Who’s game for sailing?
Let’s play a little sailing game. I don’t mean a board game, I mean a game involving actual sailing. We can call it a maritime scavenger hunt. Or a nautical treasure hunt. Or a sailing rally. Whatever. A rose is a rose, right? Who cares? Here’s how it works.
We give you five tasks. You can think of these as a sort of Quest for the Holy Grail of South Bay Sailing and you’re Monte Python’s shipwrecked uncle. You simply perform the tasks and report back your findings. The judges, who shall remain nameless, decide how well you did and assign points. At the and of the game, whoever has the most points, wins. There may be swag for the winners.
These tasks can all performed in one sail, but we think it’d be more fun to break them up and do them over separate sailing outings. You can use different crew for different tasks. You’ll see below that there are a lot of ways you can play.
First: The rules. 1) At least one person on board needs to be a qualified skipper, having passed ASA 103 or the equivalent. 2) You will need either a recently printed paper chart or, better yet, an electronic chart for the the South Bay sailing area.
Second: The suggestions. 1) It will be helpful if at least one person on board has coastal navigation skills. 2) Pay attention to the extra credit items, they’ll give you a lof of help in adding up points. You do wanna win that swag, right? 3) In addition to a chart, a hand-bearing compass might come in handy.
Third: The Tasks. This is where it gets interesting…
Task 1: Navigate to 37° 30.34’ N, 122° 13.18 W. From here you can see a series of flag poles. What is odd about them?
Extra credit: Make up a story about why they’re like that. Even more extra credit if your story involves something ridiculous. If you have youngsters in your crew, this will be a natural for them.
Task 2: Navigate to 37° 31.4’ N, 122° 12.14’ W. Look southeast. What structure are all the cormorants roosting on? Where are they NOT roosting on?
Extra credit: Make up a story that explains why all the cormorants are where they are. Even more extra credit if, in the judges’ view, your story is plausible.
Task 3: Between Redwood Creek Mark 7 and Redwood Creek Mark 9, in very shallow water, there’s apparently something dangerous under the water. What is it? DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SAIL OVER IT!
Extra Credit: Make up a story about this object. Even more extra credit if your story involves aliens. Or sparkly unicorns. Or rainbows.
Task 4: Go visit South Bay racing Mark X. Besides the letter X, what else is written on this mark? (If you don’t know where to find X, hit up your favorite racer and ask him or her. He or she has spent plenty of time during races trying to find it and will experience a tiny thrill of schadenfreude upon hearing that you, too, are seeking it.)
Extra credit: If you could write something of your own D on this mark, what would it be? Even more extra credit if your response makes the judges laugh.
Task 5: There are two items on the South Bay chart marking wrecks where a portion of the wreck is visible above the waterline. One is the South Bay Wreck. The other isn’t. What was the name of the ship that became the South Bay Wreck?
Extra credit: For the other wreck, what kind of boat was it? What is actually visibler? Extra credit: When was it reported to the Coast Guard? Even more extra credit: Is its position on the chart accurate?
Final notes: You’ll get extra credit if your crew includes at least one person new to sailing or with only a Basic Keelboat Sailing certification. You’ll also get extra credit if your crew includes someone under 18.
To accomplish a task:
- Email the judges your answer to the task question(s), plus the answer to any extra credit questions you choose to answer.
- Attach a digital image — either a picture of the item you’ve navigated to, a screenshot of your navigation app that shows the item in question and your vessel, or an image that shows you and your crew were working on the answer and that you were having fun doing it.
- Tell the judges who was in your crew for this task and what boat your were aboard.
The game begins with the publication of these rules by Spinnaker Sailing. In other words, if you’re reading this, the game is on. The game ends when the judges say it does.
FAQs…
Can you do this alone? Yes, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as doing it with others, would it?
Does it matter what kind of boat you use? No.
Do you have to actually sail? No. But what’s the matter with you? Why wouldn’t you?
Can you cheat? No. Of course not. Would you want to live the rest of your life with that kind of private shame?