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Meet our Instructors
Craig's love for sailing began more than 35 years ago, sailing a Sunfish on Folsom Lake. After graduating from college in Arizona, Craig moved to Silicon Valley, took basic keelboat lessons, and hooked up with several racing crews. He raced extensively for several seasons on boats ranging from 23 to 40 feet and raced to Hawaii in two Pacific Cups, winning the Navigator's Trophy in 1994. Craig has sailed up and down the California coast and chartered in the San Juan Islands, British Virgin Is. and Tahiti. He has owned several boats including a Cal 29, Ranger 33, and a Hans Christian 43 and recently built his first boat, a Redwing 18 Pocket Cruiser. Craig love's teaching and has been teaching for Tradewinds since 1989, when he earned his U.S.C.G. license and ASA Instructor certifications. Craig is now an ASA Instructor Evaluator. In his spare time he enjoys mountain biking, playing the guitar and singing as an amateur musician, and spending time with his family in the Sierra foothills.
Another former student and member becomes an instructor. Lance is an Oakland native and graduate of UC Berkeley who moved up to sailing with Tradewinds in 1998 when he got tired of working on the outdrive of his stinkpotter. His SF Bay boat is “Mostly Harmless”, a Newport 41 owned with two other Tradewinds graduates. Since giving up playing with computers, he spends winters playing in the Caribbean on “Eaux Vives,” a Beneteau M405. You can check out his Caribbean life here: http://www.accidentalcruiser.com Lance is NAUI dive certified and is currently awaiting his Masters license from the friendly folks at the United States Coast Guard.
Sailing still gives Steve goosebumps. Whether sailing across the bay, doing deliveries from Oregon to Cabo San Lucas, or seeing a beginning student "get it" he still gets a thrill. Steve started sailing on San Francisco Bay in the early 70's on a Laser. He got his first sailboat because his wife didn't want a canoe, as "they are too tippy." He immediately joined the Small Boat Race Association and entered every race he could find in northern California. He says that although he wasn't very good, he did have perfect attendance. It was during this time he had the good fortune of sailing on Lasers against a group of teenagers that grew up to become world class sailors. They have gone on to skipper in the America's Cup, Round the World Races, and become Olympic medallists. He thinks that maybe if he had stayed close enough, for long enough, he could have learned to sail faster. Steve later taught beginning sailing
and became the Director of the Briones Sailing Club. In the 90's, Steve discovered Tradewinds,
and couldn't believe that we let him sail keelboats on the bay as much as he wanted to for less
than the cost of slip fees. He's been an active member since then, earned his ASA accreditation,
and now teaches and shares his enthusiasm with our students. His plans are to continue learning,
teaching, delivering boats, and of course sail, sail, sail on into retirement.
Emily grew up sailing with her family on San Francisco Bay. She started taking classes through Tradewinds in 2000, and has since completed the classes through Advanced Coastal Cruising. She enjoyed introducing friends to sailing, while skippering the fleet of 25’ to 40’ sailboats on SF Bay. Having been tempted by the stories of sailors in the tropics in Latitude 38 for years, Emily decided to start living her own tropical adventure in 2005. She quit her engineering job, sold her house, and made plans to spend a year sailing. Those plans were cut short on the first night of the big adventure by an accidental jibe during a storm on the way to Los Angeles. A month later, with the broken ribs and contused lung on the mend, she was able to meet the boat (Barking Spider 3, a MacGregor 65) in Juneau, Alaska, for a visually spectacular cruise down the inside passage to Vancouver. She spent six months on private sailboats in Mexico, “working” as crew. On boats ranging in size from 37’ to 53’, she sailed from Mazatlan down to Puerto Escondido, and then sailed back up north to spend a month in the Sea of Cortez. She had a great time snorkeling isolated anchorages, exploring the cities, baffling the locals with her garbled grammar, and swapping sea stories with other cruisers. Needless to say, Emily highly recommends cruising in Mexico. Upon returning to the states with a great tan and a mild addiction to churros and avocados, she started working as an instructor for Tradewinds to share what she’s learned with others, so they can go have their own great sailing adventures.
