Marlene A. Sassaman's Page

So, after all the feelings of intimidation and that I'm not good enough to be in the upper eschelon of sailing, I go out with my sailing team and continue teaching them about getting around a race course. We sail in small 8 foot prams with a teeney-tiny course barely 50 yards from the windward to the leeward mark with a start/finish line halfway in between. The idea is to know instinctively when one is on port or starboard, how to cross the start line within a 3 minute timed sequence, rounding m… Continue

Help, I need to get over my intimidation blues. I am generally not a shy person. Yet, when faced with someone I hold in high esteem, someone I think is a better sailor than I, I lack the confidence to engage them in conversation that flows smoothly. I am sure it is my lack of experience interviewing folks. I need to get better at selling myself to sailors who can help me excel. Yes, I plan to solo circumnavigate the globe.While pursuing that goal I want to become a more accomplished competitor.… Continue

Unlike the holiday shoppers who joined the black Friday frenzy, the inertia that keeps me moving from a 5:30 am swim to a late night walk with the dog, seemed to have been stopped when I boarded Delta flight 1450. From the moment I sat down on the aisle seat, stretched my legs, and began toying with my camera I metamorphed into a sedentary speciman.

Just as I am usually determined to spend an eighth of my day exercising, I became determined to organize the more than 1000 photos taken during my… Continue

As the song goes, there's no place like home for the holidays and we all know home is where the heart is. Couple this with rainy weather a gazillion cars in a hurry to get home, crowded airports, plane delays, and a tight budget going home is a little stressful this year. Even still, the confidence I gained from my summer solo sail has even given me the hutzpah to stand tall, be a frugal shopper and take perhaps a much needed break from sailing.

After 62 days of solo cruising I came home to my… Continue

Someone else just posted a message asking for tips about winterizing. Here in Sunny Florida we winterize by changing our weekly night racing to Sunday afternoons, leave work early on Friday to sail down the river where we drop anchor and sleep late on Saturday morning. Around noon or 1 pm, we clean the bottom of the boat as our excuse to go for a refreshing swim with the dolphins in the continually shifting waters at Sebastian Inlet. Then, around 4 pm we pull up the anchor and drift over to a de… Continue