ahoy!

It's all happening. Today was my first sail! Lisa took Mike and I out on the Mordacious, a Moore 24' racing boat. The day had a nice little breeze from the North, a little sun and a whole lot of excitement. I wasn't all that helpful on the boat but I got to try a few things and hopefully won't forget everything by our next outing. I learned about: hanks and rings, the cunningham, genoa, main sheet, halyards, the backstay, cleats, luff, foot, leech, coming about, jib, tack and winch. None of that means that I could sail a boat myself since Lisa was making all the decisions and I just followed directions and pulled on the ropes, but I made a lot of progress. Most of the time I felt like we were spinning in circles as we turned, totally unaware of any specific direction of travel. This is why I am not the captain.

This picture is of someone else's Moore 24, but you get the idea about what I'll be sailing on. I believe that it will get pretty stressful. Trying to hoist sails and come about, tighten the correct lines, slide over to the high side of the boat and remember how to tie a boland knot, without ruining everything. I just love it though, so far. The action, the rush, the work, the relaxing. It's all amazingly zen. We'll see how I feel after I get yelled at during a race.

The boat lives on a trailer. The process for getting out to sea is first to get the little trailer puller. It's like the engine that pushes the airplanes out to the taxiway. It grinds along and pushes the trailer over to the hoist, which is a big yellow crane. Meanwhile someone should have rigged the sails, loaded the backpacks and stocked the cooler. You tie the boat up to the crane and then someone (me, today) operates the lift while the others guide it down with the dock lines. You put it into the water, untie it, hoist your sails, and voile! You sail, then do it all in reverse, hose the boat off and you're done. Not as easy as all the big boats who live in the water, untie and motor out. Lisa almost always sails in and out, the old fashioned way.

I am excited to learn more! It's going to be an exhilarating, exhausting adventure. Just the way I like it.