While this has been a super fun year for us it has been an especially ruff year for me when it comes to loosing friends. So far this year I have lost 4 good friends to various different causes from cancer to accidents.
Yesterday I just had to say good by to a co worker and friend who this coming October fourth would have been our twentieth year working together. Day in and day out we worked in the same office, shared stories, laughs, worked through issues, and became good friends through it all. I would usually hear him pull up outside the hanger walk through door on days that were suitable for riding his motorcycle to work and I would open the door so he could wheel it inside. This past Monday the weather was nice and I kept listening for him, but he just never showed up. About the time he would usually arrive I noticed a police Suburban racing around the corner. It was not till a couple of hours later we received a call to the office and I heard a distressed voice say "Oh my God!". Our friend and co worker never made it to work that morning because he had been in an accident with a semi tractor trailer just down the street about 3 blocks away, less than a mile from his house. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
It was just a few weeks ago that Cindy wrote in her blog entry how you never know how a phone call is going to change your life. Sometimes I wonder if she has the ability to predict the future as she was never more correct than Monday morning. It has been a crazy week at work trying to pick up the pieces and move on while trying to deal with the loss we are feeling. Yesterday at the funeral it was especially hard. I guess with the passing of each person I know I do a internal assessment of my own life and what if that was me.
Cindy and I truly do try and make the most out of every minute we have together. Till Cindy and I got together I was not in a situation that made me want to make the most of each minute. I just spent most of my time running and hiding from the problems I faced at home. That meant I spent a lot of time working. I was always doing something. Today work seems to be something that is harder and harder for me to get excited about. I enjoy my time with Cindy so much and we have so much fun together how can I be blamed for that. I still work hard and there are still many late nights at home that are spent working on projects but when the weekends come and I do not have to fly there is no where I would rather be than with the Cindy. She has opened my eyes to the importance of having fun and making memories, the good kind that you want to remember instead of the kind you hope you can eventually forget.
I can honestly say I never saw myself sailing on our own sailboat or having a jeep. I always wanted a boat and thought I would like a jeep, just never saw myself in a position of being with someone I could enjoy them with. Today we have one whole bay in our garage we call the toy box as it holds our jeep, kayaks, Patsy the paddleboard, fishing gear and such. We have skies stashed in the basement, pulks ready to haul our gear into a remote cabin in Michigan. While some people dread the end of summer and the coming winter we will be sad to see the sailing season come to an end but yet we are looking forward to evenings in front of our fireplace while we await the snow to start falling so we can go outside and play! Cindy says quite often how lucky we are to have fun things to do in all four seasons and that is so true.
Do you know what the what the significance of the number 86400 is to you? That is how many seconds you have to work with in each 24 hour day. I know people who are just miserable in their life and I feel so badly for them as I have been there myself. Each day that you continue down the same path of unhappiness and misery is another 86400 seconds of your life you just wasted and will never get back. While 86400 seems like a lot, just pause for a second and think how fast they pass you by. As I continue to age I feel as if the clock is speeding up and each second is passing me by faster than the previous one. Once they are gone they are gone forever and you have no idea of how many more you are going to get before your number is called.
I sincerely hope that as you read this you are finding yourself in a similar place in life as I am in today and you have a special someone to enjoy your life with you. That you are truly enjoying every second of it that you possibly can. If you are not, I hope the words I have shared with you make you stop, if just for a few seconds, and do a personal life assessment. Cindy and I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if everyone had something as special as what we share between us.
As I write this I am wishing I was somewhere else. Yes, with Cindy, doing anything but this. But instead I just landed and I am taking a few minutes before I go into the lab to develop film to finish this. I really hope my unlucky string of loosing friends is over for a long time. It is very saddening to scroll through my contact list and see the names of those who I have lost. I won't have to loose many more before the ones gone out number the ones who are not. I have always believed that in the end all we have left are our memories. Fortunately I still have a good memory and each time I scroll through my contact list in search of someone and I see the name of one of friends who has passed I always have a thought of them. I guess that might be why I have not removed there names. I miss them all and wish they were still with us but know that cannot be.
So instead of living in the past I chose to live for the future. Today I find myself doing something I thought I would never do. I am making plans for things to do not just today, and not just tomorrow, but I am making plans as far out as the summer of 2016 already! While that may not sound like something that far out there to some of you I just never thought I would do that. that I would ever be in a situation where I would even want to. But today I can't want for the next adventure and opportunity to make new memories.
I am going to go develop the film now then get out of here and go make the most of the rest of the 86400 seconds I have left in this day. Then tomorrow I am going to do the same! I hope everyone reading this can go do the same!!!
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Rainy night aboard.
8-16-2014
Sail #11
Even though the weather was not forecasted to be the best for Saturday my daughter wanted to go sail with us before she headed off to her freshman year at college. So we headed over to the boat mid afternoon to give it a try as she left the upcoming Thrusday. The weather was overcast but there was a breeze, not much, but enough to move the boat across the water.
We arrived and found our girl eager to get on the water again. Cindy and I got busy rigging the sails and getting everything loaded while Bre and her friend Olivia waited patiently. They decided to hop on board and check things out but I needed them to hop out so I could hook the trailer to the hitch. All I heard was a roar of laughter from my daughter as it seems Olivia slipped and busted her butt on her landing when she jumped down out of the boat. Gotta hate it when you miss a good wipeout!
After a quick potty break we headed to the ramp and had Cindy back her down into the water. After a few attempts I could sense Cindy's frustration building so we swapped places and I backed our girl down into the water. After a quick launch I motored over to the ramp to pick up the girls. Once everyone was on board it was time to go sailing!
I raised the sails once clear of the buoy field and in no time the motor was off and raised and we were sailing closed hauled in a nice lil breeze. After tacking at the opposite shore of the lake I got out my hand held GPS and checked our speed. We managed to hit 5 mph at one point which really surprised me as we did not have but maybe 5-7 mph of wind. After sailing for maybe 45 mins the weather was starting to look more like rain so we headed to a cove that was closer to the sailing association just in case we had to make a quick run for it. Once in the cove we got P2 out and inflated her. Bre hopped on her and away she went. Bre and I had paddled boarded in Lake Michigan on a business trip I took to Cheboygan WI back in 2011. I had never heard of SUP's till then and while we originally went in to shop to rent a kayak for the afternoon once we saw the SUP's we had to try it. I think we failed to hear the guy mention the lake water was chilly, like 54 degrees chilly. But we paddled around and had a ball with the board. So Bre had some experience with a SUP and she did fine. We tried our best to get Olivia to give it a go but it seems she has this aversion to swimming in lakes. Go figure.
While Bre was out paddling as I got dinner started. We had brought along a couple of nice rib eye steaks so once they were done we all dove in and made pigs of ourselves. For some reason food just taste better on a boat. Maybe it is the surroundings or just the thought that you cooked it on board your boat. Either way they were very tasty. As we ate dinner the skies began to darken so once we finished cleaning up dishes we headed back to the dock so Bre and Olivia could head home. They wanted to leave before dark anyway as it was Bre's first time there and she wanted to make sure she did not get lost in the dark. As we rounded the corner from the cove we were in it was apparent that the wind had started blowing. Go figure, time for the girls to head home and the wind picks up. We dropped the girls off at the dark and after a quick bathroom break Cindy and headed back out to sail some more.
The wind had picked up nicely and was blowing maybe 10-12 out of the west. We sailed back and forth across the lake several times as darkness encroached upon us. We were the only sailboat on the lake and with the exception of few bass boats heading back in for the day we had the lake to ourselves. It was great sailing and we were clipping right along. Too bad I did not think to get the GPS out then and see what our speed was. Cindy had me man the tiller while she assumed her happy place leaning back into me as we sailed along.
It was almost 9:30 and right on the edge of darkness when we made it into our favorite cove. I went forward and dropped the jib and we sailed in under main only. Cindy spun us around into the wind and I dropped anchor. I wanted back off the anchor and get some slope on the anchor rode in case we had to ride out some wind so we traded places so I could run the motor. I asked Cindy to hold tension on the anchor line till I started backing up then release the line so it could go out off the holder. Somewhere in those instructions something got crossed as when I start backing the boat up Cindy was trying to hold tension on the line instead of just letting it out. Next thing I know Cindy is laying on the bow with arms stretched out into the water trying to get the anchor line holder back! I stopped the boat and went forward to help and that was when I discovered she was trying to hold the line tight. I think there may have been a break down in communication. No harm done and she was able to recover the holder so all was good. We finished putting the boat to bed before getting our bed ready in the v birth. Note to self, next tie the halyards off to the pulpits as they started banging on the mast later in the night, which I found annoying. Cindy could barely hear it LOL.
