When I got down to the marina where my boat was, the wind was blowing soft pretty patterns over the water and I felt excited to be going out on the ocean again. 

There's just simply nothing quite like getting the boat ready and then skillfully maneuvering the sails so that the wind blows my boat swiftly out to sea!

So I untied the bow and stern lines and pushed the my 22 foot Columbia through the water out into the first small channel.

I then jumped aboard and held the boom and the strong wind caught the sail at a 90° angle and pulled us swiftly towards the main waterway. 

On the last third of the main channel is where all the little boats liked to practice and so I would always have to dodge these little boats here and there on my way out to the ocean.

Occasionally when sailing in bad weather, I would get to the seawall (the entrance to the ocean) and see 10 foot waves or higher looming in the distance and my heart would sink with fear, watching the whitecaps breaking on the tops. Often I would challenge these waves for as long as I could but on a gorgeous day like today, I would enthusiastically set out past the sea wall and head out into the waves without any fear. 

I could see all kinds of beautiful cloud formations at sea and if the sky was clear then I could also see the misty green color of Catalina island out on the far horizon. I would sail on for hours as the boat crashed gently through the water (up and down and over the waves). All the time the wind was blowing across my face; until at last the sun started to go down.

After a beautiful sunset, and a few miles out, only a remnant of a red light amidst a lot of darkness, glowed in the western sky. The ocean became very dark and everything became very eerie and a "wee bit scary" (lol). Because of the ever present darkness and gloom, I would turn on my navigation lights and one of the lights down inside the cabin. Its trickle of light into the cockpit, amidst a very dark world of sea and sky, would begin to cheer me up as I headed back home.

Then I would go down inside the cabin for a few minutes and get some hot water from the thermos and pour it into a cup of hot chocolate. Stirring this around with a spoon, I would "waddle" (in an attempt on walking across a moving deck), to bring it back outside to the cockpit and sit down and drink a nice warm cup. Then I would sip it and steer the boat by the stars ever towards the lights of the harbor.

Sometimes it would be hard to spot the flickering green or red harbor lights but with a pair of binoculars and a lot of patience, the lights would eventually show up. 

On other occasions, dolphins would visit us and jump out of the water near the boat! One time a couple dolphins were swimming in front of the boat just trying to tease me. It’s quite obvious they could swim much faster than the boat but they just seemed to glide along with such speed under the water (and with such ease and almost effortlessness) that it was amazing.

Finally, the green flashing harbor lights would show up right in front of the boat and I would steer the boat between the green and the red lights into the harbor. 

As I turned eastward down the channel I would open up the sails all the way on what’s called a “run”. This would drive the boat with the wind directly behind the boat. For the first time today, the wind was at my back!

Either way I usually always made it back without any trouble, except for a couple times when I got caught out in really big storms at sea. One time I had to call the Harbor Master with an SOS. And they came and helped me get home after my mast had come crashing down. Thankfully out of years sailing and over 400 days at sea, that only happened once.

I hope you enjoyed my true sailing story! Did you learn anything from it or was it more entertaining? Either way, its what I love to do and along with it, I love sharing sea yarns with you too and earning at the same time! 

Want to learn how to share what you love and earn from it? 

Talk to you soon! 

~Albie




1-877-521-5505

cell: 626-379-5692

SailingWithAlbie@gmail.com



REQUIRED EARNINGS DISCLOSURE