Photo by Marilyn SEA's VP Martin (aka the bbq guy at the Open House) pretty much sums up all we want to say: "Hallelujah! Thank you sun, good wind and great juju!"

Our Open House Extravaganza on Sunday drew over 150 visitors to the new SEA base at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael. With sails raised on our fleet of Picos and Catalina Capris, we were ready for action. And, action was the word of the day!

Our volunteers are gold. Summer Camp Youth Counselors Nic, Alex and Pierce worked hard taking folks on sailboats, many experiencing for the first time what we are passionate about. Adults and kids alike were grinning ear to ear, and that we love too.  Thank you, counselors!

Folks rowed the Whitehall dory, our trawler Descalza was filled with passengers cruising around the Marin Islands, Coach Billy had his team of fall youth sailors plying the water, and the bbq master was flipping burgers as fast as he could - we enjoyed an event that sets a strong tone of good times coming in 2013, our 30th year!

Descalza tows the Catalinas. Katka Letzing and Ramon Nieto tailing with the Whaler (in the rain!). Thank you!  Photo by Rich Hodges. It was one bittersweet day on  Saturday, November 18 when SEA Jane, SEA Scape, SEA Art, and SEA Squirt, our four Catalina Capris, sailed across Richardson Bay for likely their last time. They headed to their new home at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael to begin a new chapter of community sailing in Marin County.

For 29 years SEA has contributed to Sausalito's sailing community, getting thousands of people jazzed about sailing and excited to share their passion with others.

Let's be reminded that all of these efforts were made with a volunteer spirit  - people taking their time to teach, share with and inspire others what they learned and love to do.

Between classes, races, socials, adventure sails and more, we've pretty much done it all.

Thanks to Thad Glass and Kenichi Uyeda, the Catalinas have been cleaned top side and look great! New tell-tails and tape add to the appearance.  Thank you crew!

Frank Lawler and Mark Miglio put in a full day developing a system for retrofitting and patching leaky Picos on Sunday, with a followup by Mark all day Tuesday to build rudders.  The boats at Sail Camp needed to be fixed in order to accommodate the last two weeks of Camp with 50 kids- they've been put through the ringer this summer but continue to sail well and look great with new sails by Hyde.

When I started sailing, Wednesdays were always my favorite day of the week. Why? Because I just finished ASA 101 and didn’t yet feel confident to race or be in charge of the boat all on my own. So, I came every Wednesday and  practiced all of the skills I learned. I met amazing people who became my mentors and later co-racers. 

Yes, I am definitely the competitive type and really wanted to show others that girls can sail or even race at that time. Five years later, I don’t only like Wednesdays, because I go and sail, but because I still learn something each time. What's more, I can hang out with a great group of SEA sailors and friends.

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.

Hello all,

Where are all the Catalina and Keelboat Open Sails?

They are still with us, just in a slightly different form. I am penning this note to let our membership know about the change that has been implemented. The change is that our free open sails and Open Sails will now only be posted when a coordinator has been secured to organize them.

This change allows for more certainty in the calendar. The goal is to book events as far in the future as possible, which at this time about about one quarter. Because the calendar is more fluid I have setup a list to let folks know when the calendar has new events added, if you would like to be on the "Catalina Open Sail" list, drop me a note and I will add your email and you will be notified when I change the calendar.

Where: Horseshoe Cove

It's that time of the year again where the best skippers in SEA race across The Bay in our fleet of Catalinas. Will the mouthy upstarts best the sea dogs? Is it really about being the better skipper, or does equipment matter? 

This year, skippers will raise money in order to "purchase" the best boats and sails for the race. SEA members will be able to wager on the results, with the winner getting a piece of the pie. In the end, however, the real winner will be SEA.

This year's race will start in Richardson Bay and end at the Presidio Yacht Club. Celebrate with the race teams at Mike's Place at the Yacht Club!

Thank you,

Wesley Frederick (Race Coordinator)

Date: Wednesdays
Time: 18:00 - Sunset
Location: Sausalito
Cost: Free
Category: Catalina Sails

We are back action with regular Wednesday evening sails and socials at the Trawler.  Please join us for sails and  refreshments for us on Descalza.

Sing up at Catalina Sails
You must RSVP to sail

This year's SEA Flotilla Day, our annual Season Opener, kicked off the season in style. We got lucky with a sunny and warm day in what was a really stormy March! We had boats of all kinds participate, from our small Catalinas, our Santana, as well as our awesome member fleet ranging from Santana 22's all the way up to Michael's 42' Tartan.

Our Catalianas were able to dock unassisted negotiating the fluky, light conditions. Our attempts to negotiate for a fee reduction with the AI Parks folks did not go so well! However, everyone made it in just fine, and quickly moved to the BBQ for grub and cake. Thanks to Frank and Cathy for celebrating their birthdays with us, Leah for brownies and Karen + Wesley for music

The ride back was particularly challenging for our Catalinas, facing light air and a stiff flood on the Tiburon side. They all dialed into the only way out: Short-tacking along Angel Island, where there was some current relief and a lot more breeze.

Date: December 9
Time: 10am
Location: Loch Lomond Yacht Club
Cost: Free Members
Category: Workshops

RSVP Here

SEA's amazing instructor crew is 100% passionate, volunteer sailors with huge hearts.
They are graduates of SEA's wonderful classes and teaching methodology.
They volunteer because are passionate about sailing. And they learn most about sailing by teaching others the skill!

The best way to become a better sailor is to teach others. The Learn by Teaching Philosophy is a core part of SEA's programs. We do not 'sell' classes and charters like most commercial sailing schools. SEA designs its programs to promote mentoring opportunities so that its students are constantly learning and growing.

There are numerous sessions where you can get involved from teaching the fundamentals of sailing in an on-land course to taking the students out on the water to practice tacking and jibbing (and much more).  Even if you’ve just recently graduated ASA 101 and gone out on a few open sails, it’s never too early to start giving back. 

So, as Maya Angelou said it best, “When you get, give.  When you learn, teach”.