Once we finished our chores we cuddled up in the v birth and watched a movie on our laptop. It rained off and on during the movie and we really enjoyed listening to the rain on the cabin top. It was very soothing and relaxing. Fortunately it was a nice temperature and there was a breeze blowing so we were cool and there were no bugs. Cindy has officially declared this the summer of the sweatshirt! Just this week we are having more seasonable temps but there has just been a few days this summer that I would call muggy. Normally we have more than you can count!
After the movie was over we popped our heads out to see what was going on. Now it was almost midnight and it was a steady drizzle so we were quite surprised to see two men on a bass boat fishing in the dark about a 150 feet north of our stern!!! Talk about diehards! Cindy had a very comical incident trying to do a prop check in the dark by using her paddle board that we had tied up to the stern. Needless to say she got a bit wetter than what she was hoping for and I got a great laugh. Not sure how far the guys on the bass boat could see into the darkness but they might have gotten a free show if they could see her.
We slept well with the rain pattering on the roof top that night. I woke up a time or two to adjust the hatch opening. Seems there is a crack in it that I will need to repair when paint her this winter. With the hatch up the water runs in the crack and then dripped on us. That was a bit annoying. Then about 6 am the next morning we had a good down pour and I discovered how we kept getting water in the cabin floor when it would rain. The fasteners for the pop top struts go through the top of the pop top from below which puts the nuts for them on the cabin top. I think they all leaked so that was added to the list of repairs. I was surprised how much water they let in. I got up and strategically place our dish washing totes to collect most of the water that was dripping down from the strut fasteners. I popped my head out to discover another fishing boat was within 75' of us, in the dark, in the rain! OMG, talk about nothing better to do! I crawled back into the v birth and cuddled up with my lil nuddling partner (nuddling is naked cuddling, it's the best!). It was almost ten before we finally emerged from the cabin to get our day started!
The rain had finally let up and the boat was starting to dry off a bit. I dropped the lifeline and just jumped in to get woke up. Wow! That will wake you up! Probably a good thing I did as the wind had died down during the night and the anchor line had gotten wrapped around the keel again. I got it freed and then gathered the access line and put it on the bow. I am starting to think that maybe we should use the white rope instead of the nylon woven rope. It seems to float where as the other line did not. I really like the convince of the nylon rope as it has it's own holder and you can shake it dry. The other line has to be rolled up and then hung out to dry before storing it away.
After I made us a couple of omelets for breakfast Cindy took off exploring on P2 while I fished off the boat with my spinning rod. Fish were jumping all around the boat so I was hopeful I might catch one or two. I did catch on lil stripper off the bow before I got a bit aggressive with my casting and forgot about the shroud lines. As I went forward on my cast I hooked the shroud! I managed to break the line and my lure hit the deck and bounced off into the water. Argh. Back to the cockpit to tie on another lure. I caught another stripper off the stern and shortly after releasing him I got to witness something really cool.
There is a eagle's nest along the south shore of where we anchor. I saw a large eagle launch from the nest tree and fly straight out to a point about 100 feet off of our stern. He made a tight right hand turn right towards our boat then just folded his wings back, dropped his head, and dove for the water. I am just standing there on the stern watching with my mouth hanging open as I love watching big birds! He dove down till he was about 2 feet above the water and all at once his wings popped out, his feet went down, and his head went up. There was a large splash followed by a lot of wing flapping and hitting the water but in no time he was back up in the air with what looked like a 8-10" bass flipping around in his talons!!! He struggled to fly a bit till his wings shed all the water off them then he made a right hand 270 degree turn and came right over the mast about 10 feet above it almost as if he was showing off his catch to me. He flew back to the south shore and landed in a dead tree to have his breakfast. I watched him eat his catch with our binoculars. Talk about something to see in real life. I had only seen an eagle fishing on tv before so I was really excited to get to see in real life and so close to me at the same time was awesome!
Not long after that it started raining again. I looked out across the water and Cindy was headed back paddling fast trying to get back before she got drenched. I raised the anchor to go get her but by the time I got everything put away and headed over to her she was almost to the boat. I helped her aboard then loaded P2 onto the deck on the port side between the shrouds and the cabin top. We headed back across the lake to the dock as radar showed more showers heading our way. As we crossed the lake Cindy told me all about the big fish she saw rooting around in the mud right along the shoreline. She was paddling her board a few feet off the shoreline when she saw mud swirling around up ahead of her. She carefully approached and saw a fish that started out as 2 feet long but has since grown to 3 feet long. Seems it is not just men who exaggerate the size of their fish! It was digging around in the mud till it saw Cindy on her board then took off like a rocket! Once back to dock we tied off in a slip and I suggested to Cindy that since there was hardly anyone around she should take Pearl and trailer over to the boat ramp and practice backing the trailer without the boat on it while I put P2 up and got the boat ready to put away. So she headed off and practiced backing for about 20 mins while I did my chores. I headed over with the boat to meet her which was a role reversal of sorts as Cindy had never been on the trailer with me bringing the boat in. I carried a little more speed to the trailer than Cindy typically does and was off just a bit with the keel from lining up with slot in the bunk boards. The keel hit the right inside bunk board and knocked it in a bit. I had been meaning to modify the trailer but with me usually being the one on trailer I had just dealt with the issues but now is the time to fix it. I had to get off the boat and onto the trailer so I could muscle her keel into the slot between the boards. As soon as time allows we will launch the boat then tie her in a slip and make the modifications to the bunk boards so that there is a better mechanism to guide the keel into the slot.
Since we had already taken the sails off the night before it did not take us long to get her all put up and get her ready to await out next sailing adventure. The cover I had made for the cockpit and the cabin top finally tore to the point it is time to make one out of real material instead of the Harbor Freight silver tarp. It worked well and we really liked having the top covered. We might have to make a whole top cover once we paint her but for now what we have will be fine. I am just waiting on the material to arrive so I can sew up the new cover.
On our way home Cindy told me how much better she felt about her ability to back the trailer now after getting to practice that morning. We really enjoyed our first rainy night aboard and the idea of bringing the laptop so we could watch movies was a hit! Too bad we were out of Jiffy pop as popcorn would have been nice. It was another wonderful adventure to add to long list of adventures we have already shared together and gave us many new ideas for future adventures yet to come!!!
Sail #11
Even though the weather was not forecasted to be the best for Saturday my daughter wanted to go sail with us before she headed off to her freshman year at college. So we headed over to the boat mid afternoon to give it a try as she left the upcoming Thrusday. The weather was overcast but there was a breeze, not much, but enough to move the boat across the water.
We arrived and found our girl eager to get on the water again. Cindy and I got busy rigging the sails and getting everything loaded while Bre and her friend Olivia waited patiently. They decided to hop on board and check things out but I needed them to hop out so I could hook the trailer to the hitch. All I heard was a roar of laughter from my daughter as it seems Olivia slipped and busted her butt on her landing when she jumped down out of the boat. Gotta hate it when you miss a good wipeout!
After a quick potty break we headed to the ramp and had Cindy back her down into the water. After a few attempts I could sense Cindy's frustration building so we swapped places and I backed our girl down into the water. After a quick launch I motored over to the ramp to pick up the girls. Once everyone was on board it was time to go sailing!
I raised the sails once clear of the buoy field and in no time the motor was off and raised and we were sailing closed hauled in a nice lil breeze. After tacking at the opposite shore of the lake I got out my hand held GPS and checked our speed. We managed to hit 5 mph at one point which really surprised me as we did not have but maybe 5-7 mph of wind. After sailing for maybe 45 mins the weather was starting to look more like rain so we headed to a cove that was closer to the sailing association just in case we had to make a quick run for it. Once in the cove we got P2 out and inflated her. Bre hopped on her and away she went. Bre and I had paddled boarded in Lake Michigan on a business trip I took to Cheboygan WI back in 2011. I had never heard of SUP's till then and while we originally went in to shop to rent a kayak for the afternoon once we saw the SUP's we had to try it. I think we failed to hear the guy mention the lake water was chilly, like 54 degrees chilly. But we paddled around and had a ball with the board. So Bre had some experience with a SUP and she did fine. We tried our best to get Olivia to give it a go but it seems she has this aversion to swimming in lakes. Go figure.
While Bre was out paddling as I got dinner started. We had brought along a couple of nice rib eye steaks so once they were done we all dove in and made pigs of ourselves. For some reason food just taste better on a boat. Maybe it is the surroundings or just the thought that you cooked it on board your boat. Either way they were very tasty. As we ate dinner the skies began to darken so once we finished cleaning up dishes we headed back to the dock so Bre and Olivia could head home. They wanted to leave before dark anyway as it was Bre's first time there and she wanted to make sure she did not get lost in the dark. As we rounded the corner from the cove we were in it was apparent that the wind had started blowing. Go figure, time for the girls to head home and the wind picks up. We dropped the girls off at the dark and after a quick bathroom break Cindy and headed back out to sail some more.
