National Team practice in Connecticut

I flew to New York by myself on Jet Blue.  It was fun because I got to watch TV for 6 hours. When I landed the head of USODA picked me up and drove me to the yacht club were my host family picked me up. The first morning there was no wind and it was freezing. The next day it was not as cold but it was windy. Down wind I went so fast!!!! The last day we had to run three miles and I won with a time of 24:56. There was not that much wind but we had some races. Then a coach from the Development Team took me to the airport. And on the way back I sat next to two old ladies who talked a lot. It was torture. The next day I woke up early on East Coast time and I was tired the whole day. 

Atlantic Coast Championships

I flew to New Jersey with some friends and met our coach Manuel Resano for ACC's.  We sailed one day early for practice.  After the practice we ran on the beach for exercise.  The next day we had the regatta.  It was about 10 t 12 knots the first day and lighter the second day. I ended up pretty good at 41st out of 250 boats.  My friend beat me by one point and got 40th.

PCC's

So I haven't done my blog in a long time.  We drove up to San Francisco for a day of practice and the Pacific Coast Championships.  I got 3rd out of 25.  I learned a good lesson and could have got 2nd.  After the regatta we went to a little shop (in the city) for a violin.  My mom, dad and brother went home and I stayed at the Screve's Mrs. Screve, Romain, and I flew to New Jersey with the Swanson's. This is a photo of the Maltese Falcon mega yacht.

San Francisco

I am going to San Francisco for 5 days. First, I am going to have a 1 day clinic with Lucas at SFYC. Then there is a 2 day regatta, the San Francisco Bay Championships. Then I fly to Philadelphia for Atlantic Coast Championships at Brant Beach Yacht Club in New Jersey.  

The Sailing Odyssey

We drove to San Francisco on the 30th of July.  It took seven hours. We practiced with a coach from Argentina named Manuel Resaro (Manny). We sailed with him for four days and I learned a lot.  Then we drove to the Columbia Gorge and sailed for another five days (a three day clinic and a two day regatta).  I ended up in 6th place at the West Coast Championships  Will Cefali, Kristopher Swanson and I flew to LAX from Portland. We were picked up by Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor. Will and Kristopher stayed at the O'Connor's house for one night and I stayed for four nights with Ian Stokes, Anthony Norris and Connor Swikart.  We were a rowdy bunch. The next day we went over to CBYC for the first day of the four day National Team Practice. We ran three miles the first day and two miles the next two days.  We sailed every day for five hours straight.  I got so sore I could hardly walk.  Then my mom and dad picked me up and I sailed the PCC's.  I sailed 15 out of 19 days!

Trip to a whole bunch of places

We went surfing on Thursday and played a Lacrosse game on Saturday! It is my cross-training. Today we got ready to go to San Francisco and loaded boats and packed. I have a big couple weeks: I go to San Francisco, then the Gorge in Oregon for the West Coast Championships, then to the Pacific  Coast Championships in San Pedro. (Whew) 

Home, home at last

Today I am at home and we had a nice flight home. At the airport we bought a Belgium comic and some chocolate as gifts and a t-shirt for Quinn and myself. The flight was so crowded that my mom and I had to sit in different rows. When we got off the plane we had to wait a long time for the luggage. We ate at Chipolte and it was tasty after we had a 10 hour flight. When we got home there was a big sign saying "welcome home champ." :{)    

Amsterdam Day 4

We took a long bike ride out into the country along the Amstel River.  It was amazing that it looks just like the Dutch paintings we saw in the museum. We couldn't find a breakfast place open on Sunday, so we missed breakfast and rode back into town and found a crepe restaurant open for lunch. After turning in our bikes, we walked across town and did a little souvenir shopping.  We're getting ready to head home tomorrow morning.

Day three Amsterdam

This morning we got breakfast at a place where they have every thing organic and also went to a bakery. We ate by the river on a bench. We visited the Anne Frank house where she stayed in hiding two years during WWII.  Then we climbed the highest tower in the town. After lunch we met Malcolm from my sailing team and went to the Van Gogh museum.  My favorite painting was a skeleton smoking a cigarette!! We ate dinner at a Thai  restaurant that was really goooooooooooood!!!! Then we went on a canal ride. That was fun. We came home and went to sleep:) 

Amsterdam Facts

Did you know that.... There are about 600,000 bikes in Amsterdam? There are 1,281 bridges that cross the canals?  There are more than 2,500 houseboats on the Amstel River?  Amsterdam is 6.7 Meters below sea level? The total length of the canals stretches to 100 kilometer?

Amsterdam

We took our car back to the rental place, then took a canal tour. We rented bikes and rode around the canals and got lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe where  we watched people play on a life size chess board. We rode our bikes to the Rijks Museum and saw paintings by Dutch painters like Vermeer and Rembrandt.  It was so cool.  Then we rode bikes to our hotel and watched "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in French.....just kidding, in English ha ha!

