Sun baked

I slept in till about 9:15 and it felt amazing.  It was warm in Aequitas' cabin and although my alarm went off at the usual 7:15 I felt completely vindicated in choosing not to leave my berth.  I went and helped put up the mast on the Sea Scouts' Merit 25.  It went off without a hitch.  We only had four people there to help, and after the spinnaker pole was rigged as a lever arm I cranked on the winch and the mast popped up light as a feather.  I can only hope that with practice and the right length shrouds my own mast will go up as easily.  I still need to measure to make sure the back stay and fore stay are the right length.

After the mast was up and the rigging was sufficiently tight my friend, Gavin, had to climb up the mast to re do some lines.  It's a good thing he has the upper body strength for it, because we didn't have a ladder around.

It's only after I spend a along time in the sun that I notice the crisping feeling on my face and back.  One odd place that I got burnt this time was the tops of my feet.  Quite painful when I have to wear shoes for most of what I do in life.  I can't wait to be bare footing it out in warmer climates.
After the mast project I relaxed in my cabin reading some more of Jessica Watson's book : True Spirit.   It's a good read; very inspirational for someone like me.  I invited my older sister to bring her kids down to the marina for a ride in my new dinghy.  Noah was initially scared, but once he got aboard it was hard to get him back on dry land.  I loved seeing them scrambling all over Aequitas just as natural as anything.  Every now and again one of them would let loose some pirate jargon and threaten to make the other walk the plank.

I also decided to see how easily I could row all around the harbor.  I got over to the yacht club and saw my friend, Bailey, teaching sailing lessons to little kids in Opti sailboats.

It's crazy to see such young kids sailing on their own, but I'm sure I'll want my own kids to be comfortable on the water.  The way I see it, as long as it doesn't make you complacent then the more comfortable you are in a situation, the less dangerous it becomes.

First sail of the season

Happy Memorial Day!  Well, that was yesterday, but it was a good one.  The weather could not have been more perfect yesterday. 12-15 knot winds for most of the day blowing warm, moist air up from the Gulf of Mexico.  The sun was shining, and the air was hot.  As soon as work was over I rushed to the Marina and hopped aboard Aequitas to change clothes.  In the slip right next to mine there is a nice couple (and their dog) that live aboard an O'Day 30 on the weekends.  She looks to be a pretty nice vessel.  I met them last week and they said I was welcome to join them anytime I wanted to go out on the water.  I at first thought it was just a nice gesture, but as I was walking down the dock one of them met me and asked where I was all day.  Apparently they had gone out for a sail and the fog had fallen on them with a vengeance and they could have used an extra hand to get back into the harbor.  I was surprised that she even remembered my name (because I must confess that I cannot remember hers for the life of me). 
My friend, Sarah, was in town for the weekend; so we got together to go sailing.  Luckily the Sea Scout's Flying Junior sailboats (14' college racing dinghies) were rigged and ready to go.  We grabbed the essentials: life jackets, sails, rudder, tiller, paddle; out of the locker and got going as quickly as possible.  We were out on the water for about 2 hours.....Amazing!  It almost surprises me every time when I remember how in love with sailing I am.  It's nice to feel like there is something in this life that I was born to do.  The raw power of the wind being harnessed by contoured slabs of fabric.  It's rewarding to be able to utilize and in some ways control two of earth's most powerful elements: wind and water.

I, for the most part, stayed dry while Sarah got a good deal of spray as we pounded over 1-2 foot waves.  I'll have to take more pictures next time so you can all see what Sheboygan looks like from outside of the harbor.  Until then, thanks for reading.  Feel free to leave comments below, or ask questions.  Thanks!