The wind had picked up nicely and was blowing maybe 10-12 out of the west. We sailed back and forth across the lake several times as darkness encroached upon us. We were the only sailboat on the lake and with the exception of few bass boats heading back in for the day we had the lake to ourselves. It was great sailing and we were clipping right along. Too bad I did not think to get the GPS out then and see what our speed was. Cindy had me man the tiller while she assumed her happy place leaning back into me as we sailed along.
It was almost 9:30 and right on the edge of darkness when we made it into our favorite cove. I went forward and dropped the jib and we sailed in under main only. Cindy spun us around into the wind and I dropped anchor. I wanted back off the anchor and get some slope on the anchor rode in case we had to ride out some wind so we traded places so I could run the motor. I asked Cindy to hold tension on the anchor line till I started backing up then release the line so it could go out off the holder. Somewhere in those instructions something got crossed as when I start backing the boat up Cindy was trying to hold tension on the line instead of just letting it out. Next thing I know Cindy is laying on the bow with arms stretched out into the water trying to get the anchor line holder back! I stopped the boat and went forward to help and that was when I discovered she was trying to hold the line tight. I think there may have been a break down in communication. No harm done and she was able to recover the holder so all was good. We finished putting the boat to bed before getting our bed ready in the v birth. Note to self, next tie the halyards off to the pulpits as they started banging on the mast later in the night, which I found annoying. Cindy could barely hear it LOL.
Once we finished our chores we cuddled up in the v birth and watched a movie on our laptop. It rained off and on during the movie and we really enjoyed listening to the rain on the cabin top. It was very soothing and relaxing. Fortunately it was a nice temperature and there was a breeze blowing so we were cool and there were no bugs. Cindy has officially declared this the summer of the sweatshirt! Just this week we are having more seasonable temps but there has just been a few days this summer that I would call muggy. Normally we have more than you can count!
After the movie was over we popped our heads out to see what was going on. Now it was almost midnight and it was a steady drizzle so we were quite surprised to see two men on a bass boat fishing in the dark about a 150 feet north of our stern!!! Talk about diehards! Cindy had a very comical incident trying to do a prop check in the dark by using her paddle board that we had tied up to the stern. Needless to say she got a bit wetter than what she was hoping for and I got a great laugh. Not sure how far the guys on the bass boat could see into the darkness but they might have gotten a free show if they could see her.
We slept well with the rain pattering on the roof top that night. I woke up a time or two to adjust the hatch opening. Seems there is a crack in it that I will need to repair when paint her this winter. With the hatch up the water runs in the crack and then dripped on us. That was a bit annoying. Then about 6 am the next morning we had a good down pour and I discovered how we kept getting water in the cabin floor when it would rain. The fasteners for the pop top struts go through the top of the pop top from below which puts the nuts for them on the cabin top. I think they all leaked so that was added to the list of repairs. I was surprised how much water they let in. I got up and strategically place our dish washing totes to collect most of the water that was dripping down from the strut fasteners. I popped my head out to discover another fishing boat was within 75' of us, in the dark, in the rain! OMG, talk about nothing better to do! I crawled back into the v birth and cuddled up with my lil nuddling partner (nuddling is naked cuddling, it's the best!). It was almost ten before we finally emerged from the cabin to get our day started!
The rain had finally let up and the boat was starting to dry off a bit. I dropped the lifeline and just jumped in to get woke up. Wow! That will wake you up! Probably a good thing I did as the wind had died down during the night and the anchor line had gotten wrapped around the keel again. I got it freed and then gathered the access line and put it on the bow. I am starting to think that maybe we should use the white rope instead of the nylon woven rope. It seems to float where as the other line did not. I really like the convince of the nylon rope as it has it's own holder and you can shake it dry. The other line has to be rolled up and then hung out to dry before storing it away.
After I made us a couple of omelets for breakfast Cindy took off exploring on P2 while I fished off the boat with my spinning rod. Fish were jumping all around the boat so I was hopeful I might catch one or two. I did catch on lil stripper off the bow before I got a bit aggressive with my casting and forgot about the shroud lines. As I went forward on my cast I hooked the shroud! I managed to break the line and my lure hit the deck and bounced off into the water. Argh. Back to the cockpit to tie on another lure. I caught another stripper off the stern and shortly after releasing him I got to witness something really cool.
There is a eagle's nest along the south shore of where we anchor. I saw a large eagle launch from the nest tree and fly straight out to a point about 100 feet off of our stern. He made a tight right hand turn right towards our boat then just folded his wings back, dropped his head, and dove for the water. I am just standing there on the stern watching with my mouth hanging open as I love watching big birds! He dove down till he was about 2 feet above the water and all at once his wings popped out, his feet went down, and his head went up. There was a large splash followed by a lot of wing flapping and hitting the water but in no time he was back up in the air with what looked like a 8-10" bass flipping around in his talons!!! He struggled to fly a bit till his wings shed all the water off them then he made a right hand 270 degree turn and came right over the mast about 10 feet above it almost as if he was showing off his catch to me. He flew back to the south shore and landed in a dead tree to have his breakfast. I watched him eat his catch with our binoculars. Talk about something to see in real life. I had only seen an eagle fishing on tv before so I was really excited to get to see in real life and so close to me at the same time was awesome!
Not long after that it started raining again. I looked out across the water and Cindy was headed back paddling fast trying to get back before she got drenched. I raised the anchor to go get her but by the time I got everything put away and headed over to her she was almost to the boat. I helped her aboard then loaded P2 onto the deck on the port side between the shrouds and the cabin top. We headed back across the lake to the dock as radar showed more showers heading our way. As we crossed the lake Cindy told me all about the big fish she saw rooting around in the mud right along the shoreline. She was paddling her board a few feet off the shoreline when she saw mud swirling around up ahead of her. She carefully approached and saw a fish that started out as 2 feet long but has since grown to 3 feet long. Seems it is not just men who exaggerate the size of their fish! It was digging around in the mud till it saw Cindy on her board then took off like a rocket! Once back to dock we tied off in a slip and I suggested to Cindy that since there was hardly anyone around she should take Pearl and trailer over to the boat ramp and practice backing the trailer without the boat on it while I put P2 up and got the boat ready to put away. So she headed off and practiced backing for about 20 mins while I did my chores. I headed over with the boat to meet her which was a role reversal of sorts as Cindy had never been on the trailer with me bringing the boat in. I carried a little more speed to the trailer than Cindy typically does and was off just a bit with the keel from lining up with slot in the bunk boards. The keel hit the right inside bunk board and knocked it in a bit. I had been meaning to modify the trailer but with me usually being the one on trailer I had just dealt with the issues but now is the time to fix it. I had to get off the boat and onto the trailer so I could muscle her keel into the slot between the boards. As soon as time allows we will launch the boat then tie her in a slip and make the modifications to the bunk boards so that there is a better mechanism to guide the keel into the slot.
Since we had already taken the sails off the night before it did not take us long to get her all put up and get her ready to await out next sailing adventure. The cover I had made for the cockpit and the cabin top finally tore to the point it is time to make one out of real material instead of the Harbor Freight silver tarp. It worked well and we really liked having the top covered. We might have to make a whole top cover once we paint her but for now what we have will be fine. I am just waiting on the material to arrive so I can sew up the new cover.
On our way home Cindy told me how much better she felt about her ability to back the trailer now after getting to practice that morning. We really enjoyed our first rainy night aboard and the idea of bringing the laptop so we could watch movies was a hit! Too bad we were out of Jiffy pop as popcorn would have been nice. It was another wonderful adventure to add to long list of adventures we have already shared together and gave us many new ideas for future adventures yet to come!!!
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Sailing again at last!!!
Finally!!! The wind blew and we got to sail again!!! Like I said in my post yesterday, I flipped a coin and it was heads so I texted Cindy to see if she was up for trying to sail after she got home from work last night? She was all for it so I had everything ready to go when she got home. It was not looking very promising as the wind had really calmed down at the house and it looked like rain but we rolled the dice and took a chance and we are so glad we did as it turned out to be a beautiful evening with wind!
We drove through a couple of small showers on the way to the lake but then the sun came out by the time we were half way there so our optimism picked up a bit. The whole way over I kept one eye on the tree tops to make sure they were still swaying in the breeze as I had fears that the wind might elude us again but not this time. I think we rigged the sails in record time and it was not long before Cindy was pulling the Memory Maker over to the boat ramp so we could launch.
There was absolutely no one at the public boat ramp that we use so I told her I was going to close my eyes and sit on my hands and she could take as many tries as it took to get the boat in the water as she had the place to herself. I am so very proud to say that she only needed one try!!! I felt her come to a stop so I asked her how it went and she replied by telling me to turn around and look. I opened my eyes to see the Memory Maker sitting at the water's edge ready for me to climb up into. I climbed up in her and prepared to fire up the motor as Cindy backed us down some more. Somehow we wound up getting a bit crooked at that point and I don't know why it is but she just doesn't like launching off her trailer if she is crooked. Doesn't make much sense as she floats right up off the bunk boards but it has been a issue each time we have tried it crooked. I finally got her backed off the trailer and Cindy took off heading over to the dock for pickup.
