You might be wondering what these things have in common. Well, Mixte for one. As you may have noticed by this point, we aren’t big on doing things with an average spin. Our holiday party was no exception.
Rather than mark the holidays with an evening celebration in a fancy hotel ballroom or gourmet restaurant (which we know is fun, too), the Mixte team took to the seas in a mid-Monday sail brimming with quality bonding and noshing time.
And, yep, you guessed it—this was no ordinary sail. For one, not one of the Mixte team knows what to do with a sailboat—at all. Zilch. Nada. Zip.
That would have been a problem but for the fact that Ocean Beach-born gold-medal-winning Olympic sailor and San Diego Coastkeeper board member Mark Reynolds lent us his seafaring skills and vintage vessel to make this a holiday soiree for the books.
The scene: High noon and meeting at the San Diego Yacht Club, the only things we knew were that we had the afternoon to relax and that our resident gold medalist would keep us from shipwreck. A great start in our minds.
The Skylark, built locally by the Kettenberg Boat Company in 1939, awaited and she was a beauty. Serving as her crew, we readied her for our voyage to sea. As we pushed back from the dock and set sail 25 or so minutes later, we were feeling happy with the prospects for the afternoon.
Ahoy, Mateys!
As the day unfolded, we each took turns at the sails, and some of us even steered the ship. Point Loma’s shoreline, the downtown skyline and North Island were all center stage at points in our journey as we enjoyed tales of Olympic glory, talk of holiday plans, pets and other tidbits while nibbling on delicacies from Barons Market.
Sound too everyday sailing to be Mixte? You’re right. It bears mentioning that we were on a sailboat without a motor, on an unusually un-windy day. We floated, unmoving, between North Island and Cabrillo for a few minutes before realizing we were in the path of an aircraft carrier. Yep. An. Aircraft. Carrier. You know, just the cities of the sea.
Now, faced with this challenge, you might think that we would take a lead from the Olympian on board and remain calm, cool and collected. We did not. While Mark quickly worked through a solution with the grace and expertise you would expect, the Mixte team fluctuated between minor panic and manic joking.
It wasn’t much longer before we heard the sirens and, in quick succession, the warning over Naval security speakers. “You are in the path of a warship, please move beyond 500 feet of the vessel.” Well, the vessel was closing in faster than you would expect an object the size of Santee to move, we had no motor and only one oar. This had all the makings of what an old-timer might call a pickle.
Then, as if by some holiday-miracle, a small dinghy appeared to save the day. And, seriously, it was just in time. How would our holiday sail have ended had this sailor’s Santa not showed up with the gift of a tow?
We came ashore with smiles on our faces and a story or two to tell. After finalizing our crew duties by securing the boat, storing sails and scrubbing the decks (OK, more like hosing, but it doesn’t sound as pirate-y), we made our way to the Wine Pub, where owner and wine expert Sandy had a smorgasbord for us. A five-course extravaganza of food and fine wine. Could there have been a better cherry on our sundae than that?
Despite the minor snafu with national security implications, the day was, in a word, resplendent. It was also the perfect metaphor for what can happen when you cast off for new horizons as Mixte did this year with a rebrand, a new and improved team and the clients our dreams are made of.
Sailing isn’t always supposed to be smooth, but it is almost always fun. Just like our work, our clients and the community issues that fill our work days.
We are excited for our upcoming voyage through 2015, and thrilled to count you among our 2014-and-beyond blessings.
Happy Holidays and see you next year.
