Learning to sail will be one of the cornerstones in readying myself to navigate the open oceans.  I currently don’t have any ocean faring experience and this will be the most efficient way for me to get my sea legs.

I was made aware of Tradewinds Sailing School by a local live-aboard.  This three part series will be about my first experiences learning to sail with Tradewinds.

Had a fantastic day crewing for Michael, an Aussie skipper, today.  Sailed all around the bay, my first time out of the channel, and had a ton of helm time as well (and behind a wheel instead of a tiller this time).  Had a lot of great tips and lessons on reading telltales, working the traveler, and a neat tip - in little wind, a boat will sail faster if it’s heeled over a bit.  The physics of it makes perfect sense, but probably wouldn’t have thought of it had someone not told me.

On a more tragic note, there were no less than 3 jumpers off the Golden Gate Bridge today.  One was from the south side, and one from the center.  There were at least 6 calls for people in the water.  And apparently, there’s an average of about 1 suicide every few days.

After looking more into the OSP course, I believe that getting this certification will be a great milestone for readiness to cross the oceans on my peddleboat.

The prerequisites are long, and it includes many skills I don’t yet possess.  There are 38 skills I’ll need.

I decided to walk up Albany Hill around midnight the other day.  It was an interesting head check.  As I ascended the hill, things got quieter, and things got darker.  There was a fog rolling in that swept through the trees.  As I neared the apex, it got very still, my eyes hadn’t fully adjusted yet so everything was very dark.  And then I got to thinking… will I be ready to be out in the middle of the ocean all alone… night after night?  I sat down, closed my eyes, and for a very long time, tried to imagine it.  And I went through envisioning what it would be like to be so isolated.  I think that that part will be pretty hard.

Through all this training, my level of physical activity has jumped a lot.  But at the same time, my muscles have never stopped being tired… and I’m constantly craving more and more protein.  I think that this may be an indication of my diet not proving me with enough of what it needs to keep up with the training.  I’m going to order up some supplements and protein, and start a regimen of a shake in the morning, one in the noon, and one at night.  I know I’m hungry a lot more, so at least the extra calories will be helpful.  Sucks to shoot in the dark, but until I need to see how to resolve this so I can keep stepping up the training.

Walked in to Tradewinds today and signed up for a Mate’s Membership.  Great deal, $35 a month and you get access to all the sailing you can handle.  Also got more information and insight from Matt and Brandy about exactly how much time on the water I’d need before they felt I was ready for some of the more advanced courses.  Matt quoted about a year’s worth of constant weekly sailing may be enough.  I trust their experience, and don’t thing they’d under-quote the amount of experience needed.  I guess the better question would be how will I make time for road training, work, sailing, and trying to find sponsors?

They are really really good.  Being able to push and pull at the same time… makes such a huge difference.  Biking hills has now gained another dimension.