It was about now that I nearly did a very big goof. Now please understand that we literally had the place to ourselves. The trimaran sailboat that we see each time we have sailed was out but other than that there were no other boats in sight. The water was calm and I was sheltered from the wind at this point because of the trees so this is all on me. I went to drop the rudder blade down and tie it off and in the process saw that the bungee cord inside the rudder had appeared to have stretched. It is a odd setup that uses a rope tied to a bungee cord to hold the blade vertical. If you hit something the bungee cord will stretch and let the blade come up without damaging it. Well while I was jacking around with the rudder I had failed to keep one eye on where I was heading! I nearly ran her a ground on the rocks not more than a 100 feet off the boat ramp!!!! I about dropped a fudge bomb right there and then when I looked up. I cringed as I turned the motor to get us away as fast as I could. Glad to say the bungee cord in the rudder works as the blade popped up as it drug across the bottom! YIKES! That was close!
I picked Cindy up and off we went in search of the wind. It had been almost a month since we had enough wind to actually sail and almost 2 weeks since we had rigged the sails. I did not check Cindy's rigging of the jib as I she had been doing a great job. Maybe I should have since it had been a few days. As the sails came up and we started sailing I got back down in the cockpit and looked up at the jib sheets. I could see it was wrapped around a lifeline stanchion as Cindy had it ran through the wrong spot. So back up on the cabin top to fix that. No big deal and we were soon sailing right along.
It was not long on the heading we were on before it was time to make our first turn under sail. Looking back I really should have done a better job of communicating with Cindy what the new heading was going to be before we started our turn. Live and learn right? Cindy started the gybe as I was on the jib sheets. We actually had a nice breeze at that point and the boat spun right around to starboard. Where things went bad was that Cindy wasn't sure where to stop the turn so the boat just kept turning. Well once we got broadside to the wind she was really healing over. Like a total idiot, I focused on all our stuff sliding off the table onto the floor of the cabin instead of keeping my eye on more important things, like the BOOM! I am glad to say the boom missed my head but the mainsheet upper turn buckle collected my glasses which somehow managed to cut my nose across the bridge and next to my left eye. Not bad, just enough to let the sweet and oil on my face really irritate me for the next 30 minutes or so. After we did a very tight 360 degree turn to starboard followed by a 90 degree turn back to port we were back on our way heading southwest down the lake a good clip. Lesson learned? Communication is the key to success and main sheet turnbuckles hitting you in the face at high speed hurt!!!!
Off our bow In the distance we could see the trimaran. He was about to enter the narrows so we set course to follow him as it looked like we could have a nice long run down the lake thanks to the northeast wind. Like most sails on lake Monroe it turned into an exercise in patience as the wind lulled about half way across the lake but we kept moving, just a lil on the slow side for a while. As he passed off our port side we waved at the trimaran, who had tacked back to the northeast and was on his way back to dock. We continued on our way west trying to get in as much sailing as we could. Captain Cindy turned over the helm to her first mate, that would be me, and kicked back to relax a bit in the setting sun's warm light. We tacked back to the southeast and picked up a heading for our cove so we could cook dinner.
On our way back across the lake Cindy, after seeing we had the whole lake too ourselves, decided to test her first mate and see how just how good his focus and multi tasking abilities really are. Let's just say I passed all her test with flying colors and no matter what she threw at me I never lost focus, well at least not for very long! In the process of "focus testing" we heaved to for the first time (that is a sailing maneuver ;-) ). Can't really say that was what I was trying to do but it just kinda worked out and was no big deal. We will have to practice it when we are both "focused" on the task at hand LOL!
We finally made it to our cove and dropped anchor as it was starting to get late and we were both hungry. It was after 8 and the wind was still blowing good enough that we could have sailed longer but we both had to work today and sadly we knew we could stay all night. I offered to blow up P squared so Cindy could paddle her around for a bit while I cooked dinner but she was tired an asked if I would be upset if she did not paddle her board. I might have my issues but I don't et upset over things like that. So instead we tried to share a glass of wine while dinner cooked but wound up tossing it over board as it was blackberry wine that had gone bad. Seems you need to drink blackberry wine within 6 months of it being bottled or it gets very nasty!
As I checked the corn on the cob cooking on the grill I turned and notice the beautiful sunset over the water.
No matter how many time we are on the water at sunset I never get tired of taking a picture of it. We really lucked out as the weather had cleared, the wind continued to blow, and we had the lake to ourselves! We got to thinking that Monday evenings might be the time to come play!
After sharing a yummy dinner together it was time to raise anchor and head home. We can tell that the days are really starting to get shorter as darkness was closing in on us fast as we prepared the boat to motor across the lake. We needed more light so I asked Cindy to turn on the spreader bar lights. I was really excited when I put the led lights on the underside of the spreader bars thinking we would use them a lot. But as it turned out we were usually so wore out from all the fun we had during the day that we have not been awake very much at night so they have hardly been used. But now that the days are getting shorter I think we will use them more.
Sadly it was time to raise the anchor and head back in. So I started up the motor for the Captain, that is one of the duties of the First Mate, to get the Captain's motor running ;-) , then headed up on the bow to raise the anchor up. I started pulling in the line but it was really stuck. So like the idiot I am so often am, I really start pulling up on the line holder that the extra line is wrapped around. I am really pulling with all my might when all of a sudden it comes free for about 3 feet. Just enough to let my hands, and the line holder, come up and smack me right in the nose!!! Son of a B#$%^&!!!! That hurt!!! Two good hits to my nose in the same night, what did I do to deserve that??? Now I am bleeding as the line holder skinned the top of my nose, and I felt like Mike Tyson just landed a upper cut right on the tip of my nose. Plus the anchor line is still stuck! After a few minutes to let my eyes clear I realized it was wrapped around the keel. Argh! this is the second time that has happened. Seems when there is hardly any wind and the boat just drifts around the anchor line fouls around the keel. I had my beautiful lil captain move us around with the motor but it was hung up pretty good. By now it is good and dark and my nose is throbbing so I just stripped down to nothing and jumped in. It just took a quick pull of the line to free it from the keel. Luckily the water was somewhat warm, i.e. minimal shrinkage LOL. Cindy got the swim ladder out so I climbed back aboard. Finally I got the anchor on board and put away. As I was drying off I looked up towards the tree line to our east and could just barely see the glow of the moon rising up over the trees. As we motored further west more of the moon came into view. Then I remembered that this is the super moon! It sure looked huge as it rose up over the hills!
I know, the pic sucks, but all we had with us were our phones. We really needed our SLR camera with adjustable shutter speed and a tripod to get a really good pic but take our word, it was beautiful!
We gently motored across the lake in the dark, still the only boat on the water. I used the time to install the main sail cover and to raise the keel. I could tell Cindy was a bit concerned about making her way through the buoy field and the boats on their buoys in the dark. I reassured her several times that we would be fine and that we would be able to see them once we got there. I went below and found our led headlight I had left on board for occasions just like this one and helped the Captain put it on her head. As we got closer to the buoy field there was a beam of light shining out onto the lake from one of the security lights at the sailing association. It was leading us right to the dock. All Cindy had to do was just stay right on that beam and we were good to go as you could plainly see there was nothing in the light's path between us and the retaining wall by the dock. It was about then that I asked Cindy if she remembered me saying we needed to get a spot light to keep on board. She replied yes. I then said this is why I said we needed one. So we added it to the shopping list. Cindy did great and sure enough as we got closer to the boats we could see them in the darkness. It really wasn't total darkness as we had the security lights on shore and huge security light rising up in the sky off our stern!
Cindy dropped me off at the dock and I hurried over to the boat ramp to retrieve my lady and the Memory Maker. I backed down and had the trailer all ready as I awaited their arrival, and waited, and waited. It sure seemed like it was taking a long time for them to get into the trailer. Plus it was really quite. I shouted out if the motor had died? Cindy replied back she had shut it off! Cindy is always afraid she is going to come in too fast and shoot up over the trailer and pin me between the boat and the car. I have to laugh at that thought as we have a 3 1/2 horse power motor. I am pretty sure we won't be jumping any trailers with it!!!! They finally drifted close enough that I was able to reach out and grab them but the boat had slowed so much Cindy lost steerage and I had to man handle them around to get it lined up with the trailer. The Memory Make is not a large boat nor that heavy, but she is far from easy to get back on the trailer. There is a narrow 4" wide slot between the two center bunk boards that the keel has to go between and then the keel slides up onto a flat board. So once you get the keel lined up you can only pull her on so far before you have to use the winch. I am thinking there might be further modifications to the trailer, like installing keel rollers in place of the keel board so the keel rolls up onto the trailer instead of having to be drug up onto it. Soon we were headed back to put our girl back to bed before we too headed home to bed.
