I sent this to Latitude 38 to post on 'Lectronic or publish but just in case they don't, here it is for all our friends to read:
On July 23, 2006 six boats based in Bahia de los Angeles for the Pacific hurricane season hosted 15 boys and girls and six adults for an afternoon sail on the bay. The kids were here from Hoover High School in San Diego for a five week educational program with an emphasis on marine sciences, the environment, and community service organized by Aquatic Adventures (www.aquaticadventures.org). Hoover HS is an inner-city school, and it's the goal of Aquatic Adventures to supplement programs in schools where budget cuts have reduced coverage of the sciences.
We all anchored off of the dinghy landing at Guillermo's to await the arrival of our guests at 1 PM. Each skipper dinghied in to meet them on the beach, ferried out the passengers assigned to each boat, and then the "race" was on. Nakia raised anchor under sail and was first to lead the fleet out from the Village on a close reach towards Isla Cabeza de Caballo. There we tacked toward Isla la Ventana, and when it was time to return, most of the boats set their spinnakers for the downwind run back to the Village. It was a beautiful sight to see six boats sailing as a fleet out on the bay!
From all reports everyone had a great time. The kids were encouraged to raise and lower sail, perform tacking and jibing maneuvers, and of course, drive the boats. We told them a bit about the cruising lifestyle and they asked all sorts of wonderful questions. After the boats re-anchored everyone jumped in for a swim in the warm water before riding back to the beach in the dinghies. It was a nice way to cool off after a hot, cloudless afternoon. We were fortunate to have a perfect day which had been preceded by days of thunderstorm activity and was followed by the big south easterlies from tropical storm Emilia.
We can't say enough about how terrific this event was. The students were enthusiastic, inquisitive, and just a delight to have on board. And it's always refreshing for jaded old salts to experience the thrill of sailing through the eyes of appreciative youngsters.
We'd like to extend a big thank you to everyone who was involved:
Nakia (John and Linda) and SolMate (Stan, MJ, and el gato Gale) who got the ball rolling.
Ceilidh (Jay, Janice, and bad dog Buster) who picked it up and ran with it.
Milagro (Lance, Jo, and guard puppy Rocky) and OverHeated (Darrell and Rita) who rushed north from Santa Rosalia to be here in time.
Caravan (Gene, Vicky, Fiona-6, and good dog Clipper) who called us on the VHF and asked to be included.
Liberty (Larry and Jackie) who unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute due to engine problems.
Rancho Pacifico (Larry and Lois) who are land based in BLA for most of the year, and who threw the great parties that brought everyone together in the first place!
Linda Hill and John Gratton
S/V Nakia, Hans Christian 33
Redwood City, CA/Cruising Mexico