Catch the Sailing Fever

"There is nothing- absolutely nothing-
half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."

-Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Grahame's beloved 1908
classic, The Wind in the Willows.

Tim, Andy, Jeff and Nancy, jumped on the boat Just Fiddlin' with Captain Chris Rundlett for a week of learning, adventure, navigating, and sailing.  Tim (student) showed up after receiving the week-long class as a gift from his fiance' for a (I wont tell which year) birthday gift. Tim and his fiance' are currently on a trek around the continent in their van. You can find their blog here (you will enjoy reading about the adventures!): http://everyday.bechelbronn.com/

We find many student get off the boat at the end of the week in an excited daze. I think Tim accurately exclaims in his blog the feeling that one gets from sailing:

"That evening we dropped our first anchor in Echo Bay on Sucia Island to a perfect sunset.  The fever was lit!" (Tim, pictured below)

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

Chris (instructor) makes sure that each student achieves the goal they came here for--keeping dialogue with each student and challenging them each day to push their skills to the next level. You can see from the picture below he really had things in line (pun intended). 

"Every day of this trip is busy with class, experiential learning, exploring islands, cooking, cleaning and sleeping." (Tim)

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

At the end of this intense week of learning, fun, and great winds, the crew took a hike to celebrate their new skills. 

 "We loaded some beers in the backpack and climbed about a thousand vertical feet over 1.3 miles up to the cliffs. The view was more than I expected!  It was a classic panaroma of all the islands of the San Juan to the west and south of us.  It was about 6pm when we reached the summit and I hadn’t brought my camera.  The sunset was obviously going to be photo-worthy so Andy and I trekked it back down to the shore, across the water in the dinghy and grabbed the camera, snacks and more beer. Nancy, Jeff and Chris stayed and chatted while Andy and I hustled to make it back to the top just in time for sunset photos!"

(photo by Tim Bradshaw)

Some photography dessert for you:
(All photos by Tim Bradshaw)