As we tucked our girl in I talked with Cindy about the importance of not shutting the motor off that far out. Always before she had relied on the wind and the waves to get her to the trailer and it had worked fine. In fact I had not even noticed she had been shutting the motor off that far out. But tonight there was no wind or waves and it was very apparent what had happened. When she shuts the motor off that far out she becomes a boat adrift and without control. If for any reason she would have to turn away, stop, or back up, she would not be able to without restarting the motor. Instead of killing the motor I asked her to please just leave it run in neutral till she is on the trailer just incase she would ever need to maneuver around other boats or turn away from the dock and clear the area in the event someone had a major issue or accident loading. Anything can happen, especially at the boat ramp and we don't want some man in a bass boat calling her names for drifting into him!!!!
It is still our goal to get Cindy to where she can bring friends over and sail during the day while I am working. We are hopeful to get a buoy next season and that will remove the whole launching and retrieving aspect from the sail and that will really help get her closer to that goal. But like tonight with the fouled anchor line, there will always be things that come up that she will have to be able to deal with that cannot be planned for. Hopefully between now and then everything that can happen will happen, very unlikely, but at the rate we are going she will have had experience in dealing with all sorts of emergencies LOL!
Even with all our goofs and blunders and two good hits to the nose we had a great time! Cindy had some good laughs, at her first mates expense, and I too had a few chuckles(after the pain went away). We continue to learn. Cindy made the comment on the way home that all the BS about putting your hand at the 6 o'clock position on the steering wheel and moving your hand in the direction you want the boat to go is just that, BS! She is starting to figure out the whole trailer backing thing and like I told her in the beginning you just have to get to were you can see where the trailer needs to go and respond to it instead of trying to think about which way to move your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. I reminded her that she only gets to back the trailer a very short distance each time so all tolled she has only spent maybe 3-5 minutes all summer actually backing a trailer. Like teaching someone to land a plane, it is hard to learn because you get such a short time to actually back the trailer each time. I promised her she would get it and by golly she is! I told her how I use the lines in the concrete on the boat ramp to help keep the boat lined up and straight to the ramp so maybe next time she will be able to not only watch the trailer in her mirrors but also watch the lines on the ramp so she can stay lined up better. I really need to take a few minutes at home and rig up two mirrors on my tractor and let her spend a afternoon backing up our kayak trailer in the driveway. I know Cindy would master backing a trailer it if I could just find time to do that.
Looking back on our progress we have made over the summer I still think we are doing really good. We have gone from knowing nothing to the point that we can actually sail our boat. Yes we took a step or two back thanks to a month of no wind, but what we had learned came back to us pretty quickly. While we make mistakes, we at least know what the mistakes are and how to correct them. Plus, like with Cindy figuring out how to back the trailer, we continue to learn! The best thing is that while we learn, we are MAKING MEMORIES TOGETHER!!!!!
We drove through a couple of small showers on the way to the lake but then the sun came out by the time we were half way there so our optimism picked up a bit. The whole way over I kept one eye on the tree tops to make sure they were still swaying in the breeze as I had fears that the wind might elude us again but not this time. I think we rigged the sails in record time and it was not long before Cindy was pulling the Memory Maker over to the boat ramp so we could launch.
There was absolutely no one at the public boat ramp that we use so I told her I was going to close my eyes and sit on my hands and she could take as many tries as it took to get the boat in the water as she had the place to herself. I am so very proud to say that she only needed one try!!! I felt her come to a stop so I asked her how it went and she replied by telling me to turn around and look. I opened my eyes to see the Memory Maker sitting at the water's edge ready for me to climb up into. I climbed up in her and prepared to fire up the motor as Cindy backed us down some more. Somehow we wound up getting a bit crooked at that point and I don't know why it is but she just doesn't like launching off her trailer if she is crooked. Doesn't make much sense as she floats right up off the bunk boards but it has been a issue each time we have tried it crooked. I finally got her backed off the trailer and Cindy took off heading over to the dock for pickup.
It was about now that I nearly did a very big goof. Now please understand that we literally had the place to ourselves. The trimaran sailboat that we see each time we have sailed was out but other than that there were no other boats in sight. The water was calm and I was sheltered from the wind at this point because of the trees so this is all on me. I went to drop the rudder blade down and tie it off and in the process saw that the bungee cord inside the rudder had appeared to have stretched. It is a odd setup that uses a rope tied to a bungee cord to hold the blade vertical. If you hit something the bungee cord will stretch and let the blade come up without damaging it. Well while I was jacking around with the rudder I had failed to keep one eye on where I was heading! I nearly ran her a ground on the rocks not more than a 100 feet off the boat ramp!!!! I about dropped a fudge bomb right there and then when I looked up. I cringed as I turned the motor to get us away as fast as I could. Glad to say the bungee cord in the rudder works as the blade popped up as it drug across the bottom! YIKES! That was close!
I picked Cindy up and off we went in search of the wind. It had been almost a month since we had enough wind to actually sail and almost 2 weeks since we had rigged the sails. I did not check Cindy's rigging of the jib as I she had been doing a great job. Maybe I should have since it had been a few days. As the sails came up and we started sailing I got back down in the cockpit and looked up at the jib sheets. I could see it was wrapped around a lifeline stanchion as Cindy had it ran through the wrong spot. So back up on the cabin top to fix that. No big deal and we were soon sailing right along.
It was not long on the heading we were on before it was time to make our first turn under sail. Looking back I really should have done a better job of communicating with Cindy what the new heading was going to be before we started our turn. Live and learn right? Cindy started the gybe as I was on the jib sheets. We actually had a nice breeze at that point and the boat spun right around to starboard. Where things went bad was that Cindy wasn't sure where to stop the turn so the boat just kept turning. Well once we got broadside to the wind she was really healing over. Like a total idiot, I focused on all our stuff sliding off the table onto the floor of the cabin instead of keeping my eye on more important things, like the BOOM! I am glad to say the boom missed my head but the mainsheet upper turn buckle collected my glasses which somehow managed to cut my nose across the bridge and next to my left eye. Not bad, just enough to let the sweet and oil on my face really irritate me for the next 30 minutes or so. After we did a very tight 360 degree turn to starboard followed by a 90 degree turn back to port we were back on our way heading southwest down the lake a good clip. Lesson learned? Communication is the key to success and main sheet turnbuckles hitting you in the face at high speed hurt!!!!
Off our bow In the distance we could see the trimaran. He was about to enter the narrows so we set course to follow him as it looked like we could have a nice long run down the lake thanks to the northeast wind. Like most sails on lake Monroe it turned into an exercise in patience as the wind lulled about half way across the lake but we kept moving, just a lil on the slow side for a while. As he passed off our port side we waved at the trimaran, who had tacked back to the northeast and was on his way back to dock. We continued on our way west trying to get in as much sailing as we could. Captain Cindy turned over the helm to her first mate, that would be me, and kicked back to relax a bit in the setting sun's warm light. We tacked back to the southeast and picked up a heading for our cove so we could cook dinner.
On our way back across the lake Cindy, after seeing we had the whole lake too ourselves, decided to test her first mate and see how just how good his focus and multi tasking abilities really are. Let's just say I passed all her test with flying colors and no matter what she threw at me I never lost focus, well at least not for very long! In the process of "focus testing" we heaved to for the first time (that is a sailing maneuver ;-) ). Can't really say that was what I was trying to do but it just kinda worked out and was no big deal. We will have to practice it when we are both "focused" on the task at hand LOL!
We finally made it to our cove and dropped anchor as it was starting to get late and we were both hungry. It was after 8 and the wind was still blowing good enough that we could have sailed longer but we both had to work today and sadly we knew we could stay all night. I offered to blow up P squared so Cindy could paddle her around for a bit while I cooked dinner but she was tired an asked if I would be upset if she did not paddle her board. I might have my issues but I don't et upset over things like that. So instead we tried to share a glass of wine while dinner cooked but wound up tossing it over board as it was blackberry wine that had gone bad. Seems you need to drink blackberry wine within 6 months of it being bottled or it gets very nasty!
As I checked the corn on the cob cooking on the grill I turned and notice the beautiful sunset over the water.
No matter how many time we are on the water at sunset I never get tired of taking a picture of it. We really lucked out as the weather had cleared, the wind continued to blow, and we had the lake to ourselves! We got to thinking that Monday evenings might be the time to come play!
After sharing a yummy dinner together it was time to raise anchor and head home. We can tell that the days are really starting to get shorter as darkness was closing in on us fast as we prepared the boat to motor across the lake. We needed more light so I asked Cindy to turn on the spreader bar lights. I was really excited when I put the led lights on the underside of the spreader bars thinking we would use them a lot. But as it turned out we were usually so wore out from all the fun we had during the day that we have not been awake very much at night so they have hardly been used. But now that the days are getting shorter I think we will use them more.
