accordingly.