Basic Sailing & Seamanship

Posted on September 30, 2011 by pacsail

If you are interested in picking up a new sport, refreshing your basic sailing skills or just wanting to have a great time, I highly suggest taking basic sailing and seamanship.

I had my apprehensions as to what basic sailing and seamanship was going to be like.

Crew Sam Woods

The thought of being put on a boat all day for 2 days with people I had never met before could be a toss up, but fortunately Marc Kraft runs a great program and I spent the 2 days in basic sailing with an amazing teacher Captain Jo and three very wonderful individuals.

Jo has the patience of a saint; thank the sailing gods! He also has a way with teaching the basic fundamentals of sailing so that they stick. I walked away from this past weekend not just with a love for sailing and knowledge, but I learned about the people I was learning with and about myself. What other type of class can you say that about in less then two days?

Captain Jo

The class will cover and touch on important topics; sailing theory, safety gear, points of sailing, knots, tacking and jibing, crew responsibilities, halmanship and commands, getting underway and making sail, sail trimming, securing the boat, nautical terminology, finding and reading the wind, mechanics of rig and sail, reefing and navigation rules. One of the most important things to always remember is to smile and have fun. Oh, and one hand for yourself and one hand for the boat can also go a long ways.

Crew Lesley Moussette

Skipper Brooks Bell

What do we plant when we plant the tree?

We plant the ship that will cross the sea,

We plant the mast to carry the sails,

We plant the planks to withstand the gales-

The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee-

We plant the ship when we plant the tree.

Abbey, Henry; 1842-1911

out on the Monterey Bay

Special thanks to Steve Allen for being an important part of our crew and taking some great photos. Also, thanks to Lesley Moussette and Brooks Bell, I’ll sail with you all any day. A very special thank you to Captain Jo and Pacific Sail. It couldn’t have been done without you.

By: Samantha Woods

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If you haven’t heard by now…

Posted on September 26, 2011 by pacsail
If you haven’t heard by now, we are proud to announce that the oldest and grandest event in the sport of sailing, the ‘Americas Cup Sailing’ will be held in San Francisco 2013. After eighteen years abroad this prestigious yacht race has returned to American soil and lucky us in our very own bay area.
But don’t worry if you can’t plan that far in advanced, because starting now a global first, the new weekly magazine program America’s Cup Uncovered is designed to connect viewers with the people, places and stories that are the backbone of the America’s Cup. Featuring behind-the-scenes sneak-peeks, athlete profiles and up-close action on and off the water, America’s Cup Uncovered will take an in-depth look at the 34th edition over the next two years, offering an exclusive window into one of the most prestigious events in sport.

Americas Cup 2013 San Francisco

For more information on the Americas Cup 2013 in San Francisco and to watch the first episode of Americas Cup Uncovered check out: http://www.americascup.com

By: Samantha Woods

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Update September 2011

Posted on September 7, 2011 by pacsail

Humpback Whale Hanging Out in Santa Cruz

An adult Humpback Whale has been seen in about 40 feet of water near the Main Beach in Santa Cruz. Apparently, this beautiful mammal has been feeding on anchovies & sardines which are plentiful this time of year. He has been putting on a show, breaching close to our sail boats.
Humpback Whale

It’s always better to just go on a sailing excursion with no expectations of seeing whales. We’ve found it’s best to just let the whales find you rewarding you with an amazing treat.

Fall Specials

Our friends and family specials have done so well, we will be continuing it through the winter and early spring. Please pass this special to your friends if you want more crewmembers to help you sail on the Monterey Bay.

Day one (only) of Basic Sailing & Seamanship – Cost $325. For 2-3 participants. You can add a 4th participant if they are 18 years or younger. Your group can pick any day. 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. with a ½ hr. lunch break.

Basic Sailing & Seamanship (day 1&2) – Cost $650. For 2-3 participants. You can add a 4th participant if they are 18 years or younger. Group can pick any two-day period. 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. with a ½ hr. lunch break.

Eight Day Bareboat Certification Course (day 1 to 8). Cost $2,950. For 2-3 participants. You can add a 4th participant if they are 18 years or younger. Participants can split this up into any segments, weekdays or weekends that would work best for your group.

Sail to Capitola’s Art & Wine festival.

On September 10th-11th
there’s the Capitola Art & Wine festival. This is a terrific event with talented local artists displaying & selling their art. The streets of Capitola are closed off and filled with 200 artists, 16 wineries, gourmet food, entertainment and children’s art area. It’s great to see some of Santa Cruz’s local talent.

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Tsunami

Posted on March 18, 2011 by pacsail

Thank-you to everyone concerned about the Pacificsail fleet and Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor after the Tsunami caused mass devastation and chaos this past Friday, March 11th, 2011. Fortunately, with the help of many of our captains & boating neighbors, we continued to replace breaking dock lines and fend off floating boats as much as possible during the event (over 6 hours). Often, it was far too dangerous to actually be on the docks, making it terribly frustrating.

The scene was jaw dropping, intense, treacherous, and gut wrenching. To watch the strong possibility of our entire fleet almost get washed out to sea and have no control of what was happening was quite trying. The currents were similar to watching white water rapids, charging through the harbor with the strength of 10 locomotive trains. Fortunately for us, the upper harbor (behind the bridge from us) received the most of the damage.
A few of our boats on the end tie received minor damage from a loose powerboat and debris that rubbed against them. We’ll be fully open for business by March 21st, 2011 after the Coast Guard cleans up the damage of sunken boats and debris. Below are some videos people captured of the day. We truly appreciate your concerns and look forward to having a great sailing season ahead.

For now, our hearts and prayers go out to the people in Japan and wish them a rapid recovery.

