Father's Day Idea - Well-maintained 2002 Colgate 26 for sale at $27,000

If you enjoy sailing and have been thinking about getting a boat, this could be the one for you - right in time for Father's Day!   The beautifully designed, multi-purpose Colgate 26 design sailboat has been around now since 1997 and has gathered many kudos for quality, performance, comfort, and style.  Whether you are into racing, daysailing or "gunkholing" (cruising close to shore - although the C-26 is rated to go offshore too) - this boat is a lot of fun!

Even if you are so new to sailing you are not sure which type of sailor you are, the Colgate 26 will make you feel happy and secure, as it was originally designed as to teach people how to sail.  Conceived by Steve Colgate, it was designed by the legendary naval architect Jim Taylor.  It is a very well built, comfortable, durable boat that novices can learn to sail in three days in just about any sort of weather conditions and is fun, fast, "virtually unsinkable", comfortable, and easy to sail.  Since Jim Taylor has designed over 102 boats, including America's Cup boats, he could not help building in great performance as well.  It is the wondrous result of an outstanding collaboration!

This boat is located in Old Saybrook, CT.  It has never been raced, has North Sails including a racing spinnaker, only two owners with just light use, new bottom paint, depth and speed instruments and is ready to sail away!  Just email  HLSails@aol.com if you are interested in seeing it or have any questions.   I am known as the "Colgate Queen", having sailed them since they first came arrived in 1997 and helping people purchase them since 2002.  Don't forget about Father's Day!! 

US Sailing Instructor Training - Level 2 at Pettipaug Yacht Club

Last week, I had the great luck to be at Pettipaug Yacht Club in Essex on the Connecticut River for the last hour of the two day Level 2, taught by US Sailing Instructor Trainer, Rachel Miller.   This course is for young people aged 18 and over who have already taken the four day Level 1 course and are planning to be Youth Race Coaches, or more advanced Youth Sailing Instructors.  There were about 16 young people between the ages of 18 through 24.

When I arrived, the Level 2 students were in groups of 2 or 3 taking turns role playing various situations similar to some that had occurred in junior sailing programs.   These situations involved written scripts they had to act out in front of the class and teacher who would then comment and make suggestions on different ways to handle the situation if need be.

It was inspiring to see these how well these young people roled played this situations and had figured out appropriate, positve ways to handle situations that required a lot of responsibility, maturity and professionalism.   One example was a 16 year old sailing student who handed in an unsigned permission slip for a 3 day travel regatta on the morning they were leaving.  She really wanted to go with her team and was upset when the instructor looked at the unsigned slip and told her it needed to be signed or she would not be able to go away with her team. The instructor, who was only 3 years older than the student, tried to call her parents, who happened to be in the midst of a divorce, but couldn't get ahold of them.  The student tried to talk the instructor into letting her go anyway, but the instructor held firm on the fact that no one could go without a signed permission slip as there could be serious consequences for the parents and the sailing program if this rule was not followed.  The instructor told the student he would try to arrange for something really fun for her to do at the club instead.  Everyone in the Level 2 class appeared to feel badly for the student and thought this was a good way to handle the situation.  Rachel emphasized how important it was for all students to have signed permission slips from their parents or guardians, especially in this age of litigation and custody battles and suggested that instructors set a "fake, early deadline" for permission slips to be handed in so that there is a week or so left to resolve issues like finding the time to get a parent to sign the necessary paperwork.

Other topics presented were:  underage sailing students drinking at a high level "away" regatta which caused their team not to be able to compete which led to discussion on the importance of having a "contract" signed by the parents and students ahead of time spelling out the penalty for an infraction, ie.. the parent has to come get the student immediately or fly them home at their expense.  Another topic was:  "benching" a sailing student who had been "not paying attention and not trying hard during the practices, who happened to be the child of the Commodore; another was involved a younger sailing student who was upset and didn't want to participate because "no one liked her".  The instructor did a great job of addressing this issue - asking the girl what she thought she was really good at and telling her he would work with her to let the other kids know about this so that they would think she was "really cool".    Besides sailing technique and having a good, safe time on the water - sailing instructors help their young students build a solid sense of self-esteem, good judgment, respect for others and good teamwork, respect for equipment, good sportsmanship and appropriate behavior.  Hopefully, this augments those same lessons learned at home. 