Chuck has a BSME & ME and retired as a Chief of Special Projects for the State of California Water Resource Board. He started sailing in 1970 on a Catalina 22 and then joined the Tradewinds sailing club in 1981. He bought a Hunter 35.5 in 1989, which he placed in our club. He then really got the sailing bug and sailed his 35.5 to Hawaii in 4 Pacific Cup races. He was commodore of the Pacific Cup Yacht Club in 1995-96. He has cruised widely in the Caribbean and the San Juans. Chuck has been teaching sailing since 1988. He is fond of saying "You never take your troubles from the dock".
Kelli joined Tradewinds as a BKB student in November 2002. She completed ASA courses through Bareboat with Tradewinds Sailing School and took ASA Advanced Coastal Cruising in the Carribean. Kelli skippered one of the flotilla boats on Tradewinds' Greece trip in 2004. Kelli and husband Mike own a Beneteau 40CC and lease the Catalina 270 WindFall to the Tradewinds Club. Kelli has skippered boats in Greece and the Virgin Islands. Kelli's ASA instructor qualifications including Bare Boat Charter and Coastal Navigation. Kelli is ASA-certified to instruct Basic Keelboat, Basic Coastal Cruising, and Coastal Navigation. Kelli grew up waterskiing on Folsom Lake and continues "powered" watersports on Trinity Lake in Northern California. Kelli was a horseback riding instructor for many years and taught technical writing for 3 years. Kelli earned her private pilots license at 19 years old. Prior to sailing instruction, Kelli was a technical writing manger for various software companies and now does freelance technical and professional writing and website design work.
Bio coming...
Bob Kimble is a retired high school and college teacher, having taught math, science (Physics and Astronomy) and photography. Bob began his love of the water with a Berkeley Sea Scout ship. From there he progressed to surfing, white water kayaking, rafting and sailing. Bob has sailed and raced Hobie cats for 20 yrs, and over the last several years has progressed to sailing larger boats, including big catamarans in Tahiti and the Caribbean. Bob still enjoys sailing SF bay, and loves to share his passion for sailing with new students.
Tony holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Pomona College and a Master's in Religion from Yale University. He is also a musician who began performing professionally at the age of 12 and has occupied the drum stool on the road or in the studio for such artists as Maria Muldaur, Jr. Walker and the All-Stars, Mary Wells, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Hoyt Axton, and Dave "Six Days On The Road" Dudley. His songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Asleep at the Wheel, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody, Hoyt Axton, and Bette Midler, who sang his song, "Midnight in Memphis" on the soundtrack of the movie, "The Rose." After retiring from the road in the early nineties, he concentrated his energies on his business (a cassette and CD duplication facility) and teaching philosophy at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. He also learned to sail at Tradewinds, joined the club, and later began teaching BKB and BCC. In the early nineties he sailed to Hawaii with fellow tradewinds instructor Ted Stuart, and in the Carribean with former Tradewinds partner and teacher Bob Miller. In 1994, he purchased 1972 Ericson 39 IOR sloop Maverick, preparing her for a lengthy voyage. On March 17, 2001, he and crew Terry Shrode set sail for the South Pacific, making their first landfall in the Marquesas 27 days later. The circumnavigation was completed when the pair sailed back under the Golden Gate Bridge on June 7, 2003. Their adventure was often featured in the pages of Latitude 38, and details and photos of the trip can be found at www.ussmaverick.net.
Ian has a BS in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Administration from Witwatersrand Technikon and York University respectively. Ian has also been active as a leader in youth movements and is an officer in the Israel Defense Force reserves. He has actively taught in a number of settings including the military, academic and business worlds. Ian is also a former Tradewinds student and remains a current member of the Tradewinds Sailing Club. Ian started sailing on a Laser 2 that he raced on inland lakes and offshore in South Africa. He then bought and sailed a Hobie 14 before moving on to keelboats. Ian is a certified diver and has sailed off South Africa, on the Great Lakes, in the Mediterranean off Israel, Greece and Croatia.
