Posts from — August 2010

There’s been a long history of dedicated Women’s Sailing groups at OCSC. Amazing women who have done a fantastic job organizing events and engaging other women in the sport. This weekend was the first Women’s Sailing event that was hosted by Alicia Witham, OCSC Instructor.  Here’s a synopsis of the day in her words…

15 OCSC women members of varying skill levels assembled at 0900 for breakfast and an overview of our day together. We talked of logistics for the day and goals for the day as well as future women’s programs. With great excitement we headed to the boats and rigged and I was available to fill in any questions and needs. We sailed for the most part in convoy to Angel Island, avoiding racing boats as well as shipping traffic. Due to our arrival time we did not hiked but enjoyed lunch and good conversation. We had a swift and invigorating sail back to OCSC where we said our good byes and hopes for the future of women’s programs at OCSC. A big thank you to the women that stepped up to be skippers for the day, delightful and very helpful.

Overall a great day. It was wonderful for me to meet and engage with the dynamic women of OCSC. My hopes are to continue to put together fun and educational sailing events for the women who attended and to attract and include any other OCSC women who might be interested.

Alicia

Every year in the beginning of October, the San Francisco Bay comes alive with a spectacular water and airshow from the Fleetweek celebration. The event attracts the Navy’s Parade of Ships, The Blue Angels, as well as the Oracle Aviation Team. The event is always a fun and exciting day to be on the water. As has become a tradition at OCSC SAILING, we’ll be taking out the 82′ Schooner Seaward for a full day of Bay sailing to soak up all the excitement. We’ll be leaving the dock at 11:00am and returning just before low tide at 4:30pm.

What:  Fleetweek Seaward Sail
When:  October 9th, 2010 11:00am – 5:00pm
Where:  Leaving from OCSC SAILING, Berkeley Marina
Cost:  $145  (Only $108.75 for OCSC Members!)

Reserve your spot today! Call OCSC, 800-223-2984!

Useful Links:
Official Fleetweek Website
Notice to Mariners

We’re also very lucky to have scheduled a presentation by Senior Chief Petty Officer John Andrew Rauschkolb (USNR Retired) who will recount his experience at Pearl Harbor in 1941.  The presentation will run from 9:30-10:30am in the OCSC Clubroom, prior to departure on the Fleetweek Sail. Here is more information:

At the time of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 Senior Chief Petty Officer John Andrew Rauschkolb (USNR Retired), then 3rd Class Signalman Rauschkolb, was on board the USS West Virginia (BB48).  He was wrapping up his first four year enlistment with the US Navy and thinking about reenlisting.  On that early Sunday morning in Pearl Harbor he was on the signal bridge of the West Virginia tending to his duties when he looked up to see the first wave of incoming Japanese fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes.  What took place then for the Senior Chief is not found in the history books.  Chief Rauschkolb will share with you the events of that day as he saw then  unfold and give a first hand account of  ”A date which will live in infamy”.  Needless to say, Chief Rauschkolb reenlisted for the duration of WWII and continued to serve in the US Naval Reserve for a total of 38 years.  In honor of Fleet Week and his fellow sailors, Chief Rauschkolb will be presenting and answering questions at the OCSC Clubhouse from 9:30 am to 10:30 am.  He will also be joining OCSC members and guests on the Seaward for his own personal tribute to the men and women of the US Navy.

There’s been a lot of talk, excitement, debate and discussion around the possibility of hosting the America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay.  Hardly a day goes by without someone asking us if we think they will host it here. Very tough to say. Kimball Livingston wrote a fantastic piece on his blog, Blue Planet Times, about the challenges and opportunity of hosting the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco, detailing the various political figures with skin in the game.

Could an unstadium in Los Angeles consign the America’s Cup match to Italy?

Could a Chevron refinery in Richmond, California consign the America’s Cup match to Spain?

Is it possible for everybody to pull in one direction, and go nowhere?

These are important questions. Less important—Did a former weightlifter/actor show Russell Coutts his Conan the Barbarian sword when the CEO of BMW Oracle Racing called at 1303 10th Street, Sacramento, following what my spies tell me was a longish session in Room 200, City Hall, San Francisco?

What’s been playing out in the last week and a half since the BOR team came to town and asked the city of San Francisco to hurry up and produce a plan and a proposal and certainty by September 30 –yes, Virginia, and all your little friends, Larry Ellison really does want to schedule an America’s Cup match for San Francisco Bay, 2014—but, as I was saying, what’s been playing out is not quite Kafkaesque, and yet it does bring into focus the reasons why you’re never a fool to be pessimistic about getting things done in San Francisco.

Ultimately, however, this is about defending America’s Cup in America.

READ THE REST OF KIMBALL LIVINGSTON’S POST…

Kimball Livingston also had another post with a letter from David Lewis, the Executive Director of  Save the Bay, to Gavin Newsome.

