Sailing Education Adventures

Alex Carter was first introduced to sailing on Picos in Bordeaux, France. He said he had a wonderful time; however the instruction and the atmosphere were a little unsettling. When he arrived at SEA's Youth Camp, he was just out of our harbor and his sailing partner freaked out when the boat started to heel. His partner dropped the main sheet and started screaming to be let off, and Alex had to single hand the Pico back to the safety boat. According to him, while scary, that was also extremely exhilarating, and made him wanted to do it more and more. Just the feel and the knowledge that he could maneuver a boat completely by himself was astonishing and made him want to sail again and again.

For Alex, the most enjoyable part of sailing is, without a doubt, when you are in high winds and hiking out all the way, hearing the water rush under the boat is awesome. He first got on a Pico in 2009. So this makes his third year of sailing. Just like the others, his favourite place to sail is around the Marin Islands and out towards the Richmond bridge.

He got introduced to SEA when he found our website on the internet and thought it would be fun to go sailing for a week of summer. He signed up right away and did not regret that day! Currently, he is involved with SEA every summer as one of our counselors and helps us in teaching the kids the basic of sailing.

Alex’s favourite things about SEA are the atmosphere, the way everyone gets to know each other and have fun, and also the personalities of the people, campers and counselors alike. His favorite SEA experience was when Wayne, Nick and he sailed across to the Brothers. He said that the wind and the swells were unbeatable, and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

When not sailing, you will find him to be either playing baseball or basketball.

One of his sailing goals is definitely to do an overnight sail or a really long sail on either a pico or a laser and his long term sailing goal is to help sail a larger boat out of the gate and into the ocean. Favorite sailing quotes? “I’m going to say that all of the ones such as tiller towards trouble, when in doubt let it out etc. are all very good ones to sail by. Sailing is really enjoyable for me, and it’s one of the great passions in my life.”

Thank you Alex for all you do for SEA