Sadly it was time to raise the anchor and head back in. So I started up the motor for the Captain, that is one of the duties of the First Mate, to get the Captain's motor running ;-) , then headed up on the bow to raise the anchor up. I started pulling in the line but it was really stuck. So like the idiot I am so often am, I really start pulling up on the line holder that the extra line is wrapped around. I am really pulling with all my might when all of a sudden it comes free for about 3 feet. Just enough to let my hands, and the line holder, come up and smack me right in the nose!!! Son of a B#$%^&!!!! That hurt!!! Two good hits to my nose in the same night, what did I do to deserve that??? Now I am bleeding as the line holder skinned the top of my nose, and I felt like Mike Tyson just landed a upper cut right on the tip of my nose. Plus the anchor line is still stuck! After a few minutes to let my eyes clear I realized it was wrapped around the keel. Argh! this is the second time that has happened. Seems when there is hardly any wind and the boat just drifts around the anchor line fouls around the keel. I had my beautiful lil captain move us around with the motor but it was hung up pretty good. By now it is good and dark and my nose is throbbing so I just stripped down to nothing and jumped in. It just took a quick pull of the line to free it from the keel. Luckily the water was somewhat warm, i.e. minimal shrinkage LOL. Cindy got the swim ladder out so I climbed back aboard. Finally I got the anchor on board and put away. As I was drying off I looked up towards the tree line to our east and could just barely see the glow of the moon rising up over the trees. As we motored further west more of the moon came into view. Then I remembered that this is the super moon! It sure looked huge as it rose up over the hills!
I know, the pic sucks, but all we had with us were our phones. We really needed our SLR camera with adjustable shutter speed and a tripod to get a really good pic but take our word, it was beautiful!
We gently motored across the lake in the dark, still the only boat on the water. I used the time to install the main sail cover and to raise the keel. I could tell Cindy was a bit concerned about making her way through the buoy field and the boats on their buoys in the dark. I reassured her several times that we would be fine and that we would be able to see them once we got there. I went below and found our led headlight I had left on board for occasions just like this one and helped the Captain put it on her head. As we got closer to the buoy field there was a beam of light shining out onto the lake from one of the security lights at the sailing association. It was leading us right to the dock. All Cindy had to do was just stay right on that beam and we were good to go as you could plainly see there was nothing in the light's path between us and the retaining wall by the dock. It was about then that I asked Cindy if she remembered me saying we needed to get a spot light to keep on board. She replied yes. I then said this is why I said we needed one. So we added it to the shopping list. Cindy did great and sure enough as we got closer to the boats we could see them in the darkness. It really wasn't total darkness as we had the security lights on shore and huge security light rising up in the sky off our stern!
Cindy dropped me off at the dock and I hurried over to the boat ramp to retrieve my lady and the Memory Maker. I backed down and had the trailer all ready as I awaited their arrival, and waited, and waited. It sure seemed like it was taking a long time for them to get into the trailer. Plus it was really quite. I shouted out if the motor had died? Cindy replied back she had shut it off! Cindy is always afraid she is going to come in too fast and shoot up over the trailer and pin me between the boat and the car. I have to laugh at that thought as we have a 3 1/2 horse power motor. I am pretty sure we won't be jumping any trailers with it!!!! They finally drifted close enough that I was able to reach out and grab them but the boat had slowed so much Cindy lost steerage and I had to man handle them around to get it lined up with the trailer. The Memory Make is not a large boat nor that heavy, but she is far from easy to get back on the trailer. There is a narrow 4" wide slot between the two center bunk boards that the keel has to go between and then the keel slides up onto a flat board. So once you get the keel lined up you can only pull her on so far before you have to use the winch. I am thinking there might be further modifications to the trailer, like installing keel rollers in place of the keel board so the keel rolls up onto the trailer instead of having to be drug up onto it. Soon we were headed back to put our girl back to bed before we too headed home to bed.
As we tucked our girl in I talked with Cindy about the importance of not shutting the motor off that far out. Always before she had relied on the wind and the waves to get her to the trailer and it had worked fine. In fact I had not even noticed she had been shutting the motor off that far out. But tonight there was no wind or waves and it was very apparent what had happened. When she shuts the motor off that far out she becomes a boat adrift and without control. If for any reason she would have to turn away, stop, or back up, she would not be able to without restarting the motor. Instead of killing the motor I asked her to please just leave it run in neutral till she is on the trailer just incase she would ever need to maneuver around other boats or turn away from the dock and clear the area in the event someone had a major issue or accident loading. Anything can happen, especially at the boat ramp and we don't want some man in a bass boat calling her names for drifting into him!!!!
It is still our goal to get Cindy to where she can bring friends over and sail during the day while I am working. We are hopeful to get a buoy next season and that will remove the whole launching and retrieving aspect from the sail and that will really help get her closer to that goal. But like tonight with the fouled anchor line, there will always be things that come up that she will have to be able to deal with that cannot be planned for. Hopefully between now and then everything that can happen will happen, very unlikely, but at the rate we are going she will have had experience in dealing with all sorts of emergencies LOL!
Even with all our goofs and blunders and two good hits to the nose we had a great time! Cindy had some good laughs, at her first mates expense, and I too had a few chuckles(after the pain went away). We continue to learn. Cindy made the comment on the way home that all the BS about putting your hand at the 6 o'clock position on the steering wheel and moving your hand in the direction you want the boat to go is just that, BS! She is starting to figure out the whole trailer backing thing and like I told her in the beginning you just have to get to were you can see where the trailer needs to go and respond to it instead of trying to think about which way to move your hand at the bottom of the steering wheel. I reminded her that she only gets to back the trailer a very short distance each time so all tolled she has only spent maybe 3-5 minutes all summer actually backing a trailer. Like teaching someone to land a plane, it is hard to learn because you get such a short time to actually back the trailer each time. I promised her she would get it and by golly she is! I told her how I use the lines in the concrete on the boat ramp to help keep the boat lined up and straight to the ramp so maybe next time she will be able to not only watch the trailer in her mirrors but also watch the lines on the ramp so she can stay lined up better. I really need to take a few minutes at home and rig up two mirrors on my tractor and let her spend a afternoon backing up our kayak trailer in the driveway. I know Cindy would master backing a trailer it if I could just find time to do that.
Looking back on our progress we have made over the summer I still think we are doing really good. We have gone from knowing nothing to the point that we can actually sail our boat. Yes we took a step or two back thanks to a month of no wind, but what we had learned came back to us pretty quickly. While we make mistakes, we at least know what the mistakes are and how to correct them. Plus, like with Cindy figuring out how to back the trailer, we continue to learn! The best thing is that while we learn, we are MAKING MEMORIES TOGETHER!!!!!
Monday, August 11, 2014
Where is the wind and why do we blog???
Well we are now into August and I guess the summer doldrums are in full swing in southern IN. We have not had good wind to sail with since the middle of July. We have gone over and motored twice and really hoped to get over to the boat this weekend but it rained pretty much all weekend and the wind was no where to be found.
We thought that surely at some point the wind would blow but even during the downpours we had off and on it was non existent. I checked the weather report at the airport in Bloomington several times yesterday and the best it got was winds from the southeast at 3 knots. Oh boy, we might have had to reef the main sail with winds like that!!!
Wouldn't you know it, we go back to work on Monday and the wind finally starts to blow!!! There is a nice 10-12 knot breeze blowing out of the southwest today. ARGH!!!!! Talk about torture! Nothing worse than being stuck inside a office when you wish you were outside playing. Especially after enduring a rain soaked weekend with no outside fun. We made the best of it and went antiquing and wine tasting and had a really fun time but I think we both really wished we could have gotten back on the boat and actually sailed before we forget what little we have learned. Enough whining about the wind, or the lack there of. We are not the only ones wishing it would blow again someday. Preferably some day that we have off!!!
So why do we blog? For those of you that are reading this that keep a blog yourself then you know that it takes quite a bit of time to type a blog entry, especially if your typing skills are along the same level as mine. The blog was actually Cindy's idea. It went something along the lines of "You know what we should do? We should start a blog about our sailing adventures!". Well I knew that meant that I should figure out how to blog and do one for us LOL! The blog really started out as a way for us to keep track of our new sailing adventure, the progress we made on the boat, and us learning to sail. But it has kinda morphed into more of a running autobiography of us as a couple and the experiences we share. Well at least the ones clean enough to share on a public forum LOL!