As you know, Save The Bay is the oldest and largest organization working to protect and restore San Francisco Bay for people and wildlife. We are enthusiastic about the prospect that San Francisco may be selected to host the 34th America’s Cup. The world’s premier sailing race represents a special opportunity to showcase San Francisco Bay to the world, and create lasting benefits for public access to the Bay and its shoreline.

We believe that the best prospects for San Francisco to be selected as the host city for the America’s Cup, and to complete the physical improvements needed to support the Cup, lie in continuing the collaborative process that you and your staff have initiated with us and others this month, not in a legislated statutory exemption to the California Environmental Quality Act.

We look forward to working with you to bring the America’s Cup to San
Francisco, and to working with the agencies that have jurisdiction over the Bay and waterfront areas where facilities and improvements may be needed. Working together, we are optimistic that all parties can promptly process project plans for the Cup.

Thank you very much for your leadership.

David Lewis

Sam’s Anchor Cafe is one of the most popular charter destinations in the Bay for OCSC Members. The public docks offer a great mid-day stop for a sail around Angel Island. We’ve put together a few suggestions for sailors who are looking to stop at Sam’s Anchor Cafe.

1. As you approach the Tiburon Marina, (once you are in the lee) start your engine and take your sails down outside of the Marina. Prepare fenders and dock lines (both bow and stern!)
2. Beware of the Ferry traffic coming and going to the Ferry dock.
3. Circle in the holding pattern until you see an opening on Sam’s dock.
4. Beware of power-boaters leaving the Marina.
5. Don’t raft up. And don’t allow others to raft onto your boat.
6. Once you’ve settled in for lunch, keep a constant eye on your boat to ensure its safety. People may try to move or adjust your boat if you’re not paying attention.
7. During lower-low tides, boats will go aground at Sam’s docks, so plan your visit accordingly.

If you’ve been chartering at OCSC SAILING, it’s very likely you’ve gotten to know Lori Dennis. Lori has been one of the most active members at the club, well known for sailing virtually every moment she isn’t working as a 1st Grade Teacher.  She recently sent us an exciting story from one of her sailing adventures…

It started out like any other day.  Wake up at 4:00 a.m.  Protein shake.  Get ready for a sail on the bay.  And after 397 sails on said bay one might think, “Ho Hum.”  Understandable.

But what ensued this 398^th sail day turned out to be anything but boring… or routine.

Quite the contrary.  It was — plain and simply –  just the kind of stuff Hollywood adventure movies are made of.

I must confess I was a little star struck from the start.  How could I not be?

There I was — hanging out at the yacht club — in Belvedere, no less  (Remember — I am a poor school teacher.) – hob-nobbing with championship racers and the kind of people who can actually afford to own a boat like Shadow — this sleek, silver, 40-foot. catamaran standing before me.  I mean, really, who owns these boats?  Certainly not any of my “homies.”   Nonetheless, I was made to feel like one of the gang in short order.

We set sail and I was even given a few jobs. I got to trim the traveller – until big, strong Lowell took over. Next, it was “Lori, since you like speed so much, (who told?) why don’t you be in charge of the GPS?”  (Uhhh, maybe cuz I don’t even know how to turn on a cell phone.)

“Okay, then why don’t you just hold the radio, Lori?   Don’t drop it and don’t forget to announce when you hear Romeo (our start code).”  Copy that gentlemen. I stashed the radio inside my lifejacket – close to my heart.  I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to hear a Romeo talking to me.  Please God, don’t let me drop this damn thing into the bay!

They announced our start.  Two minutes.  Thirty seconds.  My heart raced.  We were off!  One hull barely off the water, we were building speed fast.  What a rush!  No time to wave to friends racing on other boats as we started to overtake them.  Instead — a couple of well-executed tacks, an adrenaline-laced spinnaker run, and a hop, skip and jump (literally) later – and we crossed the finish line.  In first place.  Which I understood was to be expected – given the fact that Shadow has a negative 99 handicap.

There wasn’t an extraordinary amount of wind on the way back to the barn in Belvedere.  But something happened as we tried to bear away.  (Am told later it had something to do with stuck rudders.  Who knows?)

Without warning I am being catapulted across the boat – and into the bay.  All I can think is, Oh shit, here I am — the new kid — the invited guest – and I totally screw up by falling off the boat. I hear Sue call my name, I look around and I see that she too is in the water. I turn around again — and now see that Shadow is completely on her side — and that the entire crew is swimming.  Everyone, that is, except for Whitey – who is hanging precariously from the upper hull.

