Learning to sail

I first learned to sail when I was 25.

Living in Washington, DC, I was lucky to have several sailing clubs to choose from.

During the spring of 2014, I joined the Sailing Club of Washington (SCOW) and completed their 10-week introductory course on the Potomac River.

We trained on Flying Scots, sailing dinghies with a retractable centerboard.

It was great – a land class each Wednesday and on-the-water training each weekend in Alexandria, Virginia.

Unfortunately, I had to take a break from sailing over the last couple of years due to a very busy work schedule.

This fall I returned to the sport. I brushed up on my fundamentals by taking the American Sailing Association's intro keelboat course.

A keelboat is a sailboat with a fixed keel, instead of a retractable centerboard. The keel is a part of the boat that extends vertically into the water and provides stability. The keel minimizes lateral motion and helps prevent the sailboat from tipping over.

I completed my keelboat training over a couple of weekends with the Annapolis Sailing School, the oldest sailing school in the United States.

Sailing out of Annapolis and into the Chesapeake really is an extraordinary experience. If you ever get the opportunity to do it, don't let it pass you by!