LIt was a long day for me, Up at 6:00 am, I had a Tai Chi/Kung Fu class to teach at 7:30. My small Sat. class, however due to having a sailing class over at the big OC to teach I needed to leave early. So after going through a few things with my students I took off for Berkeley. It is nice it only took me 15 or so minutes to get there. Nice! Nice nice. The weather report said weak winds , however as I went down the access, the flags over at Cal sailing were blowing strong. I thought ok, There will be wind today after all.

I arrived and got my boat assignments and checked out the students cards. They all had good remarks from the BK 1 instructors, Sweet! This should be good. I went down to check out the boat, it was setup and ready to go, an excellent sign. While up at the club house I came across a guy I knew from earlier this yr who was out on one of the big OC boats, “Knots Squared” , a beautiful Yacht. LZ and I went sailing briefly with him to do a Photo shoot of the 3 Bridge Fiasco Race. I had not seen him since then. He says when he see me, Oh, I guess you really do work here pointing to my instructor shirt and laughs. Chit chat cit chat…

I round-up my group and after intros, boat check out, Questions & Answers, I take them to a spot overlooking the bay and give them a quick lecture about sailing mindfulness and sailing is more than just knowing the parts of the boat and technical stuff.  We call it awareness in Kung Fu and Mindfulness in Zen, no matter the name one needs to be connected to the environment. Down in the valley of the boats, you can not really see what is out there, from here you can check-out what you will face, look at the waves, trees, other boats, feel the wind on your face, neck ears blah blah blah…then we were off.

The morning wind was disappointing. After a couple of the students got a turn at the helm, really just one with wind. I took the group in to the dock, where we practiced docking skills. Afterwards lunch…

We head back out after lunch there is better wind, enough to get the Bottle Over Board drills done. about half way through the drills, I hear some girls yelling. I look around there is a boat with some little people waving and yelling. I wave back, I could not hear what was being said, but I had a feeling it was for me. As the boat got closer, I find out it is my friend EVK4 the Ocean Crossing Super Blogger People’s Republic of Berkeley Polka Dot Racing team Captain guy and his mini crew.  He is running The Polka Dot Racing Team Lady Bug Sailing Camp for Munchkins. It was cool to see them out there…

Too bad I did not get this picture to him sooner he could have used it on his blog post today… anyway, we give each other the “Zen sign”, wave and they head off to the marina. I quickly grab my camera and snap a few shots. It was my first time seeing him on the water there even though his boat is docked there in Berkeley. I think,to myself  if my Philly homie the prophet of O-Dock, O-Dude was out, it would have been the perfect encounters for the day. Alas he is in the grip of an evil demon bug and does battle for his very being…

My group continues their assigned drills. They all handle them well. everyone only complaint, there is not much wind. After completing several rounds of drills , I explain to them briefly the Tao of reefing. Then we head back in. Once we enter the marina runway. The students prepare the boat for docking doing this n that dodging the traffic  that has pickup, including some Baka, in a large power boat backing across the fairway. Meanwhile  I notice for the first time a sign marking the infamous “O” Dock, home of the prophet.

It is quietly marking the “WAY” for those who know the wisdom of the Tao of O-Docker…even though my Homie the Prophet is not there…

Anyway, it was still a good day

at a primo gig.