Announcement

I have just accepted a position as the head sailing coach at Bowdoin College. 

I'm delighted.  They have a great facility, motivated students, and strong support from the athletic department at the school.  The program is poised to move to the next level; it will be great fun to be part of this next stage.   For me, it's ideal.  It's a part time position with benefits that will give me a platform and stability from which to develop my writing.  And, alongside writing, my constant lifelong passion has been studying and communicating the ways to make good sailors perform better.  The opportunity to do both at once feels like a gift. 

It means I'll be very busy from late August to late October, and from March through May.  I'll have mornings to write, and my afternoons will be spent running practices, fixing boats, and giving chalk talks.  I'll be spending most weekends through late October in Boston.   

Comments

[Dreadmouse]

Congratulations! That sounds like a wonderful fit for you.

You should see "Wedding Crashers." Lots of sailing. One of the wedding crashers says (quite accurately) about some ultra-rish, ultra-WASPy, ultra-snobby elitists: "Sailing is like sex for these people." Then the bride and groom exchange extra-corny sailing-themed wedding vows, like "I'll be your first mate" etc. (They're so typical and corny that the bride's sister is cracking up out loud during the wedding). Quite hysterically funny, especially for those of us who know how accurate this portrayal really is!!!

[pjm]

Beautiful.

Where do they sail from?

[ogged]

Congratulations.

Congratulations!

[Hondo]

Congratulations! It sounds great. Now if I would only get my scuba instructor's certification we'd have topside and below the waves covered.

[Yeoman]

I'm jealous, congratulations!

[matt]

!! C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!

you will do very well (and work your butt off). it's a good tack.

[a]

Sounds like a wonderful opportunity - one that will allow you do combine both the things you love and the things at which you excel.

And I'm sure you are well aware that the role of Coach for a team, particularly of college-aged athletes, is not only to help make better sailors, but through that to help each become better in herself. And those Bowdoin students are lucky, indeed.

[rebecca]

That news made my day. you've been in my thoughts a lot as i embark on my legal career, and try to be honest with myself as to whether or not I'll be happy. I think a huge piece of the puzzle is simply faith - trusting that if you're open and allow your life to happen rather than trying to control it at every turn, you end up with opportunities you never considered, and which allow you to be true to yourself. Your sailing position sounds like one of those opportunities and I'm really happy for you.

[Nolan Winthrop]

Congratulations.

[Bill Altreuter]

What a great fit. That's terrific-- and it means that you'll be writing more about sailing, which I always enjoy.

[Emily]

That's terrific, congratulatoins. Lucky young sailors those Bowdoin kids!

[Tillerman]

Up to now I've read your blog because of 3 points of contact with my life - sailing, law (son #1 is at law school) and Yale (son #2 is about to start at Yale).

The news about your job at Bowdoin makes your blog even more of a must read because (a) I coach young sailors too and (b) son #1 was actually offered the assistant coach job there a few years back. In the end he had to turn it down to finish his degree but in many ways it was his dream job.

I await your news with interest. Congratulations.

[Richard]

Sounds like a perfect marriage of aptitudes and aspirations.

[Nicole]

Great news! I've been sailng but never part of the crew. Your posts make me wish I could be part of that.

[ObsessiveLawStudent]

Congratulations!

[Fred]

Congrats! I hope this gives you the stability you need to persue all your hopes and dreams. It is nice when you can find something that will pay you to do what you love. We should all be so fortunate!

[JCA]

Does this mean you're abandoning your solo practice??

[PG]

Very cool, and the Bowdoin sailors are so lucky to have you. You're not the only JD with a coaching job; a player on the national championship-winning lacrosse team when I started at UVA also went to law school here and now is going to be the full-time assistant coach.

Mazoltov.

Now learn from the mistakes of another attorney who turned college athletic coach (no, not me, Neuheisel, the form UofW football coach) - no gambling.

[Gil Friend]

Congratulations. How perfect!
Have an absolutely wonderful time!