Wet But Certified!

My friend Patrick and I were "checked out" on a 35 foot cruising yacht on Saturday. This basically means we spent the day sailing with a certified US Coast Guard captain who verified we can take a boat of this size out without killing ourselves or wrecking it into a pier or jetty. Saturday was rainy, but that only increased the adventure and made for a crowd-free day of sailing on the San Diego bay (very few other boats were out). We explored the bay and sailed out beyond the end of the Point Loma...all while fighting gusty winds (we had to put a reef in the sail). See below for a picture of myself at the helm.

I nicknamed our captain "Captain F-Bomb" because during the entire trip he chewed tobacco and added a cuss word to every sentence he spoke. Very entertaining....and very knowledgeable.  He was an experienced captain (sailed to Costa Rica multiple times) who was very practical. For example, upon boarding the yacht, Captain F-Bomb quickly opened the bilge and sipped some bilge water.

What's the bilge you might ask?  Below is an exerpt from Wikipedia: - The bilge (IPA: /bɪldʒ/) is the lowest compartment on a ship where the two sides meet at the keel. Bilge water can be found aboard almost every vessel. Depending on the ship's design and function, bilge water may contain water, oil, urine, detergents, solvents, chemicals, pitch, particles, and so forth. Follow this link for more information on bilges...

To the average man, drinking bilge water might sound disgusting. But he explained drinking bilge water was the quickest way to determine if the boat had a leak (salty water) or was simply collecting rainwater (fresh). A very handy skill to have especially if you don't want to end up in Davey Jones' locker!

Now I'm certified to skipper a boat that can easily carry six to eight people. Next task....organize a day sail for my dad. I'll keep you posted.