Since this blog is about a sailboat I will lead with my sailing resume. Is “sailing resume” a term? I do not want this to become an autobiography because autobiographies are reserved for great statesmen or award winning artists. The life of banker only makes good copy if the person managed a great scandal. I, thankfully, have avoided scandals.
Sailing
I started sailing on Squam Lake in New Hampshire. My first sailing memory is when my dad asked me to help hold the main sheet on our Sunfish as we headed towards the shore to avoid a thunder storm. Early on my parents let me direct my own actions while sailing, which was a great way to learn responsibility.
My folks added to the fleet one day while I was on the far side of the lake learning about canoeing. In retrospect canoeing does not seem to be a sport that requires a camp but I suppose this was the beginning of the era we live in today where there are classes in camps for the oddest of activities. Breathing classes seem truly out of place. Does the class start with, “How many of you have breathed before?” Between the Sunfish and the new day sailor “Sunspots” I was hooked on sailing. My dad had been exposed to Sailing while working a Sergeant Camp years ago and now look at the ripple effect.
Near the end of college I bought a very old full keel boat, Coranado 25. The classic plastic boat was one of the early models in California fiberglass era. She was a great boat and taught me how to handle the strong winds of San Francisco Bay. My favorite story was when I coming home on a power reach one day and realized I had left the outboard motor running. I cured the problem by hitting the stop button while still steering the rather excited boat down some large waves. A few moment laters the engine spoke up again “I am still running!”. Darn I awkwardly reached for the shut off button again. No luck I heard the same chorus again, “I am still running”. Eureka, I was turning off the engine but because I left it in gear it was being restarted by the high speed of the boat. Lesson #132 was learning without any fingers lost.
When I moved to New York City, I discovered the Manhattan Yacht Club. It became a large part of my life. We raced Wednesday nights and a group of us led by Tim Ryan also raced on weekends. The boat was a J24 and we managed to go from being the idiots of the racecourse to taking home some trophies. It was almost every weekend from spring to fall and well worth the memories. I was invited by Commodore Fortenbaugh to compete in an international regatta in Monaco. We had a blast. It was during this period that I got some offshore experience with a few 5-7 day offshore deliveries and overnight races.
As I grew older, life got busier and being part of a J24 team was tough to manage. So I shrunk the boat. I enjoyed racing the Laser for the ease of set-up and the strong competition. I was a member at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport, CT. I think its the largest frostbiting fleets in the country. With 50 boats regularly on the line. Winning a glass for a first in a race is a real triumph. Actually, some days, just getting off the line can be difficult. In the sidebar is a video from one of those laser winter Sundays from the crash boat. I luckily avoided much of the mess.
The adventure grew as Gail became my crew on a V15 we purchased. We had fun, even when I was grumpy during light air races. In 2006 I crewed on a Swan during the centennial Newport to Bermuda race. Grab a cup of coffee and watch a video of the adventure. (top of page LHS)
Then the adventure became about cruising not racing. That is where the story of Two Fish starts. But I would not want to give away the rest of this blog would I? The reader probably is asking, is Jason experienced enough for captaining Two Fish? If you are a worried mother, YES.
Where I lived
I grew up in Philadelphia. Fame came to me at a young age as my pre kindergarden teacher was the mother of Kevin Bacon. My jet set life style continued when we moved to Stanford for a sabbatical year. At the age of four I was enrolled in a school run by the Stanford Psych department. They ran many experiments on the students and still send me “studies” today.
In the early days of computers, Xerox had a R&D facility up the road and came to my Stanford kindergarden and asked for help. 2 years prior to my matriculation they used the students to design a device that a 4 year old could use to control a computer. And thus was born the computer mouse. Since I was too late to take credit for the mouse should I take credit for the mouse pad?
During my Philly years I got one curse and on gift. The curse was being hooked on Philly sports teams which have a unique way of creating heartache. Good news is the internet will allow me to enjoy this pain anywhere in the world. And the gift was a great education from a prep school known as Episcopal Academy.
After high school, I was eager to live in California and was lucky to get into UC Berkeley, better known as Cal. 4 years later I was back on the east coast have tracked down a job at the New York Stock Exchange. I was really shocked at how hard it was to work a complete week. By Wednesday of my first week of work I promised myself I would go back to school in 2 years. Not because I wanted more schooling but because I wanted a break from work. Yes after 3 days. Most people did not interpret this as a good sign for my career prospects. It might explain why I have gone for a sabbatical. A few years later and I was standing on the podium collecting another degree, but this time from Columbia in Finance. I finally had found a job I loved. I was moved by the bank to London and Singapore. I also traveled to 40 or more countries as part of my job. I feel, it’s through working with people from other countries that you grow and become more appreciative of doing things differently.
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