Sailing didn't make it onto the List Of Things I Didn't Do Enough Of Last Summer And Hope To Do More Of This Summer, but it could've been on there. Glad to have gotten out on a Sunfish for a while today!
Originally there was supposed to be a special joint Sailing Cruise/Sea Kayak Paddle where the kayakers met the sailors out at Ruffle Bar, the usual lunch break spot for the sailing cruises. That was going to be on Saturday but ended up being called off due to high risk of thunderstorms. The storms never seemed to materialize, but that's just not something you gamble with.
The original weekend plan was clean Saturday (I'm never gonna be a Kondo convert, I like my stuff, but at this point in my life I've got more things than places for things, so in addition the get myself back in shape, I'm also trying to get the apartment back in shape, it's a nice place but there are a lot of random piles of things here and there), sail Sunday. When Saturday's sail got cancelled, I did get some good stuff done around the house. Sunday's planning got a little silly at that point - first I