Longer spring and summer days mean the time is perfect for evening sailing, and Monterey Bay Sailing offers Salinas-area residents discounts.

The specials run Wednesdays through Aug. 30 with a sailing lesson at $35 per person. That's half price. Trips start at 5:30 p.m. until sunset.

For reservations and details on location, prices, yacht rentals, reservations and more, call Monterey Bay Sailing at 372-7245 or go to www.montereysailing.com

All ages are welcome but accompaniment is suggested for children age 12 and younger.

The U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain and instructors provide, for example, a 4-hour beginning sailing and seamanship course and also American Sailing Association certified sailing classes.

By DAVE NORDSTRAND
The Salinas Californian

At age 34, Capt. Dutch Meyer sails into the sunset on a regular basis.

It's a part of his job he most enjoys.

"I have an incredible view from the office, but I also spend a lot of time on the bay," Meyer said.

Meyer is owner and resident captain - they call him "Dutch" - of Monterey Bay Sailing, a company based at the end of Wharf No. 1 in Monterey. Three other captains work for the company.

Customers pay to take sailing lessons or pleasure rides. They even get married at sea as did a couple from red rock Sedona, Ariz.

Marriages are possible because Meyer is also a priest and is licensed to perform marriages.

"We find God through the ocean," he said.

For the wedding, Capt. Dutch sprinkled rose petals about the boat.

The groom wore a black leather tux. The bride wore a white dress minus the train. After the ceremony, the two popped the cork on a bottle of iced champagne. Then, once the boat was again moored in Monterey, the newlyweds spent their wedding night aboard the craft.

Meyer, himself, did not grow up breathing salt sea air.

The son of a mechanical engineer, Meyer grew up in Louisville, Ky., which is a river town. When he was 12, though, he learned to dive while on a family trip to the Bahamas.

He started in the diving business, but for the last six years he's focused on building Monterey Bay Sailing.

The company offers a variety of services.

His customers can get a half-day introduction "to get their feet wet," the captain said. They learn docking, line-of-sight navigation, how to read the wind, a little about handling lines and other basics.

They can get a more extensive 2-day sailing class. Usually, classes run 2-to-4 students. More advanced instruction is available.

The company also has access to a 65-foot boat which can hold 35 passengers and to a power boat which holds 149 and which is often used to host corporate events.

Besides sunsets, there's always wildlife to see such as seabirds and abundant marine mammals.

In recent weeks, the captain spotted humpback whales breaching off Lovers Point and pods of orcas, their pointy dorsal fins slicing lethally through the blue bay.

He's sailed past leatherback turtles and 5-foot-long molas, huge sunfish-like creatures afloat near the surface.

"We've had blue whales 80 feet long swim under the boat," he said. "You could see them under the water."

The company offers sunset cruises and dinner cruises.

The latter consists of appetizers at sea, fish hot off the boat's grill, Caesar salad and French pastries.

Meyer, who is also finishing a law degree, said the ocean has proven to be "a tough gig."

He meant the wind and sun exposure day after day and the steadying of one's legs against the primal rocking.

Yet, going to sea has been a great adventure, too.

"The ocean is the most powerful force on the planet, so it's a constant challenge," he said.