NEWS

WHY SAILORS HEAD SOUTH

NASA

I want to be in the deep red area where the seas and air are warm both night and day. Let us sail down the Latitudes.

OFFSHORE RACE TO MEXICO

The end of April we will challenge 700 vessels in the largest International offshore race in the world. Several partices are scheduelled during the month of April before we take our last practice sail to Newport Beach. We will be taking six students who have completed UCLA 1 & 2 or CSA 1, 2 & 3 and the April practice sails. We generally prefer those who have checked out on boats in our fleet with sailing skills perfected over the months. The quality of the instruction and experience gleaned during this trip will generally qualify students for CSA4 Bareboat Standard or for some CSA 6 Off Shore Standard. There will be loads of sailing and navigation experience as each of the crew rotate on all duties aboard. There is a film of the trip at the school if you would like to watch the activities aboard the 40 foot Ocean Racer Zeus on this race in past years.

Talk to the Office Personel about this incrediable trip soon as there are only six lucky crew going.

BA HA HA HA 2007

Ask about our Off Shore Passage to Cabo. This is a 1500 mile passage to Cabo in early October. 2007 Room for five hardy students. Lets go before the Astrod arrives !

CABO SAN LUCAS OFFSHORE PASSAGE

We completed one of our ASA Offshore passage making classes to Cabo San Lucas. The group was composed of three of our local students: Manny Sans, Charles Lederman, and Clark Miller. One of the students was Aubrey Smith from Texas. The remaining crew was composed of Paul Miller our director and ASA Offshore Instructor Evaluator and Jeanne Leighton manager of CSA. Our trip began in San Diego in a boisterous southerly wind. After three hours of slamming to weather, Paul said " if you are not having fun you are doing something wrong" and it was not fun. A quick retreat to San Diego and the next morning brought us perfect weather with the wind aft and surfing down the coast for Mexico. We enjoyed magnificent sunsets and sunrises as we were out shooting stars, planets, the moon and sun as our navigation was to be predominately Celestial. Our first landfall was Cedros.

A short time later we caught a beautiful yellow fin tuna for dinner. Before we took in our other line we snagged a 60 pound Ono. In that we had far more fish than we could possibly eat we slipped into Bahia Santa Maria and gave it to the cruisers anchored there. This was our only stop and we were on the way the next day sailing fast before a spreading front. With our spinnaker pulling us along at awesome speeds we slipped into Cabo San Lucas a day or so later. A good time was had by all, along with an extension of our sea legs and sailing education.

RACING

We have enjoyed some spectacular local racing in Santa Monica bay.

The boats are sailed by the students with each person rotating through all positions as the Instructors keep clear of the helm and sheets offering only advice and direction to our seafaring students. The summer racing season will start in a couple months so more than likely we will join one of the local yacht clubs in their weeknight race series. Tales of the sea were spun and shared by all at the BBQ afterward. Don't miss these fun races and events.

FIREWORKS

We had great experience watching the Christmas Boat Parade and Fireworks at the endo of the year. We will also be taking the boats out to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July. It is always a spectacular show when watching it from a boat. The Culver City fireworks show is taking place just to the east of the Marina del Rey jetty. Check with the office for a schedule of our events. "You all come now, and join our hospitality", as Paul says.

COASTAL NAVIGATION

The coastal navigation course can be taken at any time during your sailing endeavors, however for your maximum benefit it should be completed before you do the liveaboard Offshore course. Our coastal navigation course is very in-depth, and can be used in preparation for a Coast Guard Captain's license. Paul's latest editions of a new Coastal Piloting Text and Basic Celestial Navigation are available at the Office.

The land based Coastal Navigation Course will cover the techniques needed to navigate within the sight of land. Although not required, it will also be very helpful for you to have the knowledge and skills of piloting prior to taking a celestial navigation course. Our next scheduled CELESTIAL NAVIGATION will be a taught in May. This course will include time for hands-on sextant use shooting the celestial bodies.

CELESTIAL NAVIGATION

Celestial navigation is the art of using celestial bodies to locate a spot on earth. In other words you do not have to be in the sight of any land to locate your position on earth. Pretty cool stuff! Although we teach the use of the GPS, they don't always function. We do use the GPS for backup, but with spoofing, jamming and just the nature of how they operate, you need to actually know how to navigate by celestial bodies. Hikers, campers, photographers, pilots and surveyors as well as boaters have utilized the techniques taught in our course. You can accurately predict the rising of the celestial bodies for light, shadows, and trip planning. You will use the sextant and starfinder as well as other tools of the trade. Our very own master of navigation, Paul J Miller teaches the CELESTIAL NAVIGATION course twice a year at UCLA extension or CSA. Whether you are using the sun, moon, planets or stars Paul has developed simple methods to enable you to shoot and calculate your earthly position. Be sure and pick up a copy of his new Celestial Navigation Book.

BAREBOAT SAILING

We have the on-the-water liveaboard portions of our CSA 4 ASA Bareboat courses scheduled each month.

Check out the pictures of our Bareboat course, in the 'photo' gallery courtesy of Chris Ford, a member of the crew. Thanks Chris!

ADVANCED COASTAL CRUISING

Now, this is an exciting trip! ! ! The on-the-water portion of this course will be scheduled for Summer 2007, when we plan to sail up into the The Channel Islands. Not only will you complete your Advanced Coastal Cruising standard, you will learn about actual big boat sailing. This liveaboard course will include exploring, playing, sailing, planning, navigating, and the very important weather interpretation and anchoring.

ASA INSTRUCTOR CLINICS

Our director Paul J. Miller is an American Sailing Association (ASA) Instructor Evaluator rated to the Offshore level. If your sailing background is solid and you would like to take the next step, challenge yourself and consider taking the ASA Basic Instructor Clinic.

• Basic Instructor Clinic
• Basic Coastal Cruising and Coastal Navigation Clinic
• Bareboat Instructor Clinic
• Advanced Coastal Cruising Clinic

For further information and enrollment contact CSA.

UCLA EXTENSION

The UCLA Extension Sailing courses are another option you have in which to take our Basic though Basic Coastal Cruising Courses. . The sailing courses utilize the same workbooks, instructors and boats as the courses offered at the Academy.

UCLA extension classes are offered in a different format from the Academy classes, and the classes are a great value, including lots of time on the water. They also offer you the opportunity to meet a large group of people that are also interested in this exhilarating sport. The course has three Monday night lectures from 6:30 - 10 pm, and anywhere from five to seven weeks on the water, depending on which schedule you choose. This course covers the last half of CSA 2 through CSA 3 ASA Basic Coastal Cruising material.

CHECK OUR CALENDAR PAGE FOR THE UP-TO-DATE SCHEDULE OF UCLA EXTENSION SAILING CLASSES

FOREIGN CRUISING

For many many years (before it was quite so fashionable) CSA gave people the opportunity to sail in different exotic parts of the world. We have sailed, explored and enjoyed the camaraderie of our groups, the locals and sailors in Tahiti, Tonga, Caribbean, Lesser Antilles, Thailand, New Zealand, Greece and Mexico. Where will we be going next? Maybe Belize.. Let us know where you want to go next..

SEE YOU ON THE WATER !