Summer Summary
As the summer fades away, so does my busy season at OCSC Sailing School. I’ve had a fun (and very busy) three months of introducing people to the joys and challenges of sailing.
Working five or even six days a week, I found every day to be exciting and rewarding, and without the evening email catch-up that plagued my corporate days. Working as a Sailing Instructor can still be stressful, keeping the novice students safe in such a dynamic, challenging, and unforgiving environment. But, when I step off the boat and complete about 15 minutes of paperwork, my work is 100% done until the next day at the “office.” I love that.
The bulk of my time is spent on 24-foot long “J Boat” keelboats, teaching novice sailors how to sail a keelboat and become safe skippers.
A couple of summer sailing highlights include:
1) Teaching my first set of “Bareboat Cruising” courses which include anchoring, mooring, and close-quarter maneuvering techniques on a 36-foot cruising boat.
2) Working with multiple corporate groups on competitive race events, team building sessions, and leisurely picnic sails. (Check out www.ocscsailing.com to read about our programs.)
In my downtime, I enjoyed the space and comfort of my newly-leased apartment in San Carlos. I cooked a few meals and even bought a television. (Of course, with the new TV purchase came the re-booting of my game systems, too.) I have closed out my storage with the intent of using the apartment as a staging area for purging at least some of the stuff I’ve collected over the years. We’ll see.
Mid-summer, I took a break from sailing and headed to Oregon for the annual long-weekend Givens Family Reunion. As usual, the weekend was filled with beach walks, board games, and baked salmon.
As I mentioned, the summer winds will subside as we head into fall, so my work as a Sailing Instructor will slow down, too. There are still plenty of corporate events to help out with, but general classes taper off – so I can take some time off.
In late September, I’m headed to Germany to see friends for trekking in the Alps and celebrating at Oktoberfest. I’ll return in mid-October.
The rest of the off-season remains uncertain at this point, but I’m eager to “chase the summer” and sail or volunteer in the Southern Hemisphere…
We had some glorious days on the water this summer.
Such a beautiful skyline at day, or night.
Bundled up for sun protection - spending 5 or 6 days on the water per week means I have to be careful!
Berkeley Marina as the moon rises in the east.
Occasionally we see the U.S. Coast Guard practicing maneuvers in the Bay. Here, the helicopter was hovering over and following the RIB vessel.
We hate to see garbage in the Bay. We sometimes use the crew-overboard maneuver to position the boat for picking up trash. On this day, we picked up three empty Corona bottles.
This picture was taken during one of our Corporate events. We sailed an executive leadership team to Angel Island for a picnic, and then around the island for views of Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the City Front, before returning them to Berkeley Marina. Check out www.ocscsailing.com for our corporate event options.
Life at OCSC Sailing wouldn’t be as much fun without these three friends and co-workers. Thanks for the good times Megan, Jesse, and Mitch!
I took a break from sailing and spent a long weekend on the Oregon Coast for the annual Givens Family Reunion.