Maritime Emergency Preparedness and Security Exercise
Phew! It’s always a little disconcerting to see fire or police action, so we were a bit worried about pulling into the yacht club behind a fire truck and thinking about the battery charger we have plugged in to resurrect some flat batteries. (That’s another story.) Then there were the men in fatigues carrying some rather serious-looking weapons, and the police boats at the dock. Yikes! What kind of maritime emergency was going on?
We quickly spoke with two soldiers putting on battle gear, who pleasantly explained this was all a drill. That was a quick relief. To learn more, we were directed down to the Angel Island Ferry dock, where we met Fire Marshall and Public Information Officer Michael Lantier. Lantier explained that the Golden Gate Bridge Authority had organized a drill allowing multiple agencies to coordinate a response to a variety of active, on-the-water or dockside emergency scenarios. It’s stuff we don’t like to think about, but we’re glad somebody does.
We recalled that one of the significant challenges for first responders during 9/11 was an inability to communicate and coordinate. That’s not good in the middle of an active emergency. Yesterday’s drills involved the Tiburon Fire Department, US Coast Guard, Marin County sheriff, Southern Marin Fire, FBI, Office of Emergency Management, Homeland Security, TSA, the military, and others. That’s a lot to coordinate.
There are a million scenarios we face when sailing that make sense to practice. Man overboard, racing maneuvers, spinnaker sets and takedowns, anchoring, radio communications, and numerous others we all wish we’d done before our most recent onboard “emergency.” We imagine endless “emergency scenarios” that have already appeared in terrible headlines somewhere in the world that responders must be ready to address. Though it’s a sad reminder in a usually happy place, we’re glad they take time to practice. Hopefully, it will never be needed.
Now we have to go back to figuring out why our boat batteries, with three battery switches, a starter battery and house bank, are all flat. Something may have shaken loose in the weather. But that’s a story we’ll have to save for when we better understand what’s going on. It’s rare, but occasionally, we understand a little bit.
Caption Contest(!)
Welcome to our March Caption Contest(!). We’re not hanging around holding the lines waiting for spring. We’re diving right in… Join us; add your caption below.
Check out February’s winners in Loose Lips.
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The How and Why of a NorCal ‘Bragging Rights Regatta’ for High School Sailing
“We need a bragging rights regatta,” says Kimball Livingston. “Our Northern California high school teams race September to May, then go home with no story to tell to the school paper, the kids in the hall.”
As Kimball tells it, the annual NorCal regatta is a wrap-up of sorts for high school sailing teams from Marin to Monterey, but the adrenaline levels are so-so because the motivation is so-so. Historically, the winners wring out their socks, accept congratulations, load their dinghies onto trailers, and go home and tell Mom about it and go to bed.
Not this year.
“I dug up a historic trophy, and I dreamed up a bonkers prize, and I found a lot of people who are keen to make something happen,” Kimball says. It probably mattered to the mission that he is curator and historian of St. Francis Yacht Club, also Staff Commodore Ambassador to Youth Sailing, a title that he says started out tongue in cheek, “But then there was a vote, and I’m making it real.
“John Bertrand won two Laser worlds as a junior before he went on to Finn world championships and an Olympic medal,” Kimball says. “Bertrand skippered the winning boat at the 1981 California Cup — Cal Cup is a big deal — and the keeper trophy he carried away is now out of hiding and repurposed for the Northern League Championship of High School Sailing. Every member of that young crew, including Paul Cayard, Craig Healy, Steve Jeppesen, [and] Ken Keefe, helped build the legends of their generation. Maybe we can spark some legend-building in the next — and give them stories to tell.”
The trophy will go to the winning school’s display case. The winners will go racing in Annapolis.
Yes, Annapolis. The winning team will be offered a foundation-sponsored trip for five sailors and a coach to an annual invitational event, the Phoebe King Memorial Regatta. The NorCals/Northern League Championship runs April 6-7 in Flying Junior dinghies at PYSF in Redwood City. The Phoebe King runs at Annapolis YC June 1-2 in C420s.
What has changed?
“We’ve always been the Northern League of the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association,” Kimball says. “We just never paid it off before.”
There are other dimensions, but apparently no one would know them without being neck-deep in the youth racing scene. As described, high school sailing — kids representing their schools — is only one feature of youth sailing. It plays a big role, however, and brings more people together more often than most other competitions. But there is said to be a world of difference between north and south.
“Our kids do fine,” Kimball says, “but our school teams are relatively small. A lot of the sailors are learning as freshmen. It’s great to have them joining the sport, but when teams go south they run into a juggernaut. SoCal teams have won five of the last 10 Nationals. They have big schools packed with kids who became lifestyle sailors as peewees. Heck, at Harbor High, Newport Beach, the football team is called the Sailors. I love it down there, but the culture is … different.
“Our best teams can compete, but breaking through to the top is just not a good bet,” Kimball says. “That’s why I support high school sailing for what it is and what it does — I wouldn’t be cranking up this event at PYSF otherwise — but when I find a kid with a fire in the belly, I know those killer instincts will need some other outlet too. And now isn’t the time to go into it, but I believe the Bay Area is overdue for a group rethink on what we could do better together.
“Meanwhile, working together, the foundations of the San Francisco YC, Richmond YC, Encinal YC, St. Francis YC and PYSF are all-in to support the Northern League Championship in 2024, just as they were on the first attempt, in 2020, when the plan got 2020’d. It took this long to relaunch,” Kimball says. “But I love watching kids react when they hear about this, and it’s a thing of beauty to share the enthusiasm of the foundations to make something happen.
“It’s our boat; let’s rock it!”
Good Jibes #133: Jeff Rutherford on Wooden Boat Restoration
This week’s host, John Arndt, is joined by Jeff Rutherford to chat about all things wooden boat restoration. Jeff is a wooden boat restoration specialist who’s been bringing classics back to life since 1982.
Hear about Jeff’s journey of starting out as an island trader, the dues he paid to eventually start his own business, his favorite boat projects, how the technology has changed over the years, and how we can generate more interest in older boats.
This episode covers everything from wooden boats to sailing tech. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear:
- How was Jeff’s time as an island trader?
- What type of dockside work did he do?
- How did he get interested in building boats?
- What are his favorite boat projects?
- How has wooden boatbuilding changed over the years?
- Who will step in when Jeff’s retired?
- How do we keep people interested in wooden boats?
- Short Tacks: Does Jeff have a favorite varnish?
Learn more at RutherfordBoats.com.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
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