1st class of the year…

This past weekend ( 2 wks now) I taught a class for Afterguard . I had really not wanted to teach but as usual we needed the money on our books. The money earned will go toward a Celestial Nav. class later this spring. I have already signed up for a weather class.  I also want some type of off-shore class before we leave.

Back to the weekend… I had figured I was doing a basic keel boat beginners class however it turns out I was to teach a basic coastal cruising class . In the past I have avoided teaching that class when it was via the Oakland boat center because it meant a two weekend commitment and the head was not working on the boats or had to dump the Porta Potti.

For the Afterguard class I was only doing the one weekend and someone else was doing the second, which was good. I was still a bit nervous because the Afterguard classes cover more than what is listed for that level by ASA. Some of these things I did not know or was not comfortable doing .
I always have to step up my game when teaching for Afterguard. Which is a good thing, I teach, I learn. We have a saying in Kyudo ” one teaches, two learn.

I had two female students, who were good fun to sail with so it was an enjoyable weekend sail with them. We had some good sailing time joking around but taking care of business. One of them had a lot of experience sailing, but had not been certified. That is why she took the class. With that in mind and being with two females when the experienced one answered a question posed by the other I just let her talk. Keeping with the like mind thing and the woman to woman understanding, I let her run with it; as long as she was correct.

On Sat there was only a bit of wind for a while so we motor-sailed often. Sat was anchoring day, we went out to treasure isalnd for that and had lunch there, plus some minor stuff. We sailed on Capt. Mary’s personal boat which was made in Finland. It is a great handling boat, but always makes me nervous because it is her baby.

The Sunday Sail was more brisk we had fair winds although colder, much colder. It was a practice day of heaving-to and docking, both went well. We stopped at Jack London Sq and had lunch there. Afterward more docking practice this time under heavier winds , I that would be good practice. We got back on time and were able to casually put the boat away.

It was a good weekend on the water. I feel more comfortable doing the level two class now and I learned something about sailing the tide/current flow on the bay.