img9164Reno, Nevada: The dry and dusty sage of the Great Basin Desert will host one of the wildest open water related events of the spring when four of the world's best known cruisers come to Reno, Nevada to get would-be cruisers in the proper frame of mind for their own ocean adventure while benefiting the Sierra Nevada Community Sailing's youth sailing program.

Bob Bitchin, Jody Lipkin, and Lin and Larry Pardey bring their tales and talents to Reno's Siena Hotel Spa and Casino on Saturday, April 10. The Pardeys, certainly the world's most published and experienced cruising couple, will host a daylong seminar on Priorities for Confident Cruising. In the evening, it's drinks, dinner and sea stories with Bitchin, the legendary cruiser/publisher; founder and publisher of Latitudes and Attitudes cruising magazine.

The Pardey's seminar teaches how get the most out of a cruising experience and from the cruising dollar. This daylong program prepares crew and skipper for the challenges of realworld cruising. The Pardeys teach general boat preparation and successful advance planning for everything from flat calms to storm management. They will also help participants learn to choose an affordable boat or upgrade the boat they have for an extended, safe and comfortable cruise.

Lin and Larry work together during the morning session; in the afternoon the group is divided in half. Larry covers gear maintenance, provides tips for better engine service, rigging, spares, tools and upgrades, and respond to questions. Lin discusses cruising paperwork and financial planning, providing ideas for saving money once you are underway and making it easier to enter and exit foreign ports and jurisdictions.

Respected, genuinely funny and sometimes known to be irreverent, Bob Bitchin and Jody Lipkin bring stories of their cruising life together, and their great sense of joy and irony to the evening's fundraising dinner, capping off a day of fun and learning.

"Bob and Jody, like Lin and Larry, are living proof that you can live your dream, if you are willing to do the work and keep up your sense of humor and sense of adventure," Roger Jones of Sierra Nevada Community Sailing said.

Tickets for the seminar (including lunch) are $62.50 per person. Tickets for the dinner and party with Bob Bitchin are $85 per individual or $80 per person for groups of two or more. Tables of ten may be reserved for $75 per person ($750). Portions of the prices are donations and may be tax deductible. For those wishing to attend both activities, the prices are $130 per individual, $120 per person for groups of two or more, or $110 for tables of ten ($1100). The seminar is limited to 125 persons.

Sierra Nevada Community Sailing is the first and only nonprofit community sailing organization in the Truckee Meadows. Nicknamed the "Sagebrush Sailing Academy," the program is dedicated to teaching all levels of sailing to everyone in northern Nevada who wants to learn. Now entering its third year, the program is looking for members and volunteers interested in learning how to sail, teaching others to sail, or supporting the club through other activities such as boatbuilding and maintenance.

To register contact Roger Jones at [email protected], (775) 852-2320 or see www.nvsailing.org