Sailing Education Adventures

Have you ever thought about becoming a skipper?  If so, consider coming out for a Mentor Sail!  This past Sunday, Chris, our skipper of the day, volunteered his time to train Eric, Joe and me (Helena).   Thank you, Chris!

As soon as I took the helm, Chris threw a floatation device overboard, and suddenly (and unexpectedly), I had to practice my skills at picking up a “COB”!  It was a great task since that’s how it would happen in the real world.  It’s not an event that you plan; it happens when you least expect it.  While I had to do a figure-eight 3 times before I got the device, it was incredible practice.  And, that’s what this day was about…practice, practice, practice.  Besides several COB exercises, Chris had us doing three jibes in a row, 360 degree turns, docking, heaving-to (and eating lunch) and sailing to a destination (and talking about our course).  We all came back to the dock excited about the next mentor sail where we’ll cover sailing by the lee, anchoring and reefing while sailing.

Shockwave and Heatwave are great Santanas – let’s get out there and use them!