Learning how to sail a boat in Brooklyn moves paper airplane distance, plus a few other changes!
Another season is soon upon us. I started writing this from beautiful Bellingham Bay, Washington, not far from Canada. It’s been mostly sunny and delightful! Not snowing in them thar hills, nor has it been for a minute. And, nothing on the horizon. Forecast was flatlining. Waa, waa…
Boats were out sailing on the Bay last weekend, and I expect so see some this one as well. Light wind, but that’s okay in the winter. Define “winter.” It’s not what the Northeast is getting hit with as I write this (Arctic cold with major dump pending). Afternoon temps have been int the mid 40’s to around 50. Overnight lows? Upper 20’s to mid 30’s. The cold can linger in the shade, and frost is common in park areas. But it’s great. Maybe it will snow again before we leave. Maybe not.
What’s going on with the Sailing Center?
It’s moving next door to Miramar’s friendly neighbor, Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club. And, it’s getting a new helmsman! Alex Mallari, who’d been helping out with making new sailors last year, is buying it from me. I’ll be heavily involved in the transition year of 2026, so very little will change right away (if ever). Main difference is that it all kicks up to Alex rather than Steve. And, diff dock.
Alex and I favored moving next door to Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club (SBYC) for one chief reason: they are in growth mode, and Miramar is not. Growth ties in to the Sailing Center’s need to have one-stop shopping for its students. Learn here; progress here. Sheepshead Bay wants to grow both its general membership and its sailing club program. Miramar wants to cap its membership. Waa, waa…
Miramar has been a solid home base for the Sailing Center for the past few seasons. SBYC is more similar than different. It has a pool (so what?). It has a bar. That’s nice for apres. The clubs share launch service on weekdays; they take turns running it for both clubs. The boats are moored randomly in the Bay, so both launches go both directions. The docks are so close, it’s hard to maneuver anything in between them and I’m always tempted to try a running jump from one to the other. (Never gonna happen, but it looks tempting.)
So, I’m retiring! Semi, at least. That was the impetus to explore new ownership for the school. 2026 will be busy, but just as with last fall, when I was tired of missing out while my friends played on Jamaica Bay racing dinghies out of Sebago Canoe Club, I won’t miss any race days this spring unless it’s just too damn windy for my hobbit ass. (I skipped most of the spring series for that reason and had conflicts on the other days.) I’ll still be teaching in 2026, too. Cuz, you know… I actually like it.
Alex is the perfect steward for the school. He has the background and experience; teaching with us last season was not his first rodeo. He’s young and energetic enough. He’s has zero ambition to take something that isn’t broken and try to fix it.
That happened in my family already. When Dad sold his school back in the late 1980’s, that’s exactly what happened. Don’t get me started…
“You’re making me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”
-Dr. Bruce Banner
Anyway, nothing to get all green about here. Nothing much is changing despite a gradual changing of the guard. If winter gets its smashing done early in the northeast, we’ll see you down on the Bay early in the spring!