Youth Sailing Programs are most frequently managed in a "hierarchy" of adult volunteers and paid college/high school age instructors.  Yet often these young instructors, especially the race coaches, have a tremendous amount of responsibility.  They not only teach their charges sailing/racing skills that will enable them to get around the course in the best position possible and the rules that one must not break that guide this sport, but also to exercise mature judgment in cases relating to safety and appropriate, legal behavior both on and off the water.  These young coaches may travel miles from their home club with their team of half a dozen or more teenage or younger students and be responsible for them for several days while they are sailing and sleeping away from home.  Of course, there are adults there as well, but it is the young race coaches who influence their sailing students the most at this age by their expectations and their own behavior.   The young people who do this well, (and I consider myself very fortunate to have known a number of them over the years), are outstanding examples of skilled, caring human beings with maturity and wisdom far beyond their years.   They usually do very well in whatever they undertake as adults.

Kudos to US Sailing for their rigorous, effective and fun methods of instructor training and for their high caliber instructor trainers who prepare sailing instructors of all ages for the joys, challenges and responsibilities of transferring their sailing knowledge and experience to their young charges!   And kudos to all the sailors and their parents and loved ones who support them in stepping up to the challenging, yet very rewarding opportunity to participate in US Sailing Instructor Training!  For further information on US Sailing, go to:  www.ussailing.org .  For more information on Rachel Miller, US Sailing Instructor Trainer, go to:  www.rozaliaproject.org .

Aging Parents and Fish Oil Supplements for Heart & Brain Health

Time for a new blog on the subject of health this Memorial Day weekend.   There has been a lot of information about Fish Oil Supplements and Omega 3 fatty acids possibly reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.  This blog is more of a quick introduction to the topic with more to follow in the future.   For those of you fortunate enough to have your parents still living,  if they are elderly, some of what follows may be familiar.  This inspiration for this blog is my mother who was unfortunately diagnosed last August, at age 84 w/early dementia.  Her doctor prescribed Arricept to slow the progression.  In January, she was also put on Namenda, which is supposed to be a wonder drug for Alzheimers.   I must say that Mom seems to be doing quite well under the circumstances.

One of my sisters drives 120 or so miles every Monday to take her to the psychoneurologist so Mom can do "brain games", get some "brain homework" for the week and discuss coping strategies for optimizing her situation.  I have been driving 140 miles on another day every week to refill her pill boxes, as she needs to take 6 pills every morning and 2 every evening and another one every Saturday.    It takes less than half an hour now to line up all the pill bottles and organize her pills, but it does require a lot of focus, as too much of one drug would be dangerous and not enough would also be detrimental.  When I first checked in with her doctor in January about which medications she should be taking, it turned out she was only taking four of her required eight pills a day.   The doctor found that her blood pressure was up to 160 because she was only taking one of her blood pressure medications daily, not two as she needs to maintain her health.    Three weeks after taking both medications, it was down to 148 and now it is down to 132, which makes her doctor very happy.  My father is 84 and has other health issues to deal with.   I asked the doctor to write down a complete list of their medications and put the one for my mother on the outside of her pill refill box.  My father is able to manage his own medications which is a blessing.

A couple months ago, one of my sister-in-law's and my five month old niece were visiting while I was there.  She has been studying the brain for about six years, ever since their oldest child was diagnosed with autism.  Because of her research on the brain, she suggested Fish Oil Supplements for Mom, which I seconded.  I have been taking Fish Oil supplements daily ever since reading the book "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge.  They discuss how great this stuff is for optimal health, especially after age 50.

My mother asked "How does it work?" .  She had attended medical school from '48 to '50 where she met my father.  After leaving medical school, she took a year of English Literature in grad school, then worked for a year as an assistant for the famous MD specializing in pain management, Dr. Janet Travel, who was the personal physician to John F. Kennedy while he was in the White House.  The next blog on this subject will be dedicated to answering her question about how Fish Oil works towards heart and brain health.   Do you take Fish Oil supplements?  Were they recommended by your physician or do you take them on your own?

Bill Gladstone's North U. Presentation for the Mudheads at Shennecossett YC on April 13, 2011

If you enjoy sailboat racing,  you have undoubtedly heard of North U. and Bill Gladstone.  You may have purchased one of his books,  DVD's, or been to his clincs or attended his presentations.    Originally from New York, he lived in Chicago from 1980 to 2000, then moved back East.  His homebase with his family is now Madison, CT.   Bill is famous around the world with racers who want to improve their speed, tactics, boat handling skills and knowledge of the rules.  He travels quite a bit, as you would imagine, and we are very lucky to have him living here on the CT Shoreline.

