Rick Galbreath came out to Treasure Island on San Francisco Bay to check out the sailing scene, get a ride on a sailboat and discovered something he wanted to continue. Rick explains:
I had such a good time at Treasure Island Sailstice-- watching the boats being built was really great and the entertainment was so fun. However, I arrived too late to get signed up for a Sailboat ride. Undaunted, I just hung out on the dock in hopes of a no-show (because I really love being on the water) and lo-and-behold, I got a ride on a sweet Catalina 36MkII (from the Tradewinds Sailing School and Club).
The wind was awesome at a Beaufort 6, gusting to 7 and we made 7 knots on just the headsail even in the wind shadow of Yerba Buena Island. It was aftrer we came about and headed back to Clipper Cove that I had a sort of epiphany-- more of a resolution-- that I would take the next year and get my ASA certification so I could Skipper a boat for Summer Sailstice. I can't imagine a better day on the water- introducing folks to sailing! and sharing my enthusiasm for wind power.
Having grown up on the Texas Gulf coast in a family of fishermen, I was reminded of an old saying which I'll adapt:
"Any day sailing is better than the best day working." (The original was "The worst day fishing..." but I can't imagine how a day sailing could be bad!)
See you on the Bay!
Rick Galbreath
The free sailboat rides at Summer Sailstice on Treasure Island were once again a great success despite challenging conditions. The heavy winds didn't deter hopeful sailboat riders. The 200+ seats that we had available were sold out by 2pm. While Marianne from Club Nautique did the preliminary planning for the rides, Brandy and Matt from Tradewinds Sailing School and Club, along with their gaggle of helpers, took care of the running of the sign-ups and the orchestration of loading and unloading on the dock. Boat rides were provided by Tradewinds (4 boats), Club Nautique (2 boats), Mission Creek Sailing Tours and Modern Sailing. Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails attempted to come on his Express 37, Golden Moon but was unable to get into the harbor due to draft restrictions.
In addition participants were asked to make a donation to the community based Treasure Island Sailing Center to help raise funds for their sailing student scholarships. With the help of theses schools almost $500 dollars was raised to help support San Francisco community sailing.
Every year, the sailboat rides consistently draw for hopeful sailors to Summer Sailstice. We are so thankful for those in the community who contributed to their overwhelming success!
A special thanks to all the skippers and helpers:
Tradewinds Sailing Center: Suzanne Lee, Tony Johnson, John Bogert, Ted Stuart, Ian Joseph, Tom Watts, Jody Watts, Paul Baker, Janet Baker, Pam Burns-Hunter, Roger Hunter and Suzanne Lee
Club Nautique: John Carroll, Renee Kiml, Julie Cheng, Pat Williams, Ruben Arce and Shirley Johnson
Modern Sailing: Stan Lander
Mission Creek Sailing Tours: Gregory Sherwood and his wife Cathy.
We'll look forward to seeing Rick on Summer Sailstice next year if not sooner on the Bay the rest of this year!
Boat rides were given from the docks at Treasure Isle Marina. Here a boat from Club Nautique pulls in to drop off passengers and pick up the next crew.