It’s on Again: Who Have You Met at a Latitude 38 Crew List Party?
As events slowly re-open, we are excited to announce that we have a Latitude 38 crew list party on the calendar for September 9, at the Bay Model in Sausalito. As we began to plan our first event in 18 months, we started to wonder how many sailing partnerships, friendships, and work relationships have formed at our crew parties, and how those dots connect and expand as time passes.
Our last crew party was on March 5, 2020, 10 days before the pandemic paused the world as we knew it, specifically large gatherings and in-person events. Despite circulating headlines, Golden Gate Yacht Club was packed that evening with sailors of all ages and levels of experience hoping to connect with other sailors. Mitchell Andrus and Quincy Cummings of Q & M Travels offered a free passage to nine people across the Bay from Berkeley Marina to GGYC aboard their Kelly-Peterson 46 Esprit, showing up in a style fitting for a Latitude 38 crew party. As we flipped through the photos from that night, we realized that was likely the last in-person event for many familiar faces.
Did you form a relationship at the last party that grew, despite the pandemic?
The previous fall crew party in September 2019 is where I first met now-friends Quincy and Mitch. New to both the Bay and sailing, I was eager to make friends in the sailing community. Though our boats were docked near each other’s at Berkeley Marina, and we had many mutual friends, we first met while mingling at that crew party. A friendship formed and grew to include sailing, socially distanced hangouts, and collaborations with a few other local female sailors on a cookbook project called Women on the Water. Mitch went on to interview me on my galley renovation project for his article on pandemic boat work for the March 2021 issue of Latitude 38.
At that same fall 2019 crew party, Quincy and Mitch introduced Audrey and Garrett Ruhland of Thisldu to Ben Shaw of Out The Gate Sailing, and they went on to be guests on his podcast. Audrey and Garrett left the Gate and turned left one month later, heading south on their cruising journey. Their plans, as most this last year, were disrupted by the pandemic. Catch up with Audrey and Garrett’s sailing adventures through the pandemic and beyond in this month’s Changes in Latitudes.
We know there are likely many more stories of paths crossing and relationships forming at crew parties, both on and off the water. Since the goal is to connect the sailing community, we would love to know if you have a crew list party connection story. Perhaps you sailed off on a grand adventure, met the love of your life, or got a great job. The world is large, but the sailing community makes it feel small, especially in the tight-knit community we have around the Bay.
Send your crew party stories to [email protected] and don’t forget to mark your calendar for our upcoming crew list party, September 9, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Bay Model in Sausalito. Can’t wait to sail? Find a ride by putting your name on our Crew List now.