For those of you who hadn’t seen I had posted a question about AI access time exchange in lieu of buying a second to go out with the wife. Due to lack of response we have been noodling the idea of a second even with the existing logistical hurdles and wanted to try a joint outing. Since she is a non-sailor I thought her experience would be more positive if I came along compared with just sending her out on ours solo (believe me ensuring a positive spouse experience is a selfish not selfless strategy). I struck out finding one at any local sailing rental concessions. Next step was to call the dealer who clued me in to the following:
http://www.sassafrassailing.com/
Wendy Costa bought 5 ai’s and runs a mini bird watching/sailing instruction/water tour on the Eastern shore. She’s got the ability to trailer all 5 to a location for an event. You can get the rest from the site. As a plug I’ll note that she was an incredibly nice person to deal with and gave us a major drop on the published rate since she didn’t have to provide and instruction, guiding, or transport. This was well worth the 1.7 hour drive. Even if I don’t buy a second I may rent the whole affair one day later in the year to go out with some friends.
Back to buying a second it was a great intro day with about 8-12 wind in the channels and some protected creeks to see with a blue heron rookery. The AI was a big hit with the wife so we may double up. Longer-term the outing also opened her eyes to more benefits of living closer to the water. If that comes together I will personally solve all logistics issues for the first mid-Atlantic AI class outing.
Rich