Tradewinds School and Club June - July 2007 www.TradewindsSailing.com Phone # 510-232-7999

Newsletters are also Wi ndwo r ds posted on our website

Email us: [email protected]

From the Helm

Great sailing weather here on the San Francisco Bay with Tradewinds members and students enjoying every minute of every . The wind is light in the morning and by afternoon is a fresh breeze of 20 to 30 knots, so reef early and plan ahead for these days. As always, Lynn and I are doing our work thing - you know, ten hour days from door to door again. We got the calendar out and are planning ahead to see when we can play hookie and get out and do some sailing.

Don’t forget our social events in June and July such as the Poker Run, Bar-B-Q’s, Raft Up and Pancake Breakfast. See the details inside. These events are always a good opportunity to meet other Tradewinds members and students and maybe make some new sailing buddies. Feel free to share these events with your friends and family. We encour- age you to bring them along.

Tradewinds is looking and working hard at getting some new boats in the fleet for you to enjoy and sail. We’ve made many inquiries and I think we will have some good results soon.

By the way, if you sail the new boats remember to reef early. They don’t like too much sail up and you may find yourself rounding up into the wind. The new boats need less sail to be fast because they weigh less. Check out our tip on page 5.

Enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you on the bay. Smooth Sailing. Have a great time!

School Changes

As the Skippers and Helmsmen at Tradewinds, we sometimes have to make a course change while listening to and talking with members and students. One thing we have been hearing consistently is the desire to have the 2 and 3 class packages returned to the curriculum. In keeping with our slogan, “You don’t have to be a millionaire to go sailing,” we will be bring- ing back both. This will hopefully save everyone a few Boat Bucks. Our price sheet as of June 1st will look like this:

Basic Keel Boat (BKB): $525 Basic Coastal Cruising (BCC): $675 Bareboat Chartering (BBC): $895

2 Class Package (BKB & BCC): $995 2 Class Package (BCC & BBC): $1,275 3 Class Package: $1,495

Current students who previously paid for just a BKB class may convert it to a 2 or 3-class package by paying the difference between their original BKB price and the current package price. We know this will help us to ruin… we mean improve… many lives as we bring them into the world of sailing that we love so much.

Classes

Here are some classes that need filling. Remember the price changes coming June 1st. There is still a chance to get a single Basic Coastal or Bareboat class at this springs outrageously low prices.

Basic Coastal Cruising - $525 Review Classes - $125 June 18,19,20 – 1 spot Basic Keelboat June 23,24,30,July 1 (all women’s class) – 1 spot June 16th - 2 spots July 14,15,21,22 - 1 spot July 15th - 4 spots July 21,22,28,29 - 3 spots Basic Coastal Cruising July 21,22,28,29 - (all women’s class) – 4 spots June 16th - 1 spot July 23,24,25 - 3 spots July 15th - 2 spots July 28,29, Aug 4,5 - 4 spots Bareboat Chartering June 16th - 2 spots Bareboat Chartering - $525 July 15th - 2 spots July 21-22 – (all women’s class) - 4 spots July 26-27 – 1 spot Farallone's Trip - $195 August 4-5 – 4 spots Aug 5th – 1 spot

Sept 9th – 1 spot Advanced Coastal Cruising - $1195 June 22-24 – 1 spot Oct 14th– 2 spots July 20-22 – 1 spot Aug 17-19 – 3 spots Catamaran Basic Class- $195 Sept 14-16 – 4 spots Sept 30th – 4 spots

Advanced Anchoring Class- $150 Advanced Motoring & Docking Class- $150 July 22 – 3 spots July 8 – 4 spots

Club Events

Poker Run This year’s one and only Poker Run is scheduled for Saturday, June 9th. Reserve your favorite boat and swing by the office in the morning to get your instructions and clues. We plan to have the cards in place on the bay by 10:00am and will pick them up by 4:00pm. Be prepared to search the bay for your cards. Highest poker hands will receive prizes in the afternoon at the Bar-B-Q behind the office!

Angel Island Bar-B-Q Ok, we’ve put this one off long enough; it’s time for another Angel Island Bar-B-Q! We’ll provide the charcoal and lighters, you bring the rest. Reserve your favorite boat, load up your best BBQ sauce and whatever you’d like to throw on the grill plus a side dish or two and meet us over there for an afternoon of fun in the sun. June 30th is the date, we’ll plan on starting the grills by 11:00am. If you need a ride or if you have a boat reserved and have room to take some more passengers, let us know and we’ll match people up so everyone can go.

Raft-Up We will be rafting up at Paradise cove on July 14th. Tradewinds Staff will be anchored there by 11:00am with the Bar-B-Q and the new stove fired up on Spindrift. Bring your favorite boat and tie up along-side and we’ll be happy to throw your lunch on the grill for you!If you need a ride or if you have a boat reserved and have room to take some more passengers, let us know and we’ll match people up so everyone can go.

