How can one put wind energy, conservation, recreation, pleasure boating, and sporting all together and make it work? It seems, misleadingly, that to be green you must skip out on the fun stuff. This weekend a revelation for me and perhaps the members of the sailing crew found out that sailing provides all that and more.

It takes a healthy balance of wit, stamina, and courage to sail a boat along the Columbia river, but here 4 brave Americans sailed/motored for 8 miles down river to Caterpillar Island in Washington State. The experience was exhilarating, thrilling, and fun. Upgrading from smaller sailing boats, this Coronado 23 (23′ sailboat) offers both the small boating sailing world with the larger sailing vessel (36+ feet) all in one package.

Beauty… Some how putting it all together on that river gave me the rush of what it might have felt to early explorers of the Columbia river. Unlike them, however, we now are aided by maps and points on the river that tell us where we are. Nevertheless, just looking at the maps of the Columbia River I see hidden lagoons, private channels, and exotic locations to sail our small craft to and explore. Perhaps this is the boost I need to make that dream of sailing a reality ;p

Good clean fun… No doubt, on 777 Al Gore’s live concert day, I’m sure we did our part by not burning too much fuel while harnessing the power of the wind.

~J out

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