Regards,

Marc D. Kraft
President

Marc Kraft running for his life after the people on the bridge saw another wave heading down the channel-

Below are some more utube clips-

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What’s it like on the Monterey Bay from November through March?

Posted on November 20, 2010 by pacsail

Typically, the winds settle down between storms and we can get the most amazing, sparkling clear days with tranquil sea conditions. It’s actually quite enjoyable, sailing along in light winds, checking out the fall and winter sea life, especially when the California Grey Whales start migrating to Mexico in December.

Our first pre-winter storm system moved into Santa Cruz recently. Although we embrace this precipitation as it replenishes our reservoirs and parched landscape, it’s not going to stop us from going sailing. For those enthusiastic sailors that want to get out and enjoy mild winds and Grey Whales migrating to Mexico, it’s a good time to evaluate our winter sailing conditions.

Pacific Sailing highly recommends studying the weather conditions emphatically during storm season. Don’t worry; we wouldn’t let a bareboat charter or class happen unless the conditions are quite suitable for safe and comfortable sailing.

There’s no cancellation fee in the winter. Typically, our winter storms come from the South, which is the direction our Harbor Entrance is facing. The result of the storm waves crashing into the entrance brings in tons of sand, which needs to be continually dredged throughout the winter. Usually our dredge can keep up, but there are times where the swell at the entrance makes it too risky to leave the Harbor, even on a beautiful day.

At the top right section of our new home page (pacificsail.com), if you click resources, there is a live web cam on top of the Crows Nest restaurant pointed at the Harbor Entrance. You also have the links to all of the NOAA weather sites, satellites, tides, swell, and wind predictions.

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Sailing Quotes

Posted on October 15, 2010 by pacsail

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —Mark Twain

Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them. —John Updike (b. 1932), U.S. author, critic. Self-Consciousness

“What is liberty? We say of a boat skimming the water with light foot, ‘How free she runs,’ when we mean, how perfectly she is adjusted to the force of the wind, how perfectly she obeys the great breath out of the heavens that fills her sails. Throw her head into the wind and see how she will halt and stagger, how every sheet will shiver and her whole frame be shaken, how instantly she is “in irons, ” in the expressive phrase of the sea. She is free only you have let her fall off again and have recovered once more her nice adjustment to the forces she must obey and cannot defy.” —
Woodrow Wilson, Twenty-eighth President of the United States
(Excerpts from First You Have to Row a Little Boat, by Richard Bode) Continue reading →

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Moorings Charters

Posted on October 15, 2010 by pacsail

Pacific Yachting is a charter broker with the Moorings Charter Company. They charter yachts around the world in some of the most ideal sailing locations. We use the Moorings because they have an excellent reputation. Their prices may be a slightly higher than some of the other foreign charter companies but we figure that if you are going that far you don’t want to deal with any major problems.

If you want Pacific Yachting to book your next sailing vacation, we can save you money. Just go to the Moorings web site at http://www.moorings.com, pick a location and give us a call or e-mail.

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Docking News

Posted on October 15, 2010 by pacsail

Pacific Yachting & Sailing graduates continue to prove that they are quite proficient at docking in our berthing area. We’ve observed our graduates are really skillful at resolving those conflict- resolution, docking issues.

Thank-you for actually following all of those Pacific Yachting & Sailing Instructors, philosophies. “Slow is good, slower is better.” If there’s an uncomfortably tight docking situation that you find yourself involved in, relax, – put the boat in neutral, take a deep breath, ask your crew to stand by with a fender or boat hook to gently fend off; at this point you should only be drifting so no damage could possibly happen.

Access the situation. Ideally, if you’re backing up, going stern to the eye of the wind is ideal. If the wind continues to push you beam to other boats, just leave the helm and have everyone maneuver the boat around so that the bow or stern is facing into the wind. If you are already beam to touching the leeward boats, you’ll just get blown back down on them if you try to do it with the motor.    Continue reading →

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Securing Boats

Posted on October 15, 2010 by pacsail

Most of our charterers are doing a great job of properly securing the boats at the end of the sail.  This becomes even more important during the fall and winter months when the harbor can experience strong surge due to storms offshore. The surge really moves the boats around in their slips and puts added loads on dock lines and increases chafe on both lines and boat cleats. So, here’s a refresher on how to properly secure the vessel after your sail.

Cleat Hitch

There are two sets of lines used to secure the boat to the dock-”bow” and “stern” lines, which secure the bow and stern, respectively, keeping the boat parallel to the dock; and, “spring” lines which keep the boat from moving forward and aft in the slip. Both sets of lines need to be properly rigged to secure the boat.

Continue reading →

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Reefing Is Not a City in China

Posted on October 15, 2010 by pacsail

On numerous occasions our Pacific Yachting charter customers & students say: “Do you think the wind is even going to come up?”
The answer is yes! If it looks dead out there, please realize that Mother Nature is just taking a breather first thing in the morning. That gives you time to pull the mainsail up at the dock and put a single or double reef in. Practice this with your crew. It sometimes takes a bit of adjusting to get the new tack and clew right.

The most common mistake I see people doing is:
1. The main sheet is not released enough.
2. The main halyard is not released enough. Look at the leech of the sail. If it looks tight, let the halyard down more.
3. The boom vang is cleated or pulled too tight.
4. Head in to the wind
5. If you can’t head into the wind at the dock, release the main sheet. Physically push the boom out as far as it will go. There shouldn’t be pressure on the main sail while pulling it up. Never force anything.
6. Please don’t tie up the reef cringles unless you absolutely leave them very, very loose. That’s those little holes that are aligned from the reef tack to the reef clew. The mistake people make is that they tie the cringles too tight. The tack and clew are meant to carry the pressure and load, not the cringles.

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