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2005: getting started
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Getting Started - 2005 Onwards
Sara and I started thinking about sailing after I developed a dangerous habit of crashing motorcycles at high speed. I was racing with the AFM in Northern California, and while I was getting pretty quick, I crashed way too much. Two bikes, fourteen crashes, one hospital visit, and a small coma signaled the end of my racing career.
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Racing at Thunderhill
So much funWe wanted to find something exciting that both of us could do together, and our location in San Francisco - one of the best places in the world to sail - certainly helped make the choice for us. The bay is protected from the ocean swell, but the winds blow strong for eight months of the year. Perfect.
Boating is unregulated in the US, so you don't need a license to tool around on the water, but we decided to take classes and learn as much as we could about sailing. We started in the classroom, sailed little dinghys around the harbour, bought a 27' sailboat, and then were ASA certified to the level of "Bareboat Charter" during a week-long trip to Mexico. Read more in learning to sail.
Sometime during our learning to sail venture, we both came to realize that we were serious about our desire to escape the 'American Dream'. We were working way too much, living in the most expensive place in the world, and we were surrounded by an over-priviledged population. Did you know that some huge percentage of Americans don't have passports? Unbelievable!
We hatched a plan to escape. Read more in the dream.
Once we decided to sail away, we needed a vessel. We considered many, almost bought a lemon, and finally found our lovely boat. Read more in finding the boat.
The final step in getting ready to sail off into the sunset is the boat. We carefully examined and sailed her before buying. Read more in buying the boat.