by I have not forgotten about you all! I have just become so busy with Spring finally deciding to show up here in the Kootenays…
So, here’s an update: the first Basic Cruising course was held the first 2 weekends of April and my hearty crew had a blast! We managed to spend several days on the water with a great breeze despite the snow and rain. Spindrift was a very happy lady! We had great wind for crew overboard practice, heaving-to, reefing, anchoring for lunch breaks and lots of gybing and tacking. Phew.
I also recently completed the Offshore Personal Survival Course with the Vic-Maui team and really enjoyed it! I would highly recommend it as we had hands on practice with flares, rig cutting, raft deployment and cold water survival tips. I could look at seeing if they could bring this course to us in Nelson. If anyone is interested in doing this course let me know and I’ll see if I can arrange one locally for us.
I also managed to find a few of the crew who are joining us on Turnagain in July… Go Team Travis!
I also recently worked with my colleagues at Simply Sailing to teach the Sail Canada Spinnaker Standard course. It was great to sail on the Coast again and we had some great collaborative teaching and exchange of knowledge to help finish up this new standard for Sail Canada. I’ll be adding a spinnaker course to the Sail Nelson course arsenal towards the end of the summer!
Finally, I am still collecting all of my gear for my Maui-Vancouver boat delivery. You’ll be happy to know that MEC will not be going out of business anytime soon and that I am also doing my part to stimulate the local economy (yikes). I have just received my foul weather gear and my new inflatable lifejacket so I’ll be writing about those soon!
Fair winds,
Captain Penny
Reblogged this on Kootenay Lake Sailing Association and commented:
Offshore Personal Survival course is a must for anyone heading offshore. Great experience for our Sail Nelson crew.