Bill Gladstone is one of the brightest, most entertaining speakers you can imagine - I am definitely a fan, in case you can't tell!  Quite humble, he graduated from Yale University in New Haven, CT, which may give you an idea of how knowledgeable and articulate he is about all aspects of sailing and racing. He was on the Yale Sailing Team along with some other great sailors who also reside in Connecticut like Dave Perry.  If you ever have an opportunity to attend a clinic with these two, do not pass it up!   I attended a Match Racing Clinc with Bill Gladstone, Dave Perry, Dave Delenbaugh and Liz Baylis, Women's Match Racing Champion, several years ago - some of the best info and best times I've ever experienced on and off the water!

I first got to hear him speak at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT back around 1998. Captivated by the depth of his knowledge and entertaining style with which he conveys tons of helpful information, I bought one of his books which has been enormously useful over the years.  He is very approachable and happy to answer questions afterwards.   Since that day, after running into each other a few more times on the sailing circuit, because of our mutual love of sailing, kids of similar ages and "working in the business", Bill and I have gotten to be friends.  I even got to help him make a DVD with Dave Dellengaugh on the Racing rules.   This is a great way to really get to know your rules because you can see them in realistic action.    If you are trying to get better with your rules - you will love this DVD which you can get on his website:  www.northu.northsails.com/ .

At Shennecossett Yacht Club in April, there was an audience of about 125 or so sailors happy to shake off the winter doldrums and/or change their focus from spring skiing to the upcoming sailing season for the Mudhead-sponsored presentation.   The Mudheads are a "paper yacht club"; a very fun, competitive group of racers both on and off the water in the area around Mystic, CT.  At the presentation, funds were being collected for the new upcoming Hospice Regatta in June.  After Bill was introduced, he announced he would focus on Tactics, Boat Speed, and Boat Handling.  These three areas, he said, are the foundation of the "Success Pyramid" in Racing.   He mentioned that "in this case, tactics included strategy".  Strategy he defined as "simply sailing around the race course as quickly as possible" as well as meaning "how one deals with other boats", one's competitors on the race course. 

For Boat Speed, he gave a very detailed description of how to get the most out of the sails whatever the wind conditions, and when sailing up wind or downwind.    He spoke about the angle of attack of the wind on the sails and taught us the meaning of some unfamiliar terms like "upwash", which means how the air bends on the sails.    He also discussed sail-related terms such as camber, draft, and depth that all mean the same thing.  He contrasted this to the polar opposite use of a word like "tack" which is used to mean three entirely different things in sailing.  The reason for this complicated and confusing vocabulary, he said, is to fool the uninitiated and novice sailors into thinking that sailing is very difficult which helps keep sailing instructors, race coaches and boat captains in business!

With regard to Upwind Boat Speed and sail shape, he gave some helpful pointers like, "it's good to have the sail deeper aloft (up high) where there is more wind until there is too much heel".  He led an excellent discussion on "Twist" with easy to remember statements like "the Mainseet controls Twist going Upwind" and "the Vang controls Twist going Down wind".  "The Traveller", he explained, "controls the Angle of Attack without changing the Twist."

There is so much more great information he gave us that night and I will be happy to write another blog on the subject if people request it.  Bill Gladstone teaches a "North U. Racing Course" in Captiva every April for Offshore Sailing School along with a bunch of other Racing "Rockstars".  Each year, I keep promising myself I will attend....no luck yet, but it is definitely on my Bucket list!  If you love racing sailboats and want to "kick it up a few notches" and also love sailing in "paradise and warm weather" with palm trees and dolphins, you should contact Bill or Offshore Sailing School and sign up for next year.  Meanwhile you can catch him on his lecture or clinic circuit or get one of his DVDs or books as your "secret weapon" for this sailing season.  Your racing friends will wonder how you got so much better so quickly!

Dr. Oz Show Health Tips

Since I'm currently working out of my "home office" one of the treats I allow myself, is watching the Dr. Oz Show.  It starts at 5PM and ends at 6PM.  I have yet to be able to have a whole undistracted hour to watch it, but even 15 minutes always provides a juicy tidbit of practical health information.  45 minutes provides an amazing array of topics from Gluten to Middle Age Cures Still Being Used to which "Healthy" Foods Really Are Healthy and more.   The website is:  http://www.doctoroz.com/ .  Lots of great information there, definitely worth checking out!

