I've been looking at some Power Squadron courses and some first aid courses.  Morgan's Cloud recommends the Red Cross' remote first aid class.  I'm going to look into these further.

I'd love to try to rent a little cabin sailer on Lake Dillon for a night or 2 this summer and get the whole gang out there. Messing About in Boats talks about renting a Catalina 22 from the Dillon Marina.  They only mention rentals up to 4 hours.  Maybe that's good enough for our girls' first time...

I also started reading The Cost Conscious Cruiser a little online.  It looks like a really neat book.

I've been seeing a lot of people, the Pardeys included, talking about just getting out there in something sea-worthy as quickly and cheaply and with as little frills as possible.  I wonder if they're really on to something.  No freezer; no watermaker; no generator?  Sounds a little nuts, but they certainly have a point that the longer you wait to be able to afford all that stuff, the longer you're putting off freedom from the work-a-day lifestyle you're presumably intending to leave behind.

This would be awesome.