My new friend, Anthony Sandberg, who started the Olympic Circle Sailing Club in Berkeley in 1979 invited me to go out and "try sailing" with a nice, leisurely Wednesday evening sail.
I had a blast.
It was an amazing three hours (yes, I did have a moment of "...a three hour tour" in my head.
I actually was a bit anxious about going. I was worried I might get sea sick but I was wearing a "Patch" that was supposed to help. At first, I was even more worried, because it was a real choppy day. Happily, the patch worked perfectly. :-)
Upon arrival, I met the rest of the crew (some of which had extensive sailing experience). All were incredibly welcoming and friendly.
The choppy sea made the sail exciting - lots of moving around the deck doing one thing or another - basically making sure all the details of sailing a boat were done correctly (I didn't realize how many people are necessary in making a boat "go"..... After some intense battles with the wind and a lot of LEANING to one side of the boat for balance, we made it behind Angel Island and were able to take a break from the wind. It was gorgeous and exciting all at the same time.
The bulk of the sail included everyone taking a turn at something; and great conversation. These guys were from all walks of life. Everyone, of course, was really excited about sailing - and just being out on the bay, looking back at the the City.
On our way back in, we even had some extra excitement as we figured out that we had an electrical short someplace on the boat - preventing us from using our motor to come back into dock. Anthony calmly explained how he would pilot the boat back in to dock without the motor - yes, he was still calm and teaching! He took a few passes into the marina to see how the wind was acting, and then explained his approach. Everyone helped as he gingerly piloted the boat right back to her dock like a lady's slender foot fitting into a stocking. It was buttuh!
A perfect end to a great sail!
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