Summer is almost here and you want to get in now while the getting is good.
Every Wednesday night during the Summer, there is a sailboat race out of Marina Del Rey which usually finishes right around sunset.
Often thought of as an activity for the rich, many boat bums hitch for free and...
No Experience Is Required!
In fact sometimes no experience is preferred.
You see when a guy finally accomplishes his dream of boat ownership and drops 40k or even 400k on a boat he runs into a few problems.
His wife gets seasick, the kids hate sailing, and his friends are just not as into it as he is or if they are, they probably already have a boat.
This leaves a lot of boats with space.
Now this activity can be calm and leisurely or very athletic and intense. Here is the lowdown.
Sailboats operate best when there is some counterbalance to the tilt of the boat. To make a very technical aspect of racing as simple as possible it helps often if your whole job is to just sit on one side of the boat with your butt on or hanging off the rail. This position is called rail meat.
The larger the boat, the more people they need just for weight.
Crewing on smaller boats will get you more into the game and the captains are very willing to teach.
Boating is just more fun with people and captains want steady crew. Each captain runs their boat their own way and love to train newbies to do things their way because they don’t think they know a better way.
This is why a captains dream crew member shows for all the races, prepared to work hard or not and ready to learn.
Getting on board is easy.
Most of the yacht clubs sponsor open houses to the general public for a day of sailing and meeting boaters. If one of those dates is not coming up when you are available, just go to www.crewfinder.com
The Wednesday night races never go far out to sea or past the sight of land. It is designed to be quick and easy.
However if you like it and they like you, you can parlay your experience into longer races and sometimes a ride to Catalina.
Be sure to stick around and help stow things away and you will more than likely get invited back to one of the yacht clubs where the boaters always gather for a drink or cheap eats.
