Latitude 38 Crew List Party Rocks the Bay
The first spring Crew Party at the Golden Gate Yacht Club since COVID was an outstanding success. How do we measure success? By how it succeeds at the mission we’ve had since we first started holding crew parties in the early ’80s: connecting boat owners with prospective crew. Another measure: Does everyone have a good time? We have to admit, in this data-centric world, that these are difficult metrics to measure, so we measure them the old-fashioned way, by looking at how many smiles are in the room and having conversations with attendees. On both measures it was a success.
Skippers with boats wore red tags saying, “I’m looking for crew,” whereas prospective crew wore blue tags saying, “I’m looking to crew.” How simple is that? Since sailing is an in-person activity, it’s nice to meet the people you’ll sail with before you’re together in the middle of the Bay or the ocean. Like many skippers, Mark Murray (pictured above) is an active racer, but keeping a crew roster can be challenging. (Crew tip: If you want to do a job that’s a huge help to skippers, you can be the “crew organizer.”) If you look at our racing calendar, you’ll see there are about 900+ races on the Bay every year and lots of boats doing lots of sailing, meaning they need lots of crew.
We’re sorry we missed her name, but the woman above moved to S.F. from Hawaii just a month ago and is interested in getting involved in sailing the Bay. She searched online, found our Crew Party, and attended. She connected with Marcus and many others; it looks as if she now has lots of sailing opportunities ahead.
We talked with John and Lapo, above, and learned that Lapo moved here with a one-year work visa to work on AI research at Stanford. He’s a skipper in the Mediterranean and wanted to sail while living here. He tried Facebook and other ways to connect with sailing, with minimal success, until a friend told him to add his name to the Latitude 38 online Crew List. He’s had a very busy sailing schedule ever since and is on the water almost every weekend. Unfortunately, he’s got only a month left on his work visa before he heads back to Italy. He’s heard that if he stays a few days over the visa limit, the government will give him a flight home for free!
James and Suzy, pictured above, met at a Latitude 38 Crew Party in 2017 and have become full-time crewmates ever since. They sail James’ Santana 22 Pip and also his 1954, wooden 5O5 out of Sausalito.
Simone was minding his own business as an auto repair mechanic when a customer needed some repair on a marine engine. Somehow, this evolved into an opportunity to sail, which became a growing passion. He eventually left the terrestrial world of auto mechanics behind and became a marine engine mechanic at Svendsen’s Bay Marine in Richmond. He and former YRA Board Chair Don Ahrens connected at the party. I’m sure Don figures it never hurts to have crew aboard with skills as an engine mechanic.
The Golden Gate Yacht Club provided a magnificent venue and some very busy bartenders who kept the crowd happy. It was a spectacular evening on the San Francisco waterfront with a golden sunset behind the Golden Gate and a stunning moonrise above the city. If anyone has concerns about sailing, the worries would all be set aside after attending the Latitude 38 Crew Party. If you didn’t make the crew party we suggest both skippers and crew add your names to the Latitude 38 Crew List (if you’re not already on it) and you’ll find you’ll do more sailing.
There were lots of people looking for daysailing and racing crew, and even some Baja Ha-Ha participants planning ahead for their fall departure for the south.
There’s no reason not to sail more this summer. Don’t have a boat? Find a boat owner on our crew list. Don’t have crew? You know the answer.
The days are getting longer, Daylight Saving Time kicks in this weekend, and sunny summer sailing is ahead. We look forward to seeing everyone we saw at the crew party out sailing in the months ahead.
We’ll try to bring you a few more stories from the crew party on Monday. And if you go sailing this weekend, send a photo and your story to [email protected].
See you out there.