ASA 105/106

I'm finally back in the Napa Valley, ready to resume classes tomorrow. I spent the last week sailing around South Florida and Bimini, Bahamas, on a 51-foot sailboat getting my ASA 105 & 106 certifications.

I arrived in Fort Lauderdale last Saturday, and after some classroom navigation work on Sunday morning, we set sail for the Port of Miami. Sunday night we anchored in the Biscayne Bay just south of Miami with a beautiful view of the skyline. Monday we practiced some sailing drills in the Biscayne Bay during the day before charting our course through the narrow Biscayne Channel to the Atlantic Ocean and then to Bimini.

We left the anchorage in the Biscayne Bay around 2AM Tuesday morning, then proceeded to navigate through the channel in complete darkness. The navigational aids consisted of mostly unlighted daymarks, so I had to stand on the bow with a spotlight and spot markers to make sure we stayed in the channel and didn't run aground. It was intense, to say the least.

Once we got through the channel, we set our course for Bimini, then took turns standing watch, taking position fixes, and adjusting course as we sailed across the Gulf Stream into the sunrise. We arrived in Bimini around 2PM and then proceeded to navigate our way through the shoals to get to the marina we docked at in North Bimini. After some much needed rest, we had dinner at a little restaurant on the island and checked out the local bar scene.

Wednesday began with a three-hour long Coastal Navigation exam (ASA 105), which involved lots of plotting and calculating of courses, current vectors, and other navigational questions. By the end of it, I was drained. In the afternoon we set sail for an old shipwreck off the coast of South Bimini called Sapona. It's an old concrete ship that ran aground during the hurricane of 1929. Now it's a cool diving and snorkeling spot with an active reef occupying its hull.

Wednesday night we anchored off Gun Cay, leaving at 4AM Thursday morning to practice man overboard drills in the darkness before sailing back to Fort Lauderdale. We got back to the dock around 6PM, and then Friday morning we had another 2.5-hour exam for the Advanced Coastal Cruising certification (ASA 106). I flew back to San Francisco Friday evening, and then got back here yesterday afternoon.

It's been an exhausting week.