Everyone loves Dr. Oz because he is from a traditional medical background, yet relies on all possible sources to help people achieve optimum health while having fun.  He makes it obvious with his enthusiastic, charming, warm personality that he really wants all of us to understand what it takes to be and stay healthy.   One of the things I've learned are that the 5 numbers he thinks are key for us to know about our health are:

1)  Blood Pressure
2)  Waist Size
3)  Weight
4)  Cholesterol
5)  Fasting Blood Sugar

It might be time to dig through those medical records and find out these numbers!  When it comes to our health and that of our loved ones, knowledge is power and the key to all our adventures.   Do you think about doing something every day that adds to your health and well-being?

Club Swan's Caribbean Rendevous and Living in Paradise vs. Living in Fear

At the moment, I have 8 or 9 draft blogs created, but am having trouble finishing any of them.  This morning I turned on Twitter to check the "headlines" for sailing, marine biology, marketing, leadership, education and tropical sailing locations (of course!).  I was quite thrilled to find a Tweet about Club Swan's latest article, complete with photo of 4 beautiful Swan yachts, dripping with fenders, resting at a beautiful Caribbean sailing spot.  Since Swan's are the "King" of the sail boats, being incredibly well built and designed with great style and performance, they have developed a world class reputation among their owners and sailing fans over the years.  So I decided to treat you, my readers, to this article.  Besides, their rendevous is at the Bitter End Yacht Club - wish I was there, don't you?!? This Tweet was titled:  "2011 Club Swan Caribbean Rendevous: Cruising in Nature's Paradise from "Sailing News" out of Austria.  http://bit.ly/enHFAd .  Enjoy!

Another Tweet caught my eye from "Messing About in Sailboats - A Passion for all Things Sailing".   The article they highlighted was entitled "Living in Paradise vs. Living in Fear" written by Stu Hochron, in "News from the Bow".   If you are in the process of working towards moving onboard and casting off for a year round sailing climate, or if this thought has ever crossed your mind, this is a great "how to" article with a happy and realistic ending.  http://bit.ly/ffr2qS. 

Grateful to "Sailing News" and "Messing About In Sailboats" for their material, and to Twitter for making it so quick and easy to find.   Hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did - do let me know!

Old Hegg Hawksbill Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia

Visiting the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia is an unforgettable experience.  It is relaxing and magical to watch these gentle creatures with their big inquisitive eyes and smiling beaks swimming around in their pools right in front of you.  I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing one swimming around in its natural habitat, but hope to some day.  Dive Bequia and other dive operations where sea turtles live and breed often publish their sightings and videos on Facebook or You Tube.

At the sanctuary, there are over 200 Hawksbill turtles, separated by size.  The newly hatched babies are fed canned tuna and the older turtles start eating sardines at 6 months, until they are large enough to be released after 3 years.  Orton "Brother" King who runs the sanctuary, had actually been a professional turtle diver, collecting these beautiful creatures and selling them for the value of their shells until this was outlawed in the late 70's in the Caribbean. Their shells were used for buttons, combs and other objects.  Mr. King did a total "about face" and in the 90's he established this Hawksbill turtle sanctuary to help replenish the ocean and save this colorful species from extinction.


 Mr. King says that the previous maturity rate of the turtles was only 1 in 1000 and he hopes to bring it up to 50 in 100 by keeping them at the sanctuary until they are large enough to be safe from their predators.  He makes a special mark on each shell so they can be tracked and counted while in their natural habitat.  The Hawksbill Turtle population has been reduced by 80 percent this century from being killed for their shells, which still happens illegally in some places, as well as destruction of their habitat.  They live in water 65 feet or less, mostly in rocky areas and coral reefs.  Their population also suffers from  disorientation while nesting and hatching due to all the nights at light on coastal areas, as well as being being hit by watercraft.

Besides the Caribbean, Hawksbill turtles are found in other tropical and subtropical areas of the Atlantic, as well as the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service site, "Only five regional populations remain with more than 1,000 females nesting annually (Seychelles, Mexico, Indonesia and two in Australia)..."  The Caribbean, including Mexico, accounts for 20 to 30 percent of the world's population.  The Old Kegg's Turtle Sanctuary website is http://turtles.bequia.net/ .   The photo to your right is Orton "Brother" King at the turtle sanctuary.   If you would like to find out more about Bequia and the turtle sanctuary, please contact me at HLSails@aol.com.  Mr. King is usually too busy with the turtles to answer his email!