EJ’s day-job is as an environmental consultant for IEC Corporation in Sacramento. He’s an expert in water quality and wildlife biology. EJ has been sailing for more years than he will admit, in the San Francisco Bay Area, some coastal passages, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Tahiti, Baja and one memorable race in Hong Kong. His experience ranges from windsurfers to helming the 110-foot square rigged "Jacqueline", calling tactics on an Express 37, and driving the 90-ton paddlewheeler "Spirit of Sacramento." He is one of our most popular (and most demanding) instructors, so “when you come to Bareboat, better come prepared!” He has been teaching for Tradewinds since 1980.
Sailing was something that I had thoughts of doing for many years but never got around to until moving to San Rafael in 1996. I had owned ski boats for many years and the San Joaquin Valley was great for that, but sailing seemed to be the ultimate way to enjoy being on the water and the Bay one of the best places in the world to sail. I looked at boats for a while and almost bought one, but since I had never sailed before I think I made the lucky and right decision to take lessons at Tradewinds. I was an engineer with PG&E until retirement in 1998, and then I really got a lot of time on the Bay in all kinds of conditions and with many interesting people. I’ve sailed on Lake Erie, in the Greek Islands with a side trip to Turkey, and most recently in Holland on some of the prettiest, but most congested lakes and waterways you could imagine. Sailing the Bay is still the best, with any conditions and challenges you could want and also great views and places to go along with the sailing.
Mike simply likes being on the water. Whether it's hearing the gurgle of the water on the hull while sailing across the Bay in light winds, racing in brisk winds with the rail in the water, fishing, or even, yes, cruising in a stinkpot, he enjoys the feeling of freedom and the nearness of nature that happens on the water. He has sailed much of the US coasts, the Caribbean, the Aegean, the Adriatic and cruised much of the Inside Passage from Seattle to Alaska. He has introduced hundreds of people to sailing since he started teaching and gets a kick out of watching people who are new to sailing learn and get excited about the same things he likes about the sport. He is certified to teach by both the American Sailing Association and US Sailing, and he has his Coast Guard license.
Except for one summer, when a student job landed him on Nantucket Island off the coast of Cape Cod, Larry Myers has spent his entire life within twenty miles of the Pacific Ocean. All of his recreational passions—sailing, skiing, fishing—are water-based and it’s no surprise that another of his passions (teaching) finds expression in sailing instruction at Tradewinds. Larry is ASA-certified to instruct through Bareboat Charter and Coastal Navigation. His students find him to be perceptive, patient with beginners, and deft in his use of humor to illustrate a teaching point. Larry’s sure-handed instructional style defuses apprehension and fear so that real learning can occur. He divides his sailing time between teaching at Tradewinds and doublehanding a Santa Cruz 27 in OYRA ocean races. His sailing resume also includes crewing a yacht delivery, exploring the San Juan Islands in Washington and Desolation Sound in British Columbia, and skippering a 10-day island-hopping charter in the Aegean Sea.
Ken Neely began his career on the water in the 1990’s as a commercial fisherman in Alaska and spent six summers plying the waters near Kodiak Island. During that time, a friend introduced him to sailing. Ken was immediately hooked! After only a few days on a sailboat, he decided to pursue a long-term cruising goal, and set out to learn how to sail. Ken has been with Tradewinds since 2006, and aside from teaching sailing, he is also an analytical chemist in charge of a water testing laboratory in Grass Valley, California. Ken charters internationally once or twice a year, and is currently searching for a blue-water cruiser to take he and his wife to Hawaii and Alaska for a six month shakedown.
