Tuesday, April 30, 2019

I did the Ensenada Race in 1960 when I was 12 by sailboat

The race began in Long Beach then in 1960 when I was 12. My father and I and 3 TWA pilots(an passenger airline that no longer exists) sailed to Ensenada from Long Beach, California. I was okay on a sailboat as long as I could see the shore. So, when I woke up sleeping in the bow of the boat after being thrown into the air all night from the storm I expected to see the land. But, when I crawled out onto the deck there was no land to be seen because we had gone way out into the ocean to avoid hitting land or rocks during the storm. So, I had a moment of panic where I had to pull myself together. I had been pulled out into the ocean when I was 8 at Zuma Beach on a plastic mat before I had learned to swim so being out away from the land brought back this panic. So, I sort of bit my lip until blood came and swallowed my fears and dealt with it and moved on into the next part of the adventure. In Ensenada I bought lots of Fireworks because you can't buy them in California and my friends and I had a great time for weeks with all of the firecrackers and roman candles and sky rockets when I returned home to Glendale then after we sailed back to Long Beach after the race ended in Ensenada.

We sailed in a fiberglass hull (a Bounty II) which we had helped a friend build up from a fiberglass frame on weekends for a few years. I had also sailed his Sabot small Sailboat around the harbor a lot then too by myself because I was also a good swimmer if I capsized in too big a wind. I capsized once with it and had to swim for it alone then when I was about 10. Luckily I had learned to swim by 9 in Verdugo Pool in Glendale. It's an Oympic sized swimming pool with high dives and everything.

I guess it was Newport Beach to Ensenada. It looks like it started last Friday and ended yesterday.

NOTICE BOARD. VIEW N2E RACE RESULTS · VIEW N2SD RACE RESULTS · VIEW N2DP RACE RESULTS. 2019 start videos provided by MDI Films ...
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The Annual Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race is a 125-nautical-mile International Yacht Race. First run in 1948, sailors gather each spring in Newport Beach, ...

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