Finished up my ASA 101 class today.  I did end up passing and getting my certification. I missed a few on the written test but I felt pretty good about it.  The ones I missed were pretty much guesses.  I hadn't studied bouy's as well as I could have nor indicator lights.  I felt very good about the practical portion of the evaluation.

I guess the way it works is during the two days of instruction and sailing the instructor is evaluating how you implement his lessons.  I felt like I was picking up the concepts pretty quickly.  Several times during the two days I thought back on the day of sailing I had with Kurt.  That was a definite help to me and kind of put me ahead of the game just a bit.

Today we spent more time sailing.  While the wind still waited till almost noon to pick up we had more of it so the sailing was more interesting.  Our primary maneuver was the Man Over Board drill.  The technique we were taught is called the figure 8 method. I won't get into the details but we started the maneuver from numerous points of sail and each of us had several opportunities to play every role in the evolution.  We found a can floating in the bay, we snatched it up this became our MOB.  Actually over the last two days we picked up several pieces of trash from the bay.

We also practiced reefing the main.  While this topic isn't specifically covered under ASA 101, it was interesting to try.  Another fun evolution we all got a chance to perform was Heave To.  Intially I couldn't get the boat to stop and drift to leeward, but then I just let it sit in the heave to configuration.  She swung back and forth fore to aft a couple of times then just settled in.  It was a very natural feeling once it happened and seeing the boat stop put a smile on my face. 

All of our time sailing was on the south side of the bridge.  I am taking the little family out tomorrow so maybe we'll pop under the bridge then.

Speaking of sailing tomorrow, I've talked everyone into going sailing with me tomorrow, my first day as a certified sailor.  On the way home tonight I stopped by Sports Authority and picked up a little tiny Type II life vest for Madison.

In case anyone is interested the text book for this class is Sailing Fundamentals by Gary Jobson.  I remember Gary Jobson as one of the commentators of the America's Cup races in San Diego.   

So that's it.  I'm certified.  I'm hesitant to call myself Captain Ray.  Skipper Ray maybe?  Sailor Ray? hmmm, well, I'll think on that one more but for now I don't think I'm Seaman Ray any longer...

Ciao,
Sailor Ray