Don Scheer
On Board Since September 1996
OCSC: Why do you sail?
DS: I love being on salt water, and I love the feel of driving a large sailboat, propelled by the wind, through the water under all conditions. As a professional engineer, I enjoy the technical challenges of the boat's systems,'tweaking it' for maximum performance in all weather conditions, and I also enjoy navigation.
OCSC: What do you enjoy about working at OCSC?
DS: The collegial, supportive work culture, and the continuing emphasis on learning. I enjoy the professionalism of the other instructors and staff. I've been here, working part-time, for about ten years now, and still enjoy the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with people new to the sport. It's like being a professor at the 'University of Sailing'!
OCSC: What's your sailing background?
DS: I first tried sailing in the 1950's, while a student at Cornell University. But it was in the mid-1970's that I bought the first of five boats I've owned on S.F. Bay and, self-taught, began to sail a lot. I've crewed on many race boats, as well as racing my own boat with both crew and single-handed. Experience includes coastal cruising and one passage from Hawaii. I try to get out on my Ericson 38 at least once a week I got my USCG license after retirement from a corporate executive job in 1996. Sailing is definitely more fun!
OCSC: When you're not sailing, what can we find you doing?
DS: Enjoying retirement with my wife, walking every day, doing remodel projets around our lovely home in Oakley, helping as an instructor/consultant in my son's business (Scheer Home Systems, Inc.), visiting with grandchildren, and travelling both domestic and overseas. My latest passion is visiting my grandaughter who has relocated to Hawaii.
OCSC: What are your top five sailing books of all time?
DS: American Practical Navigator (aka Bowditch), Heavy Weather Sailing, Dutton's Navigation and Piloting, Two Years Before the Mast, and Voyage by Sterling Hayden.