Sheldon Coad has been a Cruising Skipper at CSC for 2 or 3 years now, being a modest guy, he doesn’t pay much attention to stuff like that. He is the tall, slender, gray haired, gentlemanly fellow often seen around CSC attending to all kinds of boat issues and generally making order out of disorder. Sheldon is retired now and CSC has enriched his life in myriad ways, so he is always happy to give back to the club by giving keelboat lessons, offering cruises around the Bay, as well as showing you how to repair winches and paint fences if needed.

When did you join CSC?

I joined in 2003, so I’ve been a member for about 10 ½ years now.

Have you been a member all that time or did the club kind of “grow on you”?

The whole time. I was a slow-rising student due to a shoulder injury. After getting my Junior in about 2 months, I was a Junior for several years and a Senior for a couple of years, until I got my Cruising Skipper rating. I learned to sail at CSC and learned more in 3 lessons than I did at one semester of a college P.E. sailing course. I was interested in sailing for a long time, but could never figure out how to do it. I was discouraged by the huge expense and time involved, until I found CSC. Some people buy a boat and then join CSC because it is such a good deal. We have the best price most likely in the world for all we offer. If people would only stick with it, CSC turns out some pretty good sailors and it doesn’t hurt that SF Bay is one of the premier sailing places in the world.