Sailing Education Adventures

Matthew, got interested in sailing when he was living in a 19th floor apartment on the Toronto waterfront looking out at the sailboats in Toronto harbor. A beautiful vista dotted with sailboats of all sorts piqued his interest.

What he enjoyed the most about sailing are moving under wind power alone, the beautiful curves of the sails, the quiet, satisfied feeling of returning to the marina at dusk after a beautiful day of sailing, the friendship of other sailors, getting plugged in to the rhythm of the bay, the ocean, the weather, and marine life.

His first sailing experience was sneaking into a dinghy sail at the Canadian Scout Jamboree in 1985. He and his friend skipped the lesson and cut through the line and went out on a dinghy. He had no clue what to do. They quickly turtled. His friend was taken back to skiff by shore and an instructor sailed the dinghy with Matthew back to the dock. Matt should have waited for his turn in line to have a better first experience. He didn't try again until he was 27. 

Some of Matt's favorite places to sail are SF Bay out of Gas House Cove to the gate, Angel Island, and around Alcatraz.  What brought him to SEA was an invitation for an afternoon of sailing from Mark Miglio which turned into a memorable blustery day on the way back in the slot. He was really inspired by Mark's passion for sailing and community involvement. What he enjoys the most about SEA are the social aspect and mentoring. He says that "at other sailing schools you make friends but you can also sail by yourself. At SEA you're aware that you're with friends who want to help you learn and enjoy yourself".  

Besides sailing, he gets involved with SEA by Assistant instructing and participating on the grant committee. One of the favorite sailing or SEA experiences he have had was seeing a dozen or more porpoises in the bay all the way to Angel Island.  Other activities he enjoys doing outside sailing are freediving and spearfishing, classical piano, exercise and reading. His other sailing goal is to be an SEA skipper and take leadership in the bay, charter a boat in an exotic location and build the practical jack of all trades skills to take care of a boat.

Something that not everyone knows about Matt is that he's  a long time scuba diver but a newly minted free diver and spearfisherman (aka a spearo). He just returned from a spearfishing trip in Mexico with divingforacause.org helping out kids at an orphanage and a local elementary school, and managed to get 3 solid days in and under the water.

A motto or thought about sailing that he would like to share to everyone is to keep your hand on the tiller, relax and enjoy yourself!