News

We're recycling Bahia hulls

As the Quests come online, we need to decomission Bahias (the yard isn't getting larger and some of the Bahia hulls are in bad shape). We've sold a couple, and we've started cutting up and recycling others.

Common practice for gettting rid of a boat is to abandon it in a waterway, which is a big problem for a lot of reasons (see the CA DBW web site for details). 

Here are some photos of what we did to one hull that was unsafe (it was cracked and took on water). This may be the first time a hull owned by DBW was disposed of by recycling rather than putting it in a landfill as is required for fiberglass (when we get a boat via a DBW grant, DBW retains title to it, which is the case here).  The hull had to be cut into dozens of pieces to fit in the tiny pickup truck that carried it to the recycler.  Cutting it up with a sawzall was easy since the plastic is soft. The plastic will be used for packaging and products that will be here in a few months.

Want to get a rating/sign-off but don't know who can do it?

Click here to see who can sign off on which ratings/tests/check-outs (e.g., the Day Leader can sign off on Novice Windsurfer written and self-rescue). If you are logged-in to the website, you will be able to see a list of members who have the qualification needed (e.g., a list of those signed-off on the Quest who can then sign-off others). This link is also visible when you look at your White Card on the website.

The Quests are here!

We are replacing the Bahias with RS Quests because we can no longer get parts for the Bahias. We have 2 Quests in the fleet and are commissioning 2 more. We will get another 2 by the summer. As we bring up Quests, we'll decommission Bahias (there's only so much room in the yard, and it also generates parts so we can keep a few Bahias going for a much longer time).

They are fun boats, very similar to the Bahias, in fact desinged by the same person. A foot shorter, a tiny bit wider, draws the same with centerboard down, and a bit more nimble. The gennaker is easier to hoist/dowse, but the boat is a little harder to right after a capsize. John Shearer has written a great description of the differences here. We will be including rigging instructions in the CSC How to Sail a Dinghy Manual and probably doing a couple of videos on it.

To sail the boat, you must have a rating (Novice is OK) and you must be checked out in it by someone already checked out. It's a simple procedure, just showing you the rigging differences between it and a Bahia. So check it out and get checked out.

Sailing Lessons on Demand is Back

Can't make the normal Monday, Thursday, Saturday sailing lessons? Or just want some extra focused time in smaller groups? Then this is for you. A small number of instructors are making themselves available for lessons outside the normal sessions. To see the details and a list of instructors and what they teach, go to Lessons->Sailing->Lessons on Demand. You will have to login to the site to see the contact information for the instructors.