I Sail, I Sail

Please excuse the delay, my "borrowed" internet connection was temporarily unavailable so I had to wait. Though I must say, it has been very revealing. I had no idea you all were so desperate for entertainment that you have sunk to the level of clamoring for me to post. :) However I digress.

Sunday started just like any other Sunday with me rushing around mismanaging the time before I had to leave for church. The grey, overcast, and chilly morning was not a favorable portent to the coming day. However my expectations were all thrown head over heels in the space of just a few seconds. While waiting for the main meeting to start, my brother's boss walked up to me and asked, "If the weather clears up, would you be interested in going sailing this afternoon?" I simply laughed it off right then because there seemed no way the weather was going to break. However, as I sat through the meeting helping watch over my cousins, the idea grew and soon filled my thoughts with promises of new and exciting adventure!
Afterward, before we went our separate ways, I approached (let's just call him E.) E. and told him that if he were serious, and if the skies cleared, I would be more than happy to join him on his vessel. Before I even arrived home, I received the call telling me plans were proceeding full steam ahead.

The sailing party ending up being composed of four men. E- the captain, Steve- the steersman, Frank- the fisherman, and myself- the navigator. Yes, I was given the awefull (please don't think I misspelled that) task of making sure that we didn't sail into any rocks hidden below the murky depths of the ocean water. As well as try to keep us roughly pointing toward our goal. From the moment we started out I knew it was going to be a great trip. Motoring out of the harbour, into the bay, wasn't too much different from trips I'd taken with others, but then we reached the sea and unfurled the sails. I probably should say here that that was the first I've ever been on a boat of that size, and pretty much the first being out on the ocean in a boat. What a thrill! Up and down, riding up a crest, slipping down into the trough, and then crashing through the next oncoming swell. As long as we were going against the waves all was fine, but then the trip took a slight turn for the worse. The captain decided to make for a known shoal where the fisherman could employ his skills. However we had to make a course adjustment to get there and that adjustment put us parallel to the waves. Now instead of going up and down, we were going up, down, and side to side. As I was trying desperately to let the pilot know where he needed to go (much easier said than done, as the G.P.S. varied every time we were rolled by a wave) I had to repeatedly look up and gulp in lungfulls of air to keep from getting too queasy. After fighting bravely against the wind and the waves Captain E. decided in the interest of time that we should turn back and choose another destination.

Once we turned around things went much smoother. Even though my stomach was knotted up pretty tight, I thought it would be fine since it wasn't queasy. Unfortunately I was wrong. After offering my lunch to Poseidon I felt much better. Lest you all think me weak, let me hasten to inform you that a) there was a small vessel advisory on warning people not to go out, and b) it wasn't smooth calm waters. Listening to the coast guard report we heard them say 6-7 foot swells. Seeing the sea meet the sky for more than 180 degrees of the horizon made me wonder about the people who sailed across the Atlantic and what they had to go through back in the day. I regetted that I had never had the opportunity to go on the Coronet when she still went out on trips. On the way back I had the pleasure of experiencing 'tacking'. There wasn't much to set it apart from sailing in a straight line, but following our trail on the G.P.S. and seeing the boat actually making the manuevers brought the theoretical to reality. Finally we made it back into protected waters where we motored to a quiet, shallow spot and had a spot of dinner. The day was finished off with fishing, napping, and relaxing on board. At last with night fast overtaking evening we motored back to the marina, battened down the hatches, and generally made the boat ship-shape before heading home. A little chilled, but none the worse for wear thankfull for the experience.

Now I realize that this may not have been the great news you all were hoping for, but I have had a very slow last couple of weeks, so you'll excuse me if I used hooks to large for the bait, but every now and then I enjoy seeing what, or who, I can catch. To make up for it though here is some news I recieved while in the middle of writing this. I was just invited to be a groomsman. There, if one of these two events doesn't warrant the build up not much else will.