Hi Tina,
Welcome to CF and to sailing! The Women's Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay is probably a great place to start. It looks like their facebook page is more up to date than their website.
Learning to sail from other
women tends to be easier and there are many active
women sailors looking to encourage other women in the LA and OC areas.
Look into yacht clubs around Marina Del Rey. That's a great way to find
boats to crew on. I'm not too familiar with the clubs around MDR, but there is bound to be one that is a good fit for you.
Sea Gals of the Long Beach Sailing Foundation is another great place to start. A bit far for you, but a wonderful, welcoming organization for teaching women to sail. Well worthwhile. The woman who runs this is an excellent coach. And the sailing community is small, so I'm sure the Sea Gals know someone more local to you.
http://www.lbsailingfoundation.org/h...ent.cfm?CID=22
Look for opportunities to learn
racing - your sailing skills will improve much faster and it is fun, and skippers are always looking for crew.
LAYC has a fun and inexpensive community sailing program that is worth checking out.
In February every year, there is the Women's Sailing Convention. They have great workshops for beginner and intermediate sailors.
Lastly, women sailors in So
Cal tend to gather on Facebook. Women Who Sail is a great group there. If you are not already on Facebook, I recommend getting on it in order to
network and learn what's going on.
Get dialed in to the women's sailing community in So
Cal and you will find many opportunities to learn and sail. Enjoy!