We'll be heading out this week to take my momma on her first sailing trip, for her 70th birthday. Lookin for blue waters, clear skies and great winds. SD here we come.

What a perfect 3 days of sailing. Thursday and Friday were light winds with great sailing. San Diego harbor had light traffic except for the 5 navy ships arriving for weekend shore leave on friday. Saw a school of dolphins in the harbor on thursday, hubby saw a whale...not sure about that. Did abit of geocaching up at Balboa park and then gawked at the yachts on Saturday. Tried a couple of new places to eat, the Broken Yolk in the gaslamp district for breakfast and Bareback Burgers in Mission Beach. All yummy. Visited Coronado Island for dinner and a walk in the full moonlight at Hotel del Coronado. We are definitely returning there for a long weekend. The pounding surf, full moon, and winter sunset pretty much convinced us not to go home...but of course, we had to fly home on Saturday. We will be back next month...gotta get those sailing hours in so we can get on to the next sailing certification and sail into the big water!!

Just 2 more weeks until we begin our year of diligence as we get serious about accruing sail time. We've decided to sail at least monthly to get more experience and get on with our next certification-Coastal Cruising and moving out of San Diego harbor. We're anxious to step things up a bit but still to novice to do so. So we'll be sailing for 3 days and the San Diego boat show for Capt Ray's birthday.

We have recently realized that its been a year of learning and we have come a long way in knowledge and experiences since last year. We've begun to keep a sailing notebook to start logging all of the important things about boats, trips etc that we talk about but have not documented. They are becoming too numerous to remember.

We recently found a boat model we really like, the european made Oyster. It has an interior layout, and very important windows (for my viewing needs). The island packet is also top on our list.

We'll just keep looking...
http://www.oystermarine.com/

Well, it has been entirely too long of a summer. We have enjoyed a moment of sailing. It is time for a weekday escape. I have the plans formulating in my imagination right now. Lovely October Pacific breezes, delicious meal at Hash House, a walk along the bay in the evening, great sunset and back home to my own bed at night. OK Southwest Airlines reservations, here I come!!

http://www.thebigbay.com/

Well, we decided to be brave and charter a boat with our kids on the first day of vacation. It was gray May, but the sun broke through the clouds and made it a fine afternoon. We sailed under the Coronado bridge and caught great 12-15 knot winds that made the day so worth it. We just had such a great sail!!

Well we finally made it for our first lesson. We arrived and were greeted by cold cloudy weather. Not the tropical kind we hoped for. The weather cleared and the wind picked up to about 12 knot winds and we had a great time. So much to learn, so much room for error. Do we tack, where is the wind? Oh crap, here comes the boom...accidental jibe. Luckily our instructor was forgiving. Thanks Paul. Charlie Smith from Yuma was part of our class. The 3 of us made a great team.