Sailing Education Adventures

Living in San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing the marvelous sail boats of every dimension on the bay every day made Virginia want to sail. What she love about sailing is the contact with nature, the wind and the sea and the activity and skill involved in guiding the boat and the sails. She had her first sailing lesson in 1981 when she discovered SEA, Jane was the president then.

Her favorite place to sail is SF Bay around the waterfront and Angel Island. However she did go on a sailing honeymoon adventure with her husband and the Greek Island Sailing Club. The Greek Islands, Mediterranean Sea and food are all great she said. This was around Ithaca where Homer wrote the Odyssey. Every day they would break for lunch and make a BBQ on different beaches. She also love sailing on St Thomas in the Virgin Islands where clear blue waters and warm sun are enjoyed by so many sailors there. There was a High School club on St. Thomas where the amazing students were great sailors and fearless racers.

Virginia have always thought SEA is a great way to learn sailing. Many good instructors teach you the right way to sail and it is very affordable. According to her, SEA not only sailing opportunity but a chance to learn a new skill and exchange 'fish' stories and life stories. What she enjoy most about SEA is the attention to safety and learning. She especially respect the skill level of the instructors and their willingness to teach and help new students. She qoutes that "The social aspect is terrific. You meet people of every age and walk of life who are friendly and like to have a good time."

Besides sailing, she have been involved by participating in classes like basic keel boat and first aid, and lectures, member meetings, annual picnic on Angel Island and BBQ. One of her absolutely favorite SEA experiences was sailing an a full moon night with JohnPaul on Summer Solstice. She described it as clear and gentle sailing out on the bay but then became more foggy, rough and wild. JP gave her the helm and let her sail all the way back to the dock. A memorable adventure. Besides sailing, other activities she like are to play tennis, go on hikes, paint, garden, cook and travel. Not everyone knows that she love to paint both oil paint and watercolors. She have also studied printing and etching at Fort Mason. She have been in art shows in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Big Sur and Monterey California. She have also studied in Florence Italy and the Renaissance City of Urbino in Le Marche Italy. Because she loves nature and animals, her favorite places to travel are Hawaii and Alaska. Her motto about sailing that she would like to share to us is to "trim your sails according to the winds"

Here's some of her works: