If it’s Sunday, they’re sailing: 2 seniors stay the course with OCC’s seamanship program
A couple of golden-agers who happen to share a common interest are just fine with the idea of repeating the same sailing class every Sunday in Newport Harbor offered through the Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship.
Huntington Beach resident Art Adair, 77, who retired after enjoying a career in education, has been taking the Lido 14 sailing class for nine years. Fellow classmate Rick MacMahon, 75, a psychotherapist from Orange, is in his third year.
“Art and I are unusual taking the same class over and over,” said MacMahon. “Most people either go on to bigger boats or they don’t come back. But I keep registering for back-to-back sessions.”
Both men prefer sailing one day a week, even if it means occasionally signing up for a different day in order to keep sailing.
According to the school’s sailing program coordinator, Mette Segerblom, the school offers easy and affordable access to sailing, power boating and seamanship education for ages 7 and older.
“We’re public access, you don’t have to be a member and you don’t have to bring any equipment but yourself,” said Segerblom.
That easy access is what draws Adair to the program.
“The key reason for me to go there is I don’t have a place to store a boat and there’s not a decent place to launch a sailboat unless you belong to a yacht club,” Adair said. “I don’t have to pay for maintenance, license, insurance, dock fees.”
MacMahon concurred, adding, ”You just go to a place and you’re able to start sailing.”
The two seniors also agree sailing brings them a host of benefits.
Adair, who enjoys being in the outdoors, even at home, said when he sails he especially savors the peace and quiet of the activity.
“Another reason for sailing is it keeps me limber, keeps me going, keeps my muscles in tone and in good shape, and depending how windy it is it keeps you moving and working pretty hard. I look forward to the unknown and challenge of small boat sailing.
“I like to sail with other people either in the boat or sometimes just in the class,” continued Adair, who also helps out as a tutor to instructor Deb Robinson. “It ends up like a small family, the social aspect is a major part of that.”
MacMahon said sailing brings him joy and has enriched his life. “It’s exhilarating, it’s fun,” he said. “When the wind is good it’s very exciting to be zipping along having the wind carrying you along at a nice clip.
“I’m a psychotherapist and I talk to people about the importance of community and this class is a community of sailors,” said MacMahon. “There’s a common interest, a familiarity about going to the same place, seeing others there, there’s a comfort in that.”
Greg Wisener, manager of the OCC Waterfront Campus, said the program engenders a common love of getting out on the water in a boat.
“Many people just assume it’s beyond their ability to get on the water and we’re here to provide that for them,” Wisener said. “As a college, what we want is to reach out to underserved communities and give them a place to extend community to here. Once they get on the water together it’s a leveling force, a shared experience and everyone is out of their element.”
When a group of people are suddenly immersed in the maritime world a type of kinship forms, he noted.
“It’s easier to connect socially when they are all in the same boat,” Wisener quipped.
Open seven days a week, the OCC Waterfront Campus School of Sailing and Seamanship,located at 1801 W. Coast Highway, is among the largest public boating education programs in the nation, offering around 700 classes a year.
The school operates three dozen boats, including dinghies, keelboats, cruising boats, offshore racers and powerboats, and has an extensive nautical library.
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