Wow, time flies when we’re in a pandemic! It’s hard to believe I haven’t posted anything since December 2020. But then again, I haven't really done a lot since then. Well, at least not a lot of traveling. In fact, NO traveling.

But, I actually did have an interesting 2021. Here’s a quick recap.

1). I helped co-found a new sailing school in San Francisco Bay called “Inspire Sailing.”

The sailing school where I used to work as an instructor, OCSC Sailing, closed down permanently in 2020 due to the pandemic. I ended up meeting a couple of investors and together we started Inspire Sailing. I worked with the investors to put together the 5-year financial plan, and then established myself as the “startup General Manager” helping with facilities, fleet ops, insurance, hiring, U.S. Sailing accreditation, syllabus development, etc. I also built the website (inspiresailing.com) and managed the social media/marketing efforts. After a few months, I was able to hire a great full-time General Manager so that I could get back to instructing.

2) I became a powerboat instructor.

In 2020, I had a brief stint working at Club Nautique as a sailing instructor - after OCSC shut down and before Inspire Sailing started. When I moved to work at Inspire Sailing, I kept in touch with my friends at Club Nautique. As it turns out, that club has a great Powerboat program (in addition to Sailing program). I trained at Club Nautique to become a powerboat instructor in 2021, and now I teach powerboat classes for them. Powerboating is great fun!

3). I became a CPR/AED/First Aid Instructor with the Red Cross.

With the startup of Inspire Sailing, a few of us staff trained and became certified as CPR/AED/First Aid Instructors for the club.

4). I continued to enjoy being a boat owner!

In 2020, I had purchased a 24-foot sailboat called “Midnight Run.” In 2021, I continued doing small projects on the boat, but also enjoyed a lot of sailing, too!

So, looking back, 2021 was a pretty productive year, despite being “grounded” and not traveling. Now, in 2022, although the pandemic isn’t entirely behind us, I’m looking forward to dabbling in some local / domestic travel — short, relatively inexpensive trips so in case the pandemic flares up, I can quickly and easily change or cancel my plans. We’ll see….