Our friend Eric Witte flew in from Baja and spent four days aboard helping us learn to sail and operate Roam. We worked on docking in the morning while the wind was light and went sailing in the afternoon when the breeze came up.
The more I do things like this the more I have come to value regular training and coaching. Having Eric with us for our first forays out on the boat was a big help. Not only is Eric a licensed Coast Guard captain, delivery skipper, and accomplished multi-hull racer, but he and his wife Captain Annie Gardner also own a Catana 472 they sailed to San Diego from France! How amazing is that!
We met Annie and Eric in San Diego early in our catamaran shopping back in August of 2021. We did a half-day training sail with them aboard El Gato, their Catana 472. It made a huge impact on us (obviously since we wound up buying one). We even wound up in a YouTube video as a result!
Since then, we’ve retained Eric as a consultant and coach to help us evaluate boats and ultimately get up to speed on Roam.
After docking practice in La Cruz, we sailed over to the village of Yelapa on the south side of Banderas Bay and picked up a mooring for the night. A nice long sail across the bay.
We concluded the trip by sailing east to Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta which will serve as Roam’s summer home. We did a bit more docking practice there with Eric before bidding him goodbye for his trip back to Baja.
We flew every sail and inspected and tested every system on the boat. By the time Eric left us, we had established a good foundation on which we could build experience. Time and money well spent. Thank you, Eric!
Click to enlarge
Pingback: Shopping Trip - SV Roam