The American Sailing Association has announced a series of day-long workshops entitled "Priorities for Confident Cruising", featuring world-renown sailing adventurers Lin and Larry Pardey. Readers who have marveled at the Pardeys' accounts of their non-motorized world travels for more than three decades can take advantage of this rare chance to learn from the masters in person.

The Pardey's many magazine articles and books such as Capable Cruiser, Cost Conscious Cruiser and Self-Sufficient Sailor have kindled the dreams of ocean travel among eager sailors around the world. These day-long programs, explore the details of preparing skipper and crew for the realities of affordable cruising. Topics include choosing a boat you can afford, or upgrading the one you have, general boat preparation and preparing for storm management (among others).

The morning session is handled by Lin and Larry working together. In the afternoon the group is split into two. Larry discusses gear maintenance, tips for better engine service, rigging, spares, tools and upgrades. Lin discusses paperwork and financial planning for cruising plus cost saving once you are underway. The afternoon sessions covers gear that will help you be more self-sufficient plus luxuries that really add to the pleasure of cruising. The whole group re-unites for a summation.

Dates and Locations:

• Chicago, IL -- January 28, 2004
• Miami, FL -- February 11, 2004
• Houston, TX -- March 6, 2004
• Oakland, CA -- April 13, 2004

The base price of the workshops is $99 which includes lunch. Discounts are available for ASA members, couples and early registration. For more information or to register on-line see the American Sailing Association's website.

Photographed by: Bill Kennedy

Caption submissions have been somewhat less than I had hoped for; I have only received 3 submissions so far:

• "Abandon Ship -- Save the Beer!" from Brad Blackman
• "Heck with the Bilge Pump; Save the Beer!" also from Brad Blackman
• "Dude where's my boat?" from msullivan

I was anticipating more submissions similar to the monthly back page "Ask Dr. Crash" column that appears in Sailing World magazine. For those of you that don't subscribe to Sailing World magazine, "Ask Dr. Crash" is a tongue-in-cheek "sailing help" column that features a photo of some sailing carnage along with Dr. Crash's advice. Unfortunately, Sailing World doesn't post these online (as far as I could tell anyway) and the best example I could find is this photo which, unfortunately, doesn't contain the caption.

To kick off a new round of captions, here's my (possibly lame but hopefully "politically correct") attempt:

• Dear ISC Webmaster: "I usually crew with the one-design guys at ISC. I've occassionally thought about crewing for the guys in those bigger boats but incidents like this make think they're really only about partying and not about racing. Am I right to 'stick with what I know' and shun the big guys?" -- Guy in the corner at ISC parties
• Dear 'Guy in the corner': "The guys riding the "lead mines" can sometimes appear less than professional when things get out of hand during post-race celebrations. However, you can rest assured that these guys are just as competitive as you guys in the little 'dinghies'. The only difference being that the beer carrying capacity of a boat is directly proportional to its size. This occassionally results in unforeseen calamities. Your fear of the 'big guys' is unwarranted and an afternoon sail with them will show you how to have 'big fun'." -- ISC WebDude

Please come to the ISC clubhouse for the 2003 Children's Christmas Party on Saturday, December 20th at 10:00am. There will be music, games and ginger bread houses to decorate. Christmas stories will be read and, direct from the North Pole, Santa Claus will visit.

The event is open to anyone, whether they are an ISC member or not. If you are considering joining ISC and have children, this is a great opportunity to meet ISC members and take our club for a short "test sail". You might also want to peruse the 2003 Easter Party page in the Photo Gallery for a flavor of the fantastic children events that Chris and Scott Hicks organize.

Cost is $4 per child. RSVP to Chris Hicks at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.