Learning to sail Blog...
September 2021:
Salem Cruise !
Despite living in Boston for 20 years we never been to Salem the place of the infamous witch trials. It was close enough but far enough for an overnight !. It was drizzling on the way back we tried to tack into the Boston harbor but we learned that with very light winds is very difficult to make any meaningful progress upwind. Valeria also spotted a SunFish ! it is a very big and peculiar fish that feeds on gellyfish so they are constantly skimming the surface. Ariana enjoyed the trip which made it all worth it !
July 2021:
First Boston harbor exploration: George's Island and Fort Warren
We made the short sail to George's Island and did our first "island exploration" without leaving the Boston harbor :).
April 2021:
First Passage!: Rhode Island to Mass
We moved the boat from her winter berth in the picturesque village of Wickford Rhode Island to her permanent home in Winthrop Massachusetts !. You can check out our video by clicking on the picture. Or go here https://youtu.be/gcpIJ1kEtaY
November 2020:
We now Own EverGreen !.
Well we got out work cut out for us !. We have to learn every system in Evergreen during the winter, get a berth in Massachusetts, practice our sailing skills with the bigger boat we have ever had... and we got 4 months to do it :0
Sept 2020:
We put an offer for a boat
"Evergreen" is a Pearson 424. It meets all of our needs for a future live-aboard or otherwise known as an "escape pod" for hard times if the economy or my job takes a dive. It also has a strong hull below when we ground the boat (hopefully not too often). We still have a whole process to go before this boat is really ours crossing fingers. Every one of these old boats are unique and require a one off analysis for the invariable list of issues that come along with them. How much are we willing to bear and where is a red line where we back out of the purchase :0.
July 2020: What boat would fit our needs ?. After much research clearly there are two main types of boats out there for two different missions: "Cruisers" and "Production" boats meant for more "Coastal navigation". Clearly all sailors start doing Coastal. The question is can you start with one and transition to the other ?. In this link I explore the differences with some personal research....
Summer 2020: learning to sail
Best way to learn to sail for me was practice. The concept of sailing is pretty simple. There are well documented "points of sail" that you need to know. Then you just got to be able to execute them in the water. So I went out there to Lake Cochituate 30 minutes from our home and practice practice practice !. Until finally I felt I had started getting the handle of how it all comes together. I also learned that having a support crew (My wife Valeria and first mate Ariana) is a huge help. Being "single handed" is a lot more work. That would be an important lesson to learn if we move to a bigger boat :0
June/July 2020: Purchased a Dinghy to practice the "points of sail". It is a ton of fun to harness the wind and cover distance with no motor. Truly hard to describe unless you experience it for yourself....Ariana seems very interested on it and it has given us a great chance of spending some fun "daddy-daughter" time....