Sailing Education Adventures

Sail Camp 2021 and MiniCamp 2021 are underway! More kids allowed this year! New counselors and JCs! It is going to be a great summer. And, we can have graduation BBQs at MYC again! Yay!

Had a wonderful Keelboat Dockside Class today with Megan, Ana, Gonzalo and David! Many thanks to Jose and Ed for helping out with the engine and rigging this morning. Four super enthusiastic students falling in love with Tackful!

Great fun today joining boats from SEA and Loch Lomond YC, for a cruise down the canal, with flags flying! Many thanks to Alice, and Dave for setting this up, and decorating Descalsa. and to Jose for washing her down and serving as engineer today!

New SEA members, Miranda and Michael, at their first Member Open Sail! Welcome to SEA!

Youth Spring Sailing begins today! But if you haven't enrolled your child, don't worry....there are two more four week sessions offered this Spring before Camp starts June 14th. Space is limited in Spring Sailing, due to Covid restrictions and number of boats. Also, Youth Spring Sailing is offered only to those who have completed Sail Camp Basic or Intermediate.

As of today, under the Covid rules as we understand them. all of our Sailing Camps for children, both Mini and Basic/Intermediate, are filled. Should the County of Marin ease restrictions on: number of children allowed in camp, distancing, and ability to share equipment, we might be able to take more children. Therefore, we are taking a wait list, first come, first served. But no guarantees. We are hoping to get back to our regular scheduling of camps next summer (2022) and... full numbers. Please understand that we must follow the rules for the safety of all the children in our camps. For children who have taken Basic/Intermediate in the past, Spring Sailing sessions (three sessions of four weeks each) will be open momentarily. Check our website, www.sfsailing.org for dates and enrollment info.

SEA would like to thank MYC member Lou Astbury for a donation he recently made to Sail Camp in memory of fellow MYC members Steve and Sheila Whittemore. Thank you, Lou. What a lovely way to remember your friends, by helping more children get out on the water!

SEA is happy to see that our campers are continuing to sail this Fall. It hs been a difficult year, but our Program Director, Meghan, and staff Chris and counselors have worked hard to provide sailing for the children and also keep them safe. Meg and your SEA board were on this in April, and followed all the guidelines from various organizations (US Sailing, the canoeing association, Marin HHS.) We hope everyone stays safe as our country works thru this.

Today, Coxswain Jane, Engineer Jose, Crew Ed and Lucie, brought the trawler Descalsa back to her berth at Loch Lomond Marina. A number of great volunteers scraped, sanded and painted her bottom, replaced her zincs, replaced a seacock hoses and strainer, did bright work. Descalsa is probably in the best shape now since she was donated to us over 10 years ago! Keep your eye out: we are planning some sunset sails to help defray the cost of maintaining her! A great way for families to get out on the water in this time of lockdown. We will be limited to 6 guests each trip. Masks required, bring your own snacks. Spread out around the vessel to socially distance. Wine? Guests may bring, crew will refrain from imbibing!

Session III of Sail Camp Basic, and Session II of Mini Camp, wrapped up today. Sail Camp awards went to: Most Improved sailor: Roman Vasquez, Best Shipmate, Beau Brooks, and Best Sailor, Kristolf Bruel! Congratulations to you all! Nine weeks of temperature taking, morning Covid 19 questions for parents, mask wearing (most of the time) social distancing (most of the time) and lots of sailing, with no sick children! This was a major challenge for our young camp counselors and they rose to the challenge, and helped keep everyone healthy. Thanks too, to the parents for agreeing to safe practices outside of camp. We did it!!!!!

Final lesson today for the July Adult Small Boat Beginning Sailing Class, taught by Christopher. Callum, Laura, Jeff, and Cathy did a great job! Hoping to see you in the future at SEA Member Open Sails! Joe and Jane had a chance to get out on the water in the safety boat in support of the class today. Students successfully sailed their Catalina 16.5 sloops back to Marin Yacht Club, where they will be used for the final two weeks of Mini Camp.

Session 2 of Sail Camp wrapped up today. Congratulations to Most Improved sailor, Calvin, Best Shipmate, Wilhelm, and Best Sailor, Jacob!!!! Well done, all!

9 year old Sophia Bethencourt, daughter of SEA members, Jose and Cyrell, rocking it in Sail Camp Basic! Sophia started 2 years ago in MiniCamp after her family attended the National Safe Boating Week event sponsored by SEA. Cyrell has taken the adult classes, and Jose is currently on the SEA board. Go, Sophia!

The first Sail Camp in the time of Covid is finished, safely, today. Congratulations to Best Sailor, Sawyer! To Best Shipmate, Jordan! and Most Improved, Sophia! No parent sailing, but one Mom, picking up her son, upon the observation that these campers had pretty heavy wind, said, "They are Sail Campers. They will deal with it!" The perfect Sail Camp Mom!

A day late salute to all the fathers who have joined SEA to sail with their Sail Camper children: Crag with Jacob and Alex; Ed with Zoe; Fredrik with Nils; Jose with Sophia; Richard with Lachlan; Tom with Dima. Sorry if I've missed any! SEA is a great place for families to sail together! Ask any of these Dads!

In the past couple of months, 2 SEA members have purchased boats! John P now has a nice Santana 22, like Tackful, that he is keeping in Richmond. Ed C has a new Catalina 27 (like Jose's) that is right next to Kitty at Loch Lomond! Is SEA once again getting a member fleet? With Jose's Cat 27, Peter's Ericson 38, Tackful, and Dez, there are now quite a few boats that can head over to Angel Island, once that is again allowed!

Sail Camp Families: as you know, we must do three week sessions of Sail Camp, with only 11-12 children. of the new three sessions, Session III is now FILLED. There are spaces left in Sessions I and II. No word yet from Marin County on whether or not we can take 2 children with a counselor in the the Catalina, in masks, for Mini Camp.

Congratulations to counselor, Bo Tippo, for completing his US Sailing Level 1 Instructor's Course!

SEA is constantly evaluating the rules for camps coming down from the state and County of Marin. As of today, we can only run camps lasting three weeks, not two, with no more than 12 children. This will necessitate a change in our summer schedule. We will be making a determination tomorrow evening and will notify camp families by the weekend what we will be doing. We may not be able to take everyone who wants to sail with us this summer. Preference will be given to families who signed up first. Please be patient as we work this out. Our primary concern is that all our children are safe.

We are happy to announce that we will be offering limited Adult Beginning Sailing classes. Classes will be limited to four students. June class is full. However, July class is now open! Register online at www.sfssiling.org