There’s a saying that goes “You can’t change the wind, you can however adjust your sails.”
The circa 1969 photograph above was taken of Mahdee when she was Privateer, cruised and raced by the David Allen family. They’re doing a lovely job of changing the foresail to the gollywobbler to capture more wind.

During 2013, David and I were able to spend some great time coast-wise sailing in late winter from San Francisco to San Diego, visiting the Channel Islands and then returning in summer to the Bay area. We also ventured up into the California Delta in late summer, where we enjoyed almost four months of idyllic anchorages and sloughs where we worked on boat projects while we watched mink, ducks, otters, cranes, egrets, and treasured the peaceful sloughs filled with life all around us.

2013 was a year of both exciting ocean sailing and wonderful calm anchorages. I am reminded of Howard Bloomfield’s observation that “Cruising has two pleasures. One is to go out in wider waters from a sheltered place. The other is to go into a sheltered place from wider waters.”

We are looking forward to an adventure filled year of sailing in 2014.

Happy New Year to all,
Brenda and David (and ship’s cat Beryl)
Schooner Mahdee

Photo by Diane Beeston, courtesy of the San Francisco Yacht Club. All rights reserved.