Ed joined Tradewinds in 1984, and learned to sail at Folsom Lake and on the Bay. After 6 years in our sailing club, he bought a Hunter 28, and went gunk-holing around the Bay and Delta. He earned his USCG 50-ton license, and has chartered extensively in the Virgin Islands, Grenada, Tonga and Mexico. Ed then bought a Pacific Seacraft 34, sold his land anchor and moved aboard! For Ed, who was introduced to sailing through Tradewinds nearly 20 years ago, the dream and the adventure continues...
Steve first learned to lake sail dinghies and small boats after completing college and living on the East Coast. After moving to California in the seventies, he began crewing on various size racing boats before buying his first boat, an Ericson 35. Steve continued to race on other boats while sailing his own boats on the Bay and cruising up and down the West Coast. Although he gave up racing many years ago, he still has many fond memories, including a first place finish in the double-handed Farallons race. Then, after nearly three decades on the water, kids and other family obligations curtailed Steve’s sailing adventures until he joined Tradewinds in 2003. He soon received his ASA Advanced Coastal Cruising certification and has been actively sailing our boats on the Bay and offshore. Steve also holds a US Coast Guard Masters license. Steve
has taught skiing and martial arts and enjoys sharing his knowledge and love
of sailing with others. Steve works as a construction manager building water
treatment plants throughout California and plans to continue teaching and working
in the marine industry after retirement. Jerry came to sailing from a background in aviation. He is a commercial pilot and operated his own skydiving school in Texas for several years. In the late 1980’s, he moved to the Sacramento area. At the end of 2004, he retired as Director of the Placer County Department of Museums. Jerry learned to sail Lasers and Hobie Cats on Sacramento’s Lake Natomas
while attending CSUS. After years of sailing on other people’s boats,
he and his wife joined Tradewinds in 2001. They now own Sea Story, a Pearson
39 that sails out of Marina Bay. Jerry is a PADI certified diver, and his sailing
experience includes the San Juans, the Great Lakes, the Spanish Balearics,
Tahiti, Croatia and the Pacific coast from Seattle to Puerta Vallarta.
Ted graduated with a BS and an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia and University of Southern California respectively. He retired after 33 years as an engineer with the United States Forest Service. Ted began sailing as a teenager on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, and has sailed his own boats on lakes in Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as on San Francisco Bay. He has also chartered sailboats in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. In 1995, Ted sailed his boat "September Song" to Hawaii and British Columbia, Canada, and spent 3 years cruising Mexico with his wife Pat. He raced his boat in the 1996 Baja Ha Ha, taking first, and has crewed in the 1999 Ha Ha, as well as the 2000 and 2001 Banderas Bay regattas. Ted joined Tradewinds in 1991, and has been teaching at Tradewinds since 1996.
Bob has a MS in HR/Training Systems and BA in English/minor in US History. He is an instructor and course writer for a software company. He has been a teacher of some kind for over 20 years, including military ordnance school, college history and English classes, and corporate training. Teaching sailing classes lets him combine his occupation and his passion. Bob lives in Marin county, where he sails his Cal 27 "Kestrel" out of San Rafael, bareboats a lot, and crews on several racing boats on the bay and ocean. For more, visit http://bobwalden.com/sailing.
Sailing captivated Marianne when she came to San Francisco some years back. Growing up in the Bavarian Alps, she had never given boats much thought before. But, from the moment she saw the blue Bay speckled with white sails, she couldn't forget about them. Soon, she sailed the Bay, much of the West Coast and around the Hawaiian Islands. After helping deliver a MacGregor 65 across the Atlantic to the Med, she found herself being blown across the oceans aboard a Cal 40 on a whirlwind circumnavigation. Small wonder the salt wouldn’t shake off after that and she became a Tradewinds instructor in 2002. Since then, she has enjoyed lots of day sails on San Francisco Bay with her students and made many friends on Tradewinds charters to Mexico, enchanting Tahiti, the Caribbean, the Greek Islands and Turkey’s beautiful Turquoise Coast. In cooler regions, she has sailed the rugged North West and crunched ice in Alaska, negotiating calving glaciers and floating icebergs. She crews on ocean races with Tradewinds members on the 65ft ULDB Barking Spider 3 and has participated in Transpac, Los Angeles to Honolulu, and Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta races. Marianne has her Coast Guard license and ASA instructor qualifications including Bare Boat Charter and Coastal Navigation. She invites you to join her at Tradewinds and looks forward to helping you reach your own sailing goals. Marianne is also an accomplished Tahitian dancer.
