Wow, that was truly amazing! I hope to get lots of pix from the professional photographer they had on board as I was busy grinding out the tacks and helping to set and retrieve sails etc, big grin! Truly a once in a lifetime experience. I met some wonderful people including Pierre Marie, a frenchman living in San Diego and a very talented sailor, from whom I was delighted to take direction from. Also unexpectedly the owners of Stars and Stripes 11 based in San Diego Bea and Lynn Hanna were on board crewing as well. I felt right at home ha ha. Everyone was very supportive and knowledgeable. We blew out a spinnaker on the backside of the island and we all jumped too and handled it and sent another balloon aloft and hardly missed a beat. No panic at all when the sound of a sail exploding overhead went off.
This trip really renewed the peace I feel with the sea. The water really is a deep part of both Darla and I. Speaking of Darla did you see the cute outfit she met me with on the dock! Smokin’
Incredibly fun time sailing and racing on the Eleonora for the Westward Cup 2015!
Wow what a Yacht. Huge challenge for me as I am much more accustomed to 50′ and less. Everything is much larger and almost surreal because of the dimensions. You go to grab for a block or tackle and it is almost unrecognizable. It literally takes a full crew just to manage the sail hoists. I learned so much including new types of sails called the fisherman and the Gollywobbler!
When I first came on board in the early morning hours I felt humbled and awed by this magnificent craft. I went around introducing myself to the crew members on board and to the skipper. They all asked if I had experience on Classic Boats before and I had to say “NO”. They were all very nice but I could see the look in their eyes that I had a lot to learn and boy did I. Can I say foremast topsail tack!!
Now I have sailed for a long time and as many of you know I used to live on my 36′ Lancer in San Diego Harbor, but all of this was new to me and integrating into a crew was a challenge all on it’s own. I was able to overcome the fear by focusing on the excitement of learning all this new stuff. I jumped in anywhere I could and pulled sheets with the best of them. My one regret was that I knew I didn’t have the youth in me anymore to have hooked up and flown to the top of the masts, what a view that would have been. Darla would probably be happy that I didn’t do that though, cheesy grin. I did however climb out onto the bowsprit and attend to the sails. That was a rush!
Sailing on a Yacht this large is a different experience with regard to communication as well. The skipper, 1st mate and bowmen have radios to communicate and very seldom do the crews in different parts of the boat see each other. When you are so focused on doing your job sometimes you don’t even have time to look up and see where you are.
Made new friends including a french chap named Pierre who, unbeknownst to me lives in San Diego with his pregnant wife and had sailed with my good friend Joe Saad many times! Very small world. He crewed permanently on the yacht for a year all over the world and came back to help out for this series of races.
What an honor to be here. I am so grateful to have been invited. Thank you to Mr. Zacks and Skipper/tactician Mike MacMillan! Also a shout out to my lovely wife who inspired me to put myself out there.
It is frowned upon for the crew to go around taking pix etc… so I snuck a few and will post them below with some youtube stuff just so you can get an idea of the scale onboard.
So in summary, incredible experience and I say to all of those of you out there who experience self doubt and don’t choose to put yourself out there to be in a position to test yourself and grow, doing the things you love to do, STOP rethink that and see the possibilities to become more of who you are. Listen to the people around you who encourage you to grow and challenge yourself. This lifetime is short and your experience in this life is of your own making! Go for it!
I am going out to practice tomorrow morning early! I am so excited I can’t even tell you. After I do incredibly well in the 3 day series they may invite me back to compete with them in THE big race around the Isle of Wight! We are so lucky to be in the right place! Darla prompted me to talk to the Yacht Club and thanx to her motivation I received a call this evening from the skipper asking if I would like to join them tomorrow as crew! Thank you dear!
Made new friends including a french chap named Pierre who, unbeknownst to me lives in San Diego with his pregnant wife and had sailed with my good friend Joe Saad many times! Very small world. He crewed permanently on the yacht for a year all over the world and came back to help out for this series of races.
