ASA 105 Coastal Nav Class - That's A Wrap

Stephanie, Brett and Miles

After 4 full Sunday's of classroom and weeks of study, the students wrapped up the Coast Nav Class.  I think their brains were sufficiently scrambled after all that.  We made some interesting discoveries during classroom discussions of various navigation techniques.

Bonnie, Jamel and Pat

One discovery was that about 1/2 the of the class is math brain oriented.  They think of all the different navigation techniques as math problems with formulas and calcs. This group of navigators needs to understand everything from a mathematical point of view.   SO not my camp.  The other half of the class is visual and needs to see the nav techniques in their head or drawn out or as we did in class - acted out.  Yes....I was a NUN with a relative bearing on more than one occasion during class....probably the only time other than Halloween that I will ever come close to being/acting like a NUN!  HA!  And yes, the visual folks are the camp I reside in. 

Al, JR and Matt

Anyway - they all studied hard and fully participated making it a terrific class. (Not too shabby for a bunch of high plains lake sailors where the only ATONS is a No Wake bouy that the power boaters try to mow over at high speed.)  
So now the students can relax, reclaim their dinning room table back from being a chart table and do something else in the evenings, like look at Google Maps, program their new Garmin GPS or download various navigation apps for their smartphone. 

John, Todd, Ben and John

The Allusive Magical Fire Hose

If you will remember, I/we have been on the hunt for old fire hose to use as chafe guard on the dock lines and various other areas of s/v Honey Ryder.  I previously documented my attempts - Magical Fire Hose and what we finally ended up with.  Thanks again dad!  However, we are still without the allusive FLEXIBLE fire hose.

JR and Sabrina

Enter Fireman/Sailor JR Biron to the rescue.  He "procured" us the above roll of used, soon to be dis-guarded by his fire house fire hose.  It will be PERFECT for s/v Honey Ryder.  Thanks so much JR.  Sailors are just the best people!!!

Rosetta Stone Me Baby

I have wanted to learn Spanish for the past 15 + years.  Several halfass attempts have been made trying various tools such as flip cards (yeah - that long ago), cassette tapes, CD's, and podcasts.  All failed.  I can swear in Spanish, using a few choice words I learned long ago from Hispanic classmates but not much else.  See, I grew up in a town with a big Hispanic population and many Hispanic friends.  So what second language did I decide to study in school?  French!  Because that might come in handy in the middle of the high plains - sometimes referred to as BumF* nowhere! Clever, non?  NO!

Flash forward to now and my wonderful ESS (Evil Sailing Sista) Kim.  She learned of my desire and graciously loaned me her Rosetta Stone French and Spanish.  Have you seen the price of Rosetta Stone?  $$$.  As the saying goes....sailing isn't cheap but sailors are!  HA!  I decided to start with the French, thinking that perhaps hearing French again might blow out some of the cobwebs in my brain and bring back the 5 years of French I took in school (many, many moons ago).  And while it's been a while since I stayed at a Holiday Inn, I have consumed my share of French wine - well ok, not necessarily French wine but wine in general...so that should help bring the French language back up to the surface right?
I also decided that I really need to commit to weekly study.

Well let me tell you, it ROCKS!  The method is totally kewl and works.  I am only 3 weeks in but I am getting it and actually retaining a bit. " Look out Eastern Caribbean Islands that speak French -Voici que je viens" (here I come).  Or at the very least "look out" Tom and Larry (un chat) - my personal French guinea pigs (les cochons d'lnde) around the house.   *By the way.....please note my use of the French language in the preceding blog entry - Coastal Navigation Class Deja Vu