Drive to Amsterdam

We went to a World War I and World War II bunker built by the Germans along the Atlantic Coast.  It was awesome.  We saw all the old guns and barriers they were built.  There were also scenes of the soldiers on how they lived.  We drove to Amsterdam and....got lost trying to find our hotel.  We finally made it and checked in, ordered room service and went to bed.

Last Day of Sailing

Today was light winds and choppy so we did not get any races in.  We started a race but it was abandoned due to not enough wind.  There has to be a lot of wind to make up for the strong current. When we got in, Christopher Williford and I had a huge water fight with our bailers.  Then we packed up our boats and turned them back to the charter. We had a team dinner then played on the sand dunes next to our hotel.  We played hide and seek and had a sand dune jumping contest.  We got gelato, played in the hall of the hotel and made a facebook account with my friends.  

Photos from the regatta

Sailing Day 4

The wind stayed the same as yesterday and picked up a little later.  I had a great day.  The fleet was divided into gold and silver. I'm in the silver fleet now.  I had two fifth place finishes today. When we got back to the boat ramp and pulled our boats out it was low tide and the place was completely muddy and stinky.  In the morning after I launched my boat, I realized I forgot my rudder and centerboard in the car.  Mom ran to get them.

Mom's Post

I'm so proud of Dane!  He's been a wonderful traveling companion.  He wakes early each morning, rigs his boat and gets geared up by himself without complaint.  He's been fighting a cold and cough and has been very responsible about avoiding the gelato and waffles.  The competition has been quite intense.  Many Europeans come to this regatta to practice for Worlds.  And many of his US team members have several International Regattas under their belts.  The first two days of sailing have been 20 plus knots, 8' plus high waves and heavy currents that change directions during the course of the day.  The regatta is held out in the North Sea and it's about a 45-minute tow from the dock and they're on the water for about 6 hours/day.  Although Dane's results have been less than he had hoped for, he's sailed back to the dock with a smile. He's made some great friends and overall I think, this has been an amazing growth experience for him.  

Day Two Sailing

Today the conditions were the same as yesterday:  very windy, lots of current and big waves. We're sailing out in the North Sea.  It takes us about 40 minutes to be towed out to the starting line.  I am learning a lot.  I did a little better today.  I am fighting a cold and cough and hope to feel stronger tomorrow.  One of the parents said the first international regatta is the hardest. The locals said it is supposed to be really warm and lighter tomorrow - better for me!

First Day of Racing

Today we started with an opening ceremony.  The flags of the 12 countries sailing in the regatta were raised on the flag poles.  There are 100 sailors racing Optimists.  A Belgium military helicopter flew over to start the regatta.  That was very cool.  We had our first race at 3:00.  It was blowing about 20 to 25 knots.  I did not have a great day of sailing, but I learned a lot.  The waves were really big and the starting line was very roomy.  After the day of racing we had a ceremony where we marched with our flag and gave a little speech.

Practice

We had a good practice today.  It started as medium winds, then in the afternoon it got windy (about 20 knots and whitecaps and lots of current).  Our practice was five hours long.  It was fun.  I have a drysuit so I am really warm and dry.  We are having a team dinner tonight at a pizza parlor(:

Nieuwpoort

We had a little problem with our adaptor plugs so that is why I am posting this late.  Today I met my team members and we had a short sail because it was so windy that the coach was worried that it might break someone's rig.  There was a lot of wind and current.  Then we played soccer on the beach - it was fun!

Ghent

We flew into Amsterdam at 1:00pm Amsterdam time.  We rented a cute little car.  It is very small.  We drove 2-hours to Ghent.  Then we took a boat ride through the Ghent canals.  We saw a medieval castle, St. Michael's Church and a big tunnel that must have been hundreds of years old.  We had lunch and dessert at a VW van that sold gelato - it was good.

Lacrosse

I survived the three lacrosse games, plus I scored a goal and made an assist. So I am off to Belgium without a scratch.  

Thank you

My bags are packed and I am hydrated and ready to go.  The only thing is that I have three Lacrosse games before I fly. And before I fly, I would like to thank everyone who helped support me. I would like to thank my grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles and SBYC, SBYF, and the SBYC Women's Group.  Again Thanks!!!!!

I will be sending lots of pictures stay tuned!!!!!

Practice

My brother Quinn and I had a two hour practice.  The wind was about 12 to13 knots, not too many waves and no surf! We did some match racing today. We just practiced the starts. I learned how to sail perfectly up wind without slipping sideways-just keep your boat flat.

Cross Training

Yesterday our team had a 4 hour practice. Today we had a cross training day... We went surfing at a place called Sandspit in Santa Barbara! It wasn't quite this good, but worth checking out none the less. See it here.

Going to Belgium

I qualified for the US National Team at the Optimist Team Trials in Annapolis.  I also qualified to compete in the Flanders Regatta in Nieuwpoort, Belgium.  I'll be representing the United States along with 14 US teammates.   I fly into Amsterdam on June 23rd and will begin racing on June 28th.  I'll be posting about my trip on this blog.... stay tuned.