Is your boat still floating?

   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - Two decades ago we were getting ready to sail our 48-foot sailboat Sabbatical under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific Ocean and - as Mexico-bound sailors still say - turn left.
     It would be the start of a trip I had been dreaming of for years.

Sabbatical in Zihuatenejo, Mexico

     Even so, for many of us heading south to Mexico as part of a race/rally called the Baja-HaHa, sponsored by San Francisco Bay's Latitude 38 sailing magazine, there was more than a touch of anxiety.
     Ocean sailing, even within 10-20 miles of the coast, has plenty of potential perils.
     But a year or so before we turned left, Latitude 38 published a guide for people getting ready to head to Mexico. It contained a reassuring checklist for captains and their crews about how to deal with the manifold problems - large and small - they might encounter.
     It advised that the first question to ask yourself in an emergency was simple:

Is your boat still floating?

     It was the best - and perhaps most obvious - thing to know, miles from shore or anywhere.
     From there the list branched out to things like, "Can you still steer? Can you make the boat move via sails or engine? Is the crew all healthy? Does your two-way radio still work? And so and so and so on down the list that I am sure had "do you still have beer?" somewhere towards the end.
     That article full of nautical (and life) wisdom has been on my mind ever since the coronavirus pandemic started buffeting people's lives like huge waves and winds on the ocean. I tried to adapt it to the complicated situation we face. But somehow saying, "Is your house still standing?" didn't have the same cachet as "Is your boat still floating?"
     But then this morning, a friend from Penn Yan, New York forwarded a very to-the-point helpful piece with advice about how to reset panicky thinking as we deal with COVID-19.
     You may have already seen it on Facebook or Twitter:

     Good advice all around, I think.

     What am I planning for today? Admiral Fox and will take a long walk with the family and Biscuit, our dog.

    And we will keep the above "mindset shift" advice in mind.

    We know the boat is still floating.

A national holiday of boating - if the weather cooperates

VALOIS, New York, USA - Today is a holiday, at least around this house, as the Admiral and I celebrate my birthday, a day I always declare a national holiday, despite Hallmark's continued reluctance to include it with all those other special days of the year that litter the calendar.

And for the day, I have planned some sailing on the new sailboat, a trip on the Spirit of Louise to a bar/restaurant called The Showboat for lunch, and lastly a cocktail tour this evening, going dock-to-dock to check in with friends.

Weather permitting, of course... Weather permitting.


Evening sail, just before the wind died

If the summer of 2009 was a child who had just reached maturity, we would have to say we have failure to launch.

Weeks of rain and cold weather have shifted to, well, less rain and slightly less cold. It's July 10 fer Chrissakes! As I write this, a brisk wind is blowing out of the south - a little too brisk for the new sailboat. And the temperature? Well, at last glance it was 63 degrees, about 17 degrees shy of what I want for today and all the activities planned.

Despite the relatively inclement weather, the annual July 4th party at the Schamel's came off without any hitches and this year featured a great dance band. While the Admiral and I had planned on having a couple of glasses of wine and then beating a retreat to the relative warmth of our house, we stayed until the band ended its run instead.


Travis, cleverly disguised as Travis


Admiral Fox listens to Guy Schamel


Quelle dommage - a spilled beer



The next set of adventures here - once recovery from today's birthday celebration is achieved - will be to give some sailing lessons to my amiga Jennifer who is half-owner of the new sailboat, tentatively dubbed The Red Rocket. She arrives tonight and I am sure will want to be out sailing early Saturday a.m.

The Admiral and I met Jennifer and her family last summer here at the lake and after a few minutes of conversation, cooked up a scheme to buy a sailboat together - provided I threw in some sailing lessons for she and her family.

With any luck, we will get some light winds to keep students - and sailing instructor - out of the water.


Sailing into the sunset (Photo by Admiral Fox)