raise the canvas

Helms alee! I am back in sailing class this spring. After a 4 month break due to, well, winter, I am back in the cockpit again. This time I have raised the stakes a little. Instead of dinghy sailing, which I love, I am taking a try with keelboats. I negotiated my way into the Keelboat Novice class, which I do not have the proper ratings to be eligible for. We meet for 6 weeks on Mondays, from 6pm-10pm or later depending on how far out we get. This photo is of a Catalina 25, which is one of the boats that I am learning on.





















We have 8 people in the class, and we divide into two groups on two different boats. So far we spent one week getting oriented to the boats and practicing docking under motor, and the next week putting sails up and practicing reefing. We took turns sailing on Lake Washington for a few hours. Then it got dark and I got cold and started making mistakes and getting disoriented. Then it was time to go in.

My group consists of 3 guys and a male instructor. Jason is from Texas. I knew he was from Texas before he told me because he always offered to carry things for me and was giving me the right of way through doors. Bryce is from Seattle. He wears sporty hiking pants, a soft shell jacket and a beard. Peter is a kid I knew from my novice dinghy class last spring that I sailed the double handed boats with since we seemed to be figuring it out at the same rate. My instructor has been either Matt or Kregg, guys I know already from sailing club parties and other classes. All of them are nice and have been fine to learn with so far.We have a giant textbook called "The Annapolis Guide to Seamanship." While it's difficult for me to learn sailing from a book, it's still good to get introduced to concepts and terminology.

I'm not sure where this class will take me. If I get a keelboat novice rating, I can take the keelboats out in Lake Washington and Lake Union. I bet it takes more than being in the class to get that rating though, so we'll see how it goes. The thought of being in charge of a boat that big and taking people out who can't help me know what to do, is terrifying. We'll see. Maybe after all 6 weeks I will feel more confident, especially on summer days with no storms brewing.