Sarah Herbelin
On Board Since March 1997
OCSC: Why do you sail?
SH:I enjoy it. It's been a way of relaxing throughout my life and I love sharing it with others.
OCSC: What do you enjoy about working at OCSC?
SH:The people are amazing- fellow instructors, the staff, the students. It's hard to find another job that is as rewarding.
OCSC: What's your sailing background?
SH: Started on Humboldt Bay at the age of 8 or 9. Took sailing lessons in college up in Portland and sailed on the Willamette River, even joined the sailing team for a bit. Sailed on the Charles River in Boston in grad school when things got too stressful in the tiny Tech Dinghys. Then started teaching for OCSC in 97. Later spent 6 years living primarily on sailboats- from 134' schooners in the Caribbean teaching oceanography and practicing celestial with Sea Education Association to 26' rowing and sailing vessels with 1790s technology up in the San Juan Islands of WA and into the Gulf Islands of Canada with Outward Bound then up into Desolation Sound, BC and down to the Sea of Cortez, Mexico teaching for NOLS. I now run the boating programs for the City of Oakland's Office of Parks and Recreation. But I can't stay away from OCSC and San Francisco Bay!
OCSC: When you're not sailing, what can we find you doing?
SH: Directing the boating programs for the City of Oakland's Office of Parks and Recreation down on Lake Merritt!
OCSC: What are your top five sailing books of all time?
SH: Men Aganist The Sea, Shackleton's Boat Journey, Endurance, Tuning the Rig, Swallows and Amazons