[Read more →]

Sailing in Greece

For me, the best part of being at OCSC SAILING is seeing people achieve their goals. It never ceases to amaze me how initial conversations materialize into real-life dreams.  I had yet another opportunity to witness this with OCSC Member Rob Fyfe. Rob stopped by in September of ’09 to inquire about classes and chartering on the Bay. He told me about the fond memories he had of sailing with his family during his childhood and wanted to provide the same for his kids.  He started with Basic Keelboat back in Sept ’09, came out for a class or charter virtually every weekend since,  and recently returned from a charter in the Greek Islands.  Here is his story in his own words…

From my earliest Childhood memories until the age of 12 my family had a 35′ sailboat that we sailed in Georgian Bay (part of lake Huron) in Canada.   Every sailable weekend we would head up to the lake.  I moved from Canada to California when I was 13 and we pretty much stopped sailing.  From 12 until 32 I did very little sailing other than small sunfish sailing.  About 8 years ago my father chartered a 50′ boat from Athens, Greece and we sailed with a group of friends for a week in the Cyclyades.  This reawakened my love of sailing.  Since that trip every other year with the same group we have chartered a boat for a week.. One year in the Gulf Islands in Canada and then again in Greece (but the second time in the Dodecanes. Islands near the Turkish Coast.)  After that last trip (which was 2008) I decided that I would not do another trip without having my family with me.  In Sept 2009 I signed up and paid for a 50′ charter boat (again in the Dodecanes).  The same day I called OCSC and began what became a thorough refresher and completely new level of training, experience, skill and confidence in a subject I had thought I was already comfortable in.  I realized how much more I needed to learn before being confident enough to do the scheduled trip in July 2010.  I completed BK, BC and Finally BBC and Advanced BBC (essential for Med cruising) from Sept 2009 – June 2010.   I was extremely grateful for the skills and confidence I gained through the courses and charters that OCSC enabled.   Being a Captain requires a kind of awareness that can’t fully be understood when you are a crew member.  After all when it comes down to it you are responsible for the safety and comfort of your crew.

Sailing the Greek Islands is one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had, and I hope to continue to go on a regular basis.   The skills required to do so confidently can be learned at OCSC, and I am grateful for that.. I think that anyone going on such a trip should complete the advanced BBC maybe a couple months before the trip and practice that often nerve racking Med Mooring skill 20 – 50 times… I had practiced only 3 times… For the most part I was fine..  3 successful dockings out of 3 .. however, In one harbor (a very busy and difficult one called Simi) it took me about 5 tries before we were settled.. I would rather have practiced this maneuver many more times..  The bay was very deep (thus getting the anchor down took a bunch of time)  the wind was blowing the bow to starboard and the prop walk pushing the stern to port.. The “Mooring Man” blowing his whistle.. and yelling I think in Greek… boats of all sizes everywhere and everyone on deck watching.. a bit stressful… Once parked Simi is like paradise.. so worth the sweating the docking produced.

The family had an amazing time.. favorite parts.. everything.  One thing about the Greek Islands is the food is unbeatable.  We are still talking about the meals we had.  The water was amazing for swimming.  Great nights anchored in quiet bays and others in lively, and beautiful port towns.

The Mahe 36 sailing in to Benicia

Who says you need to travel to a far off foreign land to experience adventure? OCSC’s Local Flotillas to Benicia and Petaluma were a hit this year.  The Local Flotillas are a great weekend escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and are a great way to practice sailing to and arriving into unfamiliar marinas, which is a very transferable skill to more exotic sailing adventures. [Read more →]

Remember when the Maltese Falcon sailed into the Bay? It was incredible. Imagine if this interesting new design came through the Gate…

One of our instructors sent in this article about this “radical, new” sailing concept. Looks interesting to me. Lot’s of moving parts. Do you think this would work?

Also, if you’re interested in buying one of these and putting it in the charter fleet… Let us know

According to Lila Lou Design; “We have developed ‘Ankida’ in a manner that we see is the natural progression for sailing yachts, the most fundamental aspect of which is the mast, rig and keel configuration, moving away from a traditional centre line mast arrangement in order to structurally integrate the entire set-up with the hull and superstructure, making all wind generated forces work homogeneously with the craft, thus maximizing the propulsion efficiency.” Obviously, Ankida will rely heavily on an automated mechanical system, coupled with a sophisticated software package for weather, navigation and operation. It is intended to be a yacht could effectively sail itself.

A “traditional” central mast structure concentrates & focuses vast stresses and strains on the yacht’s deck and internal structure and does not distribute this tension in homogenous fashion, it also creates a structural/visual barrier along the very center of the boat, externally and internally. We developed Ankida’s mast(s) to be light, flexible and integral to the entire yacht’s design so that the forces generated are more uniformly distributed throughout the vessel. Most importantly, this mast system favors performance. It was from the mast design that the sail design became interesting…

Read the rest of the Yachtforums.com Post…

Our friends over at We Players are undertaking a noble effort to present an island-wide, interactive production of Shakespeare’s HAMLET. They’ve already reached their goal, but any additional funds will help a lot. We’re really excited to go see the performance, do you want to join us?