By Captain Ray
Published: February, 2008
You see sails everywhere, going in all directions. Perhaps you’ve thought, That looks like fun, but I don’t know how to sail. Besides, it must be expensive to own a boat. Anyway, I’m not a kid anyone, so I guess it’s a little late to start. Not true! For my first column in Bay Crossings, let me tell you my story.
I started sailing as an adult. My dad had sailed before he got married and occasionally talked about it, but I was 30 years old before I ever set foot on a sailboat. It was 1975. I had six years of college (and no degree—very much a product of the 60s) and was living on the beach in Hawai’i. At first, I had pitched a tent. Then, I built a shack. It was a nice shack: four rooms, two stories, and cold running water. I had my own private beach about a half-hour walk from the nearest pavement.
Some days, a boat would sail up to my front yard. Eventually, I swam out and met the guys driving the boat. They were running a business called Pacific Sail & Snorkel. They had one boat and offered the proverbial three-hour tour. Later, I saw them in town (Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island) and got to know them. After a few months, they offered me a job on the boat. My response: I don’t know how to sail!
They said they could teach me to sail, but they couldn’t teach me how to be dependable. So here I was living in a shack on the beach, trying to convince a prospective employer that I’m a dependable kind of guy! It worked: I learned to sail, earned my Master’s License, and went on to be an inter-island charter skipper in the Hawaiian Islands for 15 years.
Because my dad needed a hip replacement, I ended up back on the Mainland. I didn’t intend to stay, but I read a help-wanted ad asking for someone who: (1) had a Master’s license; (2) had many years of sailing experience; and (3) could talk! I thought I might never again see a want ad that fit me so well, so I responded. After a trial sail on a boat smaller than any I had ever sailed before, I accepted a job as a sailing instructor at OCSC Sailing in Berkeley.
That was more than 20 years ago. I am now OCSC’s Master Instructor. In addition to teaching students, I also train new instructors, lecture on navigation and weather, and help develop the curriculum.
In 1995, after an exhaustive examination by the national governing body for the sport of sailing, I was appointed a US SAILING Instructor Trainer (I.T.) and asked if I would volunteer to serve on US SAILING’s National Faculty. As an I.T., I get to travel around the country examining people who want to be US SAILING-certified Instructors. I’ve been sent to Santa Barbara, Seattle, Long Island Sound, Florida, even to St. Croix and the British Virgin Islands. National Faculty is a think tank that meets once or twice a year to discuss and (hopefully) resolve issues in sail training.
So, as it turns out, I’ve been sailing four and five days a week for over 30 years, even though I did not grow up in the sport. Now I’ll be taking over this column from Scott. He and I have worked together at OCSC Sailing for many years and collaborated on several curriculum projects, so this shift seems natural to me. Thank you, Scott, for this opportunity. It’s a long way from a shack on the beach! I guess I’m just at the right place at the right time once again…
Ray Wichmann,