Pancake Breakfast July 28th we will be hosting a pancake breakfast at Knox-Miller park just up the road. We will start grilling pancakes by 9:30. Bring any breakfast side dishes you like and plan to be well-fed and heading out on the bay to go sailing by noon.

Scavenger Hunt August 11th we plan on running our first ever Tradewinds Scavenger Hunt. We will provide a series of clues in the morning and participants will have to locate the places in the clues and bring back proof that they have been there. A digital photo of yourself at the location that you can show to us on your camera will be the preferred proof. Reserve a boat, load up the digi- tal camera, and come on out and have some fun with us. Come by the office early and get your clues and instructions.

Maintenance Corner

We’ve been spending a few boat bucks of our own. Aside from the usual barrage of repairs and maintenance costs that come with boat ownership, check out the following improvements:

 Spindrift has a brand new oven/stove. Lionheart and Black Pearl’s are here and will be installed shortly.  We’ve ordered new for Bullwinke and Mr. Magoo, so expect to see them on the boats in the next few weeks.  While Bullwinkle was out of the water repairs (Oops, a broken shaft!), we installed new speed and depth instruments identical to the ones we installed on Lionheart last year.  Many of our boats now have convenient bags near the stern holding the mooring line and second anchor rode. The sec- ond anchor is mounted to the stern pulpit. We hope this keeps them neat and within easy reach.

Suggestions? Comments? We strive to provide the best sailing atmosphere possible to our members and students. If you have any suggestions as to how we could serve you better, please let us know. We welcome comments, both positive and negative about the way we operate our business. Catch us on the docks or feel free to email us your comments. Butch: [email protected] Brandy: [email protected] Matt: [email protected] The Wine Country Class

How is it possible to have this much fun without drinking a drop of wine? And, we were not even in the wine country, or taking a wine appreciation class somewhere.

No, we were by the windy San Francisco Bay taking a Tradewinds Sailing Basic Keel Boat class in Point Richmond, California. Four sailing novices put their trust into our BKB-class boats, the fast and fabulous 25ft. Catalina Capris and me, their instructor, to learn the American Sailing Association “standard of sailing” and to earn their first certification as a competent and confident sailboat skipper. We met at the Tradewinds office on a sunny Saturday morning and were pleasantly surprised to find that all hailed from home ports in the same vicinity - the California wine country. We checked each other’s preferences: The teacher from Cloverdale likes a good Cabernet Sauvignon, the lawyer from Windsor a fine Zinfandel, and the real estate appraiser from Napa a fruity Sauvignon Blanc. The doctor from Sonoma likes any wine that tastes good. And for myself, from Sebastopol, I’ve never met a wine I didn’t like, except the one my husband made in the garage some years ago.

Yes, we all drink a little wine, we admitted, but what brought us together was the need to go sailing. Sailing and all the wonderful things it brings. Everyone was ready to get involved and we exchanged our sailing preferences and why sailing had come into our lives. Carol, the teacher, and her husband would like to own a ketch. They window shop and day dream, and both prepare by taking Tradewinds lessons for that day when she can pack up her dulcimer and they will cast off to spend summers in Puget Sound and winters in the British Virgin Islands.

Gayle, the lawyer, and her husband have their eye on an Ovni 48, a strong French aluminum cutter, in which they plan to crush ice in high latitudes around the world. Both signed up for lessons and he just attended our Celestial Navigation class to steer by the sun and the stars, should the GPS give up the ghost.

Marie, the real estate appraiser, and her husband are getting ready for a cat. They are finding their sea legs on mono hulls, but see them- selves sailing a fast Gemini catamaran doing coastal cruising and getting experience on the challenging California coast first. After that – watch out.

Megan, the doctor, has been sailing on the bay with friends, caught fire, and is scheming to get her husband interested as well. She wants to feel the wind in her hair and plans to charge around the bay in a small boat, heeling like crazy, spray flying, the more the better. Some more good points why they had come: “I want to see what my husband is dreaming about.” “I want to be able to sail the boat when for some reason my husband can’t.” “I want to sail and take charge, because my husband doesn’t, yet.” And, “I want to know what’s go- ing on when we are out on the water.” Wow, what a crew! We set out immediately. We had two weekends to cover and practice the skills necessary to handle a 25ft boat safely and take a written test of the required sailing knowledge.

Starting with nautical terminology, boat familiarization, safety around the water, and preparing the boat for departure, we went on to tie knots, determine tides and currents, and figure out how to start the outboard engine. We laughed a lot. We learned to maneuver the boat in the harbor and how to dock under engine power. We “kissed” the docks (passionately); it takes a lot of practice not to, but parked safely every time. Then, we sailed out to our practice area beyond Point Richmond. And that was just on the first day.

