Sailing

Sailing

Sailing is one of our family's favorite activities. My wife and I have always enjoyed the ocean and as a kid I did some small-boat sailing on lakes. In 1989, we were invited on a weekend sailing trip by a friend and we enjoyed it so much we decided to get a sailbaot ourselves. After a little reasearch we found that the cost of a boat, slip, and maintenance was prohibitive for occasional use though. Then in 1990, we discovered a local sailing club that made sailing affordable for us. We started sailing and building our seafaring skills. Now, 17 years later, we have accumulated approximately 150 days of sailing experinece on a variety of boats and in a variety of wind, weather and sea conditions. On our Sailing Clubs page, we describe some of the advantages and disadvantages of sailing clubs for those who might be in a similar situation to us.

Like most who sail Southern California waters, many of our trips are to Santa Catalina Island.  We typically make a couple of 3-day trips to the island during the year as well as a week-long trip during the mid-to-late summer when it is warmest. On these longer trips, we tend to do more exploring of remote coves and the "backside" of the island. During our dozens of boating trips to the island we have learned a few tips and tricks - some of which we pass along on the Catalina Island page.

Now that we have three children, the trips are somewhat different than when we started sailing; but sailing is really a great family activity. Our kids are all learning boating skills early and are growing up with a sincere appreciation of the ocean.

Sailing with small children can be a challenge. Our youngest two, twins, are seven years old now so we are beyond the difficult stage, but for those boaters just starting a family we pass on some of the things we learned over the years on our Sailing with Young Children page.

Many of our sailing trips include friends or extended family. The Information for Guests page provides our guests an idea of what to expect and includes information on a variety of subjects including what to pack, safety on the boat, etc. This page might be useful to others planning a boating trip, especially to Catalina, so we have made it available to anyone.

Lastly, we have compiled a number of checklists for use prior to and during our trips. Although our lists checklists probably don't match the exact needs of anyone else, we are strong advocates of using checklists and we make our checklists available for others to review and consider when preparing their own.

We hope this information will be useful and interesting to those sailing (or planning to sail) in Southern California. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please let us know using the "contact" link above.

Last Updated: 28 Dec 2007