I am the recently-new owner of a snowboard and associated gear. Its initiating run was a weekend trip to Tahoe a few weeks back, where we visited both Heavenly and Kirkwood. The first day was very rough, but the second was much easier. I half suspect that may have been due to simply being too tired for bad technique.

Next stop, soccer. Last week the emails started up, and last Wednesday was our first practice of the season. I thought I’d be in somewhat reasonable shape but still managed to push myself to the limits. Continuous sprinting wasn’t in my practice routine, something my legs did not hesitate to make clear the next day.

Finally, sailing. I met up with my parents and friend Kenneth in Alameda for an afternoon of sailing. We took the 32′ boat Caroline; it was my first time sailing a Jeanneau, but I found it handled very well. I kept a single reef in the sail to keep things from getting too exciting, and also practiced steering with the sails alone. Hopefully the weather will return to sunny-goodness soon, as I would like to get in a few more days of experience in the next month.

A friend invited me to go to the Taste of Lexus event in Alameda. This is a travelling showroom where Lexus displays its latest models, complete with courses where you can take them for a spin. I normally am not too good at writing reviews; I’ll ignore features others consider revolutionary and gush over features others may not consider all that important. In this case, I have a few specific criticisms to make, and thus the review.

Continue reading →

A few weeks ago I flew over to Ukraine for a weekend visit. This time, I was able to tour the open-air market in Khmelnytskyi, the town and castle of Kamyanets-Podilsky, and the village of Hritsiv.

This past Sunday I successfully passed my Basic Cruising course. I’m still looking at what additional courses I’d like to take, but whichever I choose, I’ll still need to build up some experience.

The final class had us practice docking at Sam’s in Tiburon, and Ayala Cove on Angel Island. (Both sites being important sailing destinations on the Bay, especially Sam’s.) Tying up at Sam’s was an interesting experience. Our instructor (Oliver) pointed out a location, which cause some confusion given that there was already a boat in the space indicated. As it happens, there was a good 12 feet of slip for us to use, and we managed a good approach under the watchful eyes of a packed outdoor eating area. (Our boat, Vienna, was about 31 feet.)

Continue reading →

I received my Basic Keelboat certification last Friday! I still have a couple weekends in July before I earn the Basic Cruising certificate, but now I have a decent understanding of how to handle a sailboat.

The last few days were much better; we had bright sun and mild winds as opposed to clouds and whitecaps. We anchored for lunch at Treasure Island, then went out and practiced overboard recoveries.