Cindy and I are always busy doing something fun when we are together. Sometimes I am amazed that we get anything done at home as it seems we are always out playing somewhere. That might explain why we are going on year number 3 at our new home and it still is not done. I can build a house is pretty quick. I tore down the old house and built a new one in 3 months. But to actually finish a house you built yourself and moved into before it was totally complete, well, that takes years to finish!!! I am so lucky that Cindy understands I can't be working on it if we are out playing and she rates playing above house projects. (Just so you don't think we are living in a half finished house, it is probably more along the lines of 95% complete. Just need to finish some trim, the basement needs finished, and landscaping.) Anyway, back to why we blog. I think one big reason is that with the fact that we are always do something fun I fear over time we might run the risk of forgetting parts of the fun we have. So I try to be very detailed in my writings so as to try and capture all the fun aspects of our adventures. Have you ever seen the movie The Notebook? In a way this blog is our notebook. I have always felt that in the end all you really have are your memories and depending on what winds up taking your life that is not a guarantee. So in the event one of us would ever find ourselves in a position where we loose our memory the other one will have this blog to fall back on to use as a tool to refresh the other's memory. We love to sit in front of our fireplace on cold winter's nights with our feet up on the hearth while we share a yummy winter beverage. I can see us in the years to come going back and reading entries we made and sharing laughs about funny things we remember from those adventuress.
Another reason we take the time to write what we do is I think we both hope if by sharing our adventures we can be of some inspiration to others who think doing the things we do might be fun but they just aren't sure they could do it or not. Hopefully by reading about all our trials, goofs, and errors we encounter and all the fun we have experiencing new things others might realize almost anyone can do what we do and have fun doing it. I have learned a lot by reading others people's blogs. I like to think we have had a "fairly" problem free time at learning to sail. Granted, we have had our fair share of goofs, but I shudder to think what it might have been like had I not read about all the goofs others have made. I have always read aviation accident reports and have tried to approach my flying career by trying not to make the same mistakes others have made. I have made a few of my own that I should not have but fortunately have not made all the ones I have read about. I took the same approach to sailing and so far I think we have benefited from that. Just wish I would have read about making sure your keel was locked up before you tried to launch your boat. That would have made launching our boat so much easier the first two times we tried!!! Hopefully someone just starting out reads that entry and makes sure their keel is up and locked before they try launching their boat. Nothing worse than having your boat that drafts 18" backed down into 4 feet of water and yet you are still unable to get it off the trailer!!! Someone really should have said if our exhaust is blowing bubbles in the water and the boat still won't float off the trailer you have a problem!
I just got back from running to lunch. Yes, the darn wind is still blowing, Argh! I am tempted to text my beautiful lil lady and see what time she might get home this evening. Since it is the first Monday of the school year she will probably be swamped and running late, sigh. But if not and the wind continues to blow I would love to run over and sail this evening. The summer is quickly coming to an end and I would love to sail and make as many memories as we can before we have to bring the Memory Maker home. Granted after we bring her home we will just transition into our winter activities and make memories doing those but we have gotten bit hard by the sailing bug and really want to enjoy it as much as possible. Speaking of winter activities, just to give you a heads up of what you can expect out of us this winter, we will be busy preparing the Memory Maker for new paint, while we hopefully xc ski every time the snow flies(and I hope that is often!) We are also going to drive 13 hours north to the UP of Michigan to ski a mile into a rustic/primitive cabin, i.e. no running water or inside bathroom, for two nights, pulling our gear on pulk sleds I made for us last winter. We are going to snow shoe and xc ski during the day and listen to the wolves howl and the waves of lake Superior lap at the shore line 130 feet north of cabin at night! That should be an adventure we never forget!!!
Decisions, decisions, I just checked weather the wind is still blowing but there are some thunderstorms popping up to our northwest but I think they might move through by the time we could get to the lake if Cindy gets off at her normal time. I hate to text her and ask her what time she will get home as I don't want her to feel stressed but I hate for us to miss a chance to sail. I will flip a coin. Ok, I just picked heads and it was heads. I am texting her. Wish us luck and pray for wind!!!
We thought that surely at some point the wind would blow but even during the downpours we had off and on it was non existent. I checked the weather report at the airport in Bloomington several times yesterday and the best it got was winds from the southeast at 3 knots. Oh boy, we might have had to reef the main sail with winds like that!!!
Wouldn't you know it, we go back to work on Monday and the wind finally starts to blow!!! There is a nice 10-12 knot breeze blowing out of the southwest today. ARGH!!!!! Talk about torture! Nothing worse than being stuck inside a office when you wish you were outside playing. Especially after enduring a rain soaked weekend with no outside fun. We made the best of it and went antiquing and wine tasting and had a really fun time but I think we both really wished we could have gotten back on the boat and actually sailed before we forget what little we have learned. Enough whining about the wind, or the lack there of. We are not the only ones wishing it would blow again someday. Preferably some day that we have off!!!
So why do we blog? For those of you that are reading this that keep a blog yourself then you know that it takes quite a bit of time to type a blog entry, especially if your typing skills are along the same level as mine. The blog was actually Cindy's idea. It went something along the lines of "You know what we should do? We should start a blog about our sailing adventures!". Well I knew that meant that I should figure out how to blog and do one for us LOL! The blog really started out as a way for us to keep track of our new sailing adventure, the progress we made on the boat, and us learning to sail. But it has kinda morphed into more of a running autobiography of us as a couple and the experiences we share. Well at least the ones clean enough to share on a public forum LOL!
Cindy and I are always busy doing something fun when we are together. Sometimes I am amazed that we get anything done at home as it seems we are always out playing somewhere. That might explain why we are going on year number 3 at our new home and it still is not done. I can build a house is pretty quick. I tore down the old house and built a new one in 3 months. But to actually finish a house you built yourself and moved into before it was totally complete, well, that takes years to finish!!! I am so lucky that Cindy understands I can't be working on it if we are out playing and she rates playing above house projects. (Just so you don't think we are living in a half finished house, it is probably more along the lines of 95% complete. Just need to finish some trim, the basement needs finished, and landscaping.) Anyway, back to why we blog. I think one big reason is that with the fact that we are always do something fun I fear over time we might run the risk of forgetting parts of the fun we have. So I try to be very detailed in my writings so as to try and capture all the fun aspects of our adventures. Have you ever seen the movie The Notebook? In a way this blog is our notebook. I have always felt that in the end all you really have are your memories and depending on what winds up taking your life that is not a guarantee. So in the event one of us would ever find ourselves in a position where we loose our memory the other one will have this blog to fall back on to use as a tool to refresh the other's memory. We love to sit in front of our fireplace on cold winter's nights with our feet up on the hearth while we share a yummy winter beverage. I can see us in the years to come going back and reading entries we made and sharing laughs about funny things we remember from those adventuress.
Another reason we take the time to write what we do is I think we both hope if by sharing our adventures we can be of some inspiration to others who think doing the things we do might be fun but they just aren't sure they could do it or not. Hopefully by reading about all our trials, goofs, and errors we encounter and all the fun we have experiencing new things others might realize almost anyone can do what we do and have fun doing it. I have learned a lot by reading others people's blogs. I like to think we have had a "fairly" problem free time at learning to sail. Granted, we have had our fair share of goofs, but I shudder to think what it might have been like had I not read about all the goofs others have made. I have always read aviation accident reports and have tried to approach my flying career by trying not to make the same mistakes others have made. I have made a few of my own that I should not have but fortunately have not made all the ones I have read about. I took the same approach to sailing and so far I think we have benefited from that. Just wish I would have read about making sure your keel was locked up before you tried to launch your boat. That would have made launching our boat so much easier the first two times we tried!!! Hopefully someone just starting out reads that entry and makes sure their keel is up and locked before they try launching their boat. Nothing worse than having your boat that drafts 18" backed down into 4 feet of water and yet you are still unable to get it off the trailer!!! Someone really should have said if our exhaust is blowing bubbles in the water and the boat still won't float off the trailer you have a problem!
I just got back from running to lunch. Yes, the darn wind is still blowing, Argh! I am tempted to text my beautiful lil lady and see what time she might get home this evening. Since it is the first Monday of the school year she will probably be swamped and running late, sigh. But if not and the wind continues to blow I would love to run over and sail this evening. The summer is quickly coming to an end and I would love to sail and make as many memories as we can before we have to bring the Memory Maker home. Granted after we bring her home we will just transition into our winter activities and make memories doing those but we have gotten bit hard by the sailing bug and really want to enjoy it as much as possible. Speaking of winter activities, just to give you a heads up of what you can expect out of us this winter, we will be busy preparing the Memory Maker for new paint, while we hopefully xc ski every time the snow flies(and I hope that is often!) We are also going to drive 13 hours north to the UP of Michigan to ski a mile into a rustic/primitive cabin, i.e. no running water or inside bathroom, for two nights, pulling our gear on pulk sleds I made for us last winter. We are going to snow shoe and xc ski during the day and listen to the wolves howl and the waves of lake Superior lap at the shore line 130 feet north of cabin at night! That should be an adventure we never forget!!!
