Barely Bearing

This Friday I embraced a new wave of experience, one that quite literally could have flung me into deep waters had it not gone smoothly. I went sailing. On a sailboat. With sailors from the university sailing club. In fact, I might just be joining this group for competitions, or regattas, as these water sport competitions are apperantly called.

How did I manage to get into sailing, you may wonder. Well, I was having a text conversation with my friend Nolan, which led to him telling me about his travels with the sailing club he had joined this semester to different cities for regattas. I expressed interest in sailing, and he provided a way to join.

All I did was go to a meeting last Monday, fill out a form, do a basic swimming test at the pool last Wednesday, and go to the lake on Friday to test out the water. And it was cold. It was around 35 degrees outside plus wind chill, plus cold water being splashed onto my body. Those sailboats don't block the water waves much. I mean, I wasn't expecting to be that close to the water. I could literally stick my hand right into the water. All I've ever been on are a couple of cruise boats and a couple of motorboats, so I was subconsciously expecting protection from the waves, but sailboats are on such a smaller scale!

Only 3 people fit comfortably on the boat I went on (called 'The Gurth'). I was a crew member, a guy Randall being the other crew member, and this guy Ben was the skipper (the main dude). There is so much jargon that was thrown at me that I'm sure I'll eventually remember. I now know that the ropes are called lines and that they control the two sails. How exactly they control it is difficult to figure out. There are way to many lines to trace. I was in charge of the 'jib line' which controlled the direction of one of the sails. It had a name, but all I can remember it as is the not main sail. Initially I got to connect the not main sail onto the boat. I simply snapped a few buttons to connect to a wire.

Being out on the lake should have felt more liberating. I blame the bad weather and my runny nose. I didn't feel the cold too much until about halfway into the sailing adventure, the whole adventure totaling to about 4 miles. What was really fun was that we sailed under a huge bridge. Every now and again Randall would take the camera he had brought out it's pouch and snap a few shots of the water, or of Ben or me. I'm surprised he wasn't afraid to ruin it, cause apperantly turning over a boat happens fairly often.

We ended up having a bit of a mishap near the end of the sailing trip. It was not due to my novice inabilities, however. As we were nearing the port, skipper Ben told crew member Randall to untie the line that held the not main sail, but he accidentally untied the line to the main sail. Not good. In fact, the main sail almost landed straight on my back. It fell right behind my back, however, and it was like a huge sheet had been thrown over my head. Eventually, Randall retied the line for the main sail and had that up in running. But by that time we were headed too long in the same direction and were a few seconds away from hitting the side of the port. There was nothing to do but brace for impact. So the Gurth hit and then we assessed damage, which wasn't all too bad, considering it won't affect the performance of the sailboat. It looks horrid, like a gnarled tooth right at the front of the boat. It gives it personality, though. Sort of like a pirate with pointy, misshapen teeth. It's lived a little.

So finally, we parked the sailboat. Or whatever the term for boat parking is. Then began the dismemberment of the parts. Taking down all the sails and untying lines took so much longer. Or maybe it was a false perception due to the shivering.

I felt a bit wimpy in comparison to the rest of the sailing club members. They took the cold weather like champs. I was barely able to bear it. Right after I got off the Gurth I was chatting with the Vice President of the club and I asked "Where is the warm?" wanting to go sit by some heating system and dry off. He told me "The warmth is in your heart. We're sailors." Until the sun starts shining brighter, a sailor's life is not for me.