Charlie, who has an M.A. in vocal rehabilitation, has been teaching sailing
at Tradewinds since 1974. He taught sailing at Michigan State before coming
to California. He was a therapist at U.C. Davis and is now involved in Hospital
Management in Sacramento. He has sailed the Caribbean, most of the East Coast,
the Great Lakes, most of the West Coast and Tahiti. He has skippered the Mathew
McKinley and the Spirit of Sacramento. Charlie does Tradewinds' Folsom Lake
instruction and checkouts.
After many years of wondering, Bill has determined what he’s going to do when he grows up. Bill took an early retirement, after 37 years with JCPenney Catalog, to follow his dream of driving boats for a living. He has earned his 100 Ton Master’s License with an Unlimited Radar Endorsement, Sailing Endorsement and Towing Endorsement; as well as American Sailing Association instructor ratings including Basic Keel Boat, Basic Coastal Cruising, Bare Boat Chartering, Coastal Navigation, and Advanced Coastal Cruising. Bill joined Tradewinds Sailing School approximately 3 years ago and as he stated “is proud to have his name associated with the quality of service provided by Tradewinds”. When Bill introduces himself to a new class, he includes the following; “I enjoy meeting and working with new students regardless of their sailing skill levels. I enjoy watching a group of people that do not know each other develop into a sailing team. “Bill further states, “that he does not stress the boats or the students but builds their knowledge, skills and confidence while instilling safety and fun on the water”. Bill truly enjoys teaching. When Bill is not working for Tradewinds Sailing School, he drives 96 Ton passenger vessels on San Francisco Bay, has worked for a vessel towing company, is the skipper for a Napa winery, works with insurance companies teaching clients how to operate their large power and sailing yachts, skippers for a yacht broker, delivers yachts on the west and east coasts and has skippered sailing vessels for the American Sailing Association in Antigua. In his spare time, Bill and his wife Sue, enjoy chartering in various locations in the US and Caribbean or just relaxing on their sailboat out of Vallejo. Bill boasts that his first boating experience was when his parents took him out fishing in the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel was an open run about and he was in a basinet. Of course he was too young to remember that trip but he does remember many fishing and sightseeing trips in the Atlantic and ICW and working shrimp boats during summer vacations while going to high school. He does have other interests besides boating and they include; his wife of 42 years – Sue, kids, grandkids, running 100 mile foot races, commercial pilot, photography, and skiing. He is also a member of the USCG Auxiliary and former member of the Civil Air Patrol. Bill is a former student of Tradewinds Sailing School and had EJ Koford as an instructor. EJ is still instructing with Tradewinds. If you happen to get Bill as an instructor you might convince him to tell you about his adventures on the high seas.
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| Copyright 2008 Tradewinds Sailing School and Club on San Francisco Bay, Design by Tangella Corporation | |||||
| Last modified on: Tuesday April 29 2008 | |||||
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Craig Walker
Lance
Batten
Steve Damm
Emily Dean 
Chuck Farrell
Kelli Gant 
James Gotesky 
Bob Kimble
Tony
Johnson
Ian Joseph
E.J. Koford
Tony Medunic 
Mike Morrow 
Larry Myers 
Ken Neely
Ed
Polkenhorn
Steve Rosenblum 
Jerry Rouillard
Ted Stuart
Bob Walden
Marianne Wheeler
Charlie Wilson
Bill Yawn