All-Girl Crew on Bella Donna

I met my new friend, Pat, when I was "pledging" for the Sequoia Yacht Club. They don't actually call it pledging. That's my word. I was doing my first reading, and Pat was doing her second... and she got voted in that night. A bunch of us new female members (and almost members) had drinks and dinner together that night and started talking about upcoming club events.

One of the events in January is a cruise-out to Jack London Square with dinner and music at Yoshi's that evening. Pat invited Sandi and me to join her on her boat, Bella Donna, a 42' Catalina, for that cruise-out. Sandi's not sure she can make it, because she might be bringing her own boat that she just bought up from LA, but I gladly accepted! [leaving space here for a picture of Bella Donna]

Since Pat and I had never sailed before and she's in the process of filling in the skills she hasn't learned before, we thought it would be a good idea for us to sail together. So on Saturday, Pat, Sandi, and I headed out of West Point Harbor on Bella Donna, for a little practice.

First, Pat practiced back-and-fills and docking. Then we motored out the channel, had lunch on the way, and hoisted the main and unfurled the jib as we entered the bay. There was no wind to speak of. We floated around for a while and did a couple of tacks and gybes, but there wasn't much opportunity to practice.

Captain Ron was out single-handing Hazel Rose. He'd had some engine trouble and wanted to check out some things out there. So we got a few good pics of him sailing his home. There were almost no other boats out there that day in the light wind.

After a short time, we motored back to the marina, where Pat asked me to practice putting Bella Donna in her slip. I went in bow first just fine, but when she asked me to back her in, I did it, but it wasn't very pretty. Gotta get some more practice at that!

After putting everything away and cleaning her off, we headed over to SYC for some beverages and snacks. We ended up meeting up with some other friends there and had a delightful dinner together before heading home for the evening.

This was Pat's first all-girl sail, so it was very special all the way around. Thanks, Pat! It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to our cruise-out weekend with another all-girl crew!