The following class days had a full program as well. The short time we spent indoors doing book-work was punctuated with laughter and camaraderie and Butch Florey, Tradewinds’ owner, stopped by wondering, “Why is it that women have so much more fun together?” We didn’t tell. Craig Walker, our lead instructor, came in to use the Xerox and stayed to chat and laugh with us. He seemed to need a lot of copies that morning. And when Carol played her Dulcimer and sang the ballad of “The Mary Ellen Carter”, a sunken ship to rise again, Matt Kepner, who is forever busy running the place, poked his head through the door and said: “Wait, I’ll get my coffee and hang with you guys.”

Back on the water, no matter how much joking, we meant business. All had filed down their nails and donned gloves to hoist and unfurl, trim and ease, and crank those winches with might. We learned more boat-work, sang out “Ready about” and sailed to our hearts’ content in varied wind conditions from slow-go to lift-off mode.

While comparing sun screens and evaluating hats and sailing clothes, we worked all points of sail, tacked and jibed, put in reefs under- way and shook them out, again. Most importantly, we applied the Rules of the Road and practiced the figure eight man-over-board recov- ery. Giving our all to rescue the M.O.B. (a PFD Type IV cushion) and get him back on board, we really got into it. “Quick, bring him back to life and toss him in again!” Gayle shouted with glee. And, we did! When a seagull practically landed on the cushion in the water trying to take possession, we were ready and willing to beat it off with the boat hook to aid and reclaim our victim.

Not that all our sailing went perfectly throughout the class. We sailed donuts when we jibed, and we jibed when we meant to . But, we recovered our course every time and trimmed to it. We had to wrestle the moody, black outboard engine beast when it quit on us, usu- ally when needed most. But, we triumphed. We knew what we were doing and we were doing it well. Continued on page 5... … continued from page 4

We were sailing! When the wind picked up, we hung on to the tiller and to each other, the boat heeled and we hiked out hard, slicing through the afternoon chop, taking salty spray on the nose. When the wind turned light, we leaned back in the cockpit, catching our breath, and gazed at the beautiful sight around us. Carol let fly one of her crystal clear laughs and we all turned, what, what? “Nothing,” she smiled, “I’m just happy to be here.”

Then, as if to top off our wonderful time, we were treated to a most amazing sight – Whales! Whales in the bay, a female with her calf! They surfaced close ahead of us, lazily bending out of the water. Really, we all saw them. And no, there was no wine aboard. We hoped they find their way back through the narrow Golden Gate, out into the open sea. When we felt prepared enough, we took the ASA written examination. Everyone passed with flying colors and got certified with the ASA Official International Log Book, a sort of passport to sailing the world. So, how did everyone feel at the end of the class? Marie: “My highlight was, when I understood the difference between a tack and a . My husband has been explaining that to me for- ever and I felt stupid for not getting it. Now, I know. It was like an epiphany. I feel empowered.” Megan: “The calm instruction helped me a lot. It was a good blend of book learning and going out sailing. I learned and had a good time doing it.” Gayle: “I loved the all women’s class. We laughed so much and shared our concerns. If we fell apart – no big deal.” Carol: “Women cheer for each other. When we tie a knot we cheer, when we don’t, or do, crash the boat into the dock, we cheer. What can I say? Yee-haw!” We all joined in her resounding laugh and agreed that we really enjoyed sailing together.

I was inspired by this class. I want to keep on teaching women to love sailing and show their spirit. I’ll raise a glass of Chardonnay to them. Aye, my seaworthy mates! Cheers, and more wine for my friends! Marianne Wheeler, Tradewinds Instructor since 2002.

Skipper’s Tips

Seawalls and Rocks and Barges, Oh My! Due to recent incidents we thought we should put out a word about large objects, be they stationary or moving. Don’t sail any closer than you have to, some of our skippers have recently discovered that Murphy’s Law holds true even on sailboats. If something can go wrong, it will - not just any time, but at the worst possible time. If the wind is going to be blocked and prevent you from , it’ll happen right next to that big barge. If the jib-sheets are going to get jammed in a self-tailing system, it’ll happen just as you are about to tack next to that seawall. If the transmission is going to have problems going into gear, it’ll happen just after you’ve gotten your sails down near the rocks. As skippers we can’t plan for every eventuality, but we can prevent one small problem from turning into a series of large ones by staying well clear of things that we’d prefer not to come into contact with our boat. If there is no need to sail close to a hazard, stay clear. If you must maneuver in close quarters, do it under engine power and don’t get in close until you have tested your gears.

So what is the first step to reefing under sail? It amazed us to find out that a large percentage of people we ask tell us to point into the wind. For those that have forgotten since their classes, here’s the proper procedure for reefing under sail:

1. Come to a close reach. 2. Check that the topping lift is secure and tightened. 3. Ease the main sheet and boom vang until the main is loose and luffing. 4. Release and lower the halyard to reef point. 5. Tighten reef tack line or attach reef hook. 6. Raise sail and tighten main halyard. 7. Tighten reef outhaul. 8. Trim mainsheet. 9. Ease the topping lift. *Note: steps 5-7 may vary a bit in the case of a single-line reefing system.