Decisions, decisions, I just checked weather the wind is still blowing but there are some thunderstorms popping up to our northwest but I think they might move through by the time we could get to the lake if Cindy gets off at her normal time. I hate to text her and ask her what time she will get home as I don't want her to feel stressed but I hate for us to miss a chance to sail. I will flip a coin. Ok, I just picked heads and it was heads. I am texting her. Wish us luck and pray for wind!!!
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Cindy's Perspective (Again) August 7, 2014
I have a few things to say and I'll try very hard not to bore you. I really only have two messages:
The first would be to all women out there. I'm not sure how many women are readers of this blog. My hope is that if a male is reading this and he sees something that might interest a woman in his life, he will advise her to read the blog. Having said that, my message is pretty simple:
Ladies, if you have a dream, please pursue it.
Pursue it for yourself.
Men, bear with me for just a little bit. My message comes from my heart. I know it sounds mushy and so many men avoid mushiness for a lot of reasons and that's fine. But women are different. We do a lot of introspecting. We may not share what we feel unless we feel safe doing so. But it is still there. Smoldering. Mine and Sam's story is a bit different than most. And without sharing too much private stuff in a public forum, I can just tell you that we both had silent dreams. After we got together and discovered that we had very similar dreams. We decided to go after them together. I'm not a fool to think that I could have done this sailing thing solo. I'd like to think that I'm independent. I have a good job and can support myself financially but buying a boat is only a very small part of sailing. For me, the best part of sailing is sharing it with the man of my dreams. But to say that I have conquered learning to sail by myself would be incorrect. Sam was able to do a lot Youtubing and reading on how to sail. My best friend from high school's husband (Capt. Scott) was a sailor and we went on his boat once. My niece's husband took me on a sailboat ride in the Pacific once and I can tell you that since that day, I knew I'd really like to learn. Again the smoldering dream that resurfaced in a safe environment. I didn't grow up around boats and boat engines or sailing and all the vocab that goes with sailing. So, I had a LOT to learn and I still have a lot to learn. Sam has been very patient with me and that has helped a ton. We all can relate to trying to recall something under pressure and how hard that is. Our minds freeze and we can't remember s!@* when that happens. So having a patient partner really helps. But ladies, if I can learn to steer a tiller, park a trailer, rig sails, and launch a boat, (ok, I still haven't mastered that yet, but by golly, so help me, I WILL learn to do that even when a bunch of men in bass boats are watching) you can too. I promise you can do it. Sam made a video of our summer journey with sailing and showed me last night. Of course I cried when we watched it because I'm such a sap. This sailing thing isn't really just about sailing. It's really about our journey together. And that is my second message:
Please, whatever you do with your life......... stretch yourself. I know it sounds cliche but its true. The big perk for Sam and I is that we can stretch together. And that makes it even more special. I always watch interviews with older people and they talk about their "secret" to a happy life or their secret to longevity. I find it kind of interesting. There seems to be a theme and that is to have a sense of humor, forgive others, and keep moving and keep learning. Sailing gives us the opportunity to laugh at ourselves, forgive our mistakes, move around the boat and learn how to handle new situations. Perfect! I'm going to live to be 110.
There are women out there who sail by themselves and I admire them so much. I bet they grew up around sailing and boats or maybe they have a mechanical mind. I just didn't grow up around it so I'm learning it at age 55. And what might be something simple, like dropping someone off at a dock, is a new skill that has to be learned by a novice like me. Kind of sounds like I'm making excuses. And maybe I am. But, instead of focusing on what I don't know, I'm trying to just focus on what I've learned. And I want to encourage anyone who is interested in sailing to try it because it is AWESOME!!!! And to share it with someone you love makes it even more awesome.
I've added another thing to my bucket list and that is to sail on all 5 Great Lakes. And I think I know myself well enough to know that once we've done that, I'm going to want to sail on the Carribean. I mean who wouldn't want to be sailing on the Carribean and not have Jimmy Buffett playing on the boat? Another smoldering dream.......
My surprise early birthday present is going to add another fun feature to sailing days and evenings. I love paddle boarding because of the accessibility it gives me. I can explore coves and shorelines. I also can work on keeping my balance strong. I was so surprised when I unwrapped it. I didn't think I'd ever get an inflatable and I envision that P2 will go with us no matter what body of water we decide to play on.
I know that I am VERY lucky gal. I am healthy and I finally have someone that loves me for me. I have a family that loves me and a good job. Sam and I try to get as much out of every day that we possibly can. We've lived enough life to know that no one is promised a tomorrow. And a phone call can change a life forever. That knowledge makes our sailing adventures even sweeter because no one is promised a future. However, the future is a fun thing to think about when you have a happy life. And speaking of the future, don't tell Sam........ but someday, I hope we get a bigger boat. Shhhhhhh..........
I have a few things to say and I'll try very hard not to bore you. I really only have two messages:
The first would be to all women out there. I'm not sure how many women are readers of this blog. My hope is that if a male is reading this and he sees something that might interest a woman in his life, he will advise her to read the blog. Having said that, my message is pretty simple:
Ladies, if you have a dream, please pursue it.
Pursue it for yourself.
Men, bear with me for just a little bit. My message comes from my heart. I know it sounds mushy and so many men avoid mushiness for a lot of reasons and that's fine. But women are different. We do a lot of introspecting. We may not share what we feel unless we feel safe doing so. But it is still there. Smoldering. Mine and Sam's story is a bit different than most. And without sharing too much private stuff in a public forum, I can just tell you that we both had silent dreams. After we got together and discovered that we had very similar dreams. We decided to go after them together. I'm not a fool to think that I could have done this sailing thing solo. I'd like to think that I'm independent. I have a good job and can support myself financially but buying a boat is only a very small part of sailing. For me, the best part of sailing is sharing it with the man of my dreams. But to say that I have conquered learning to sail by myself would be incorrect. Sam was able to do a lot Youtubing and reading on how to sail. My best friend from high school's husband (Capt. Scott) was a sailor and we went on his boat once. My niece's husband took me on a sailboat ride in the Pacific once and I can tell you that since that day, I knew I'd really like to learn. Again the smoldering dream that resurfaced in a safe environment. I didn't grow up around boats and boat engines or sailing and all the vocab that goes with sailing. So, I had a LOT to learn and I still have a lot to learn. Sam has been very patient with me and that has helped a ton. We all can relate to trying to recall something under pressure and how hard that is. Our minds freeze and we can't remember s!@* when that happens. So having a patient partner really helps. But ladies, if I can learn to steer a tiller, park a trailer, rig sails, and launch a boat, (ok, I still haven't mastered that yet, but by golly, so help me, I WILL learn to do that even when a bunch of men in bass boats are watching) you can too. I promise you can do it. Sam made a video of our summer journey with sailing and showed me last night. Of course I cried when we watched it because I'm such a sap. This sailing thing isn't really just about sailing. It's really about our journey together. And that is my second message:
Please, whatever you do with your life......... stretch yourself. I know it sounds cliche but its true. The big perk for Sam and I is that we can stretch together. And that makes it even more special. I always watch interviews with older people and they talk about their "secret" to a happy life or their secret to longevity. I find it kind of interesting. There seems to be a theme and that is to have a sense of humor, forgive others, and keep moving and keep learning. Sailing gives us the opportunity to laugh at ourselves, forgive our mistakes, move around the boat and learn how to handle new situations. Perfect! I'm going to live to be 110.
There are women out there who sail by themselves and I admire them so much. I bet they grew up around sailing and boats or maybe they have a mechanical mind. I just didn't grow up around it so I'm learning it at age 55. And what might be something simple, like dropping someone off at a dock, is a new skill that has to be learned by a novice like me. Kind of sounds like I'm making excuses. And maybe I am. But, instead of focusing on what I don't know, I'm trying to just focus on what I've learned. And I want to encourage anyone who is interested in sailing to try it because it is AWESOME!!!! And to share it with someone you love makes it even more awesome.
I've added another thing to my bucket list and that is to sail on all 5 Great Lakes. And I think I know myself well enough to know that once we've done that, I'm going to want to sail on the Carribean. I mean who wouldn't want to be sailing on the Carribean and not have Jimmy Buffett playing on the boat? Another smoldering dream.......
My surprise early birthday present is going to add another fun feature to sailing days and evenings. I love paddle boarding because of the accessibility it gives me. I can explore coves and shorelines. I also can work on keeping my balance strong. I was so surprised when I unwrapped it. I didn't think I'd ever get an inflatable and I envision that P2 will go with us no matter what body of water we decide to play on.
I know that I am VERY lucky gal. I am healthy and I finally have someone that loves me for me. I have a family that loves me and a good job. Sam and I try to get as much out of every day that we possibly can. We've lived enough life to know that no one is promised a tomorrow. And a phone call can change a life forever. That knowledge makes our sailing adventures even sweeter because no one is promised a future. However, the future is a fun thing to think about when you have a happy life. And speaking of the future, don't tell Sam........ but someday, I hope we get a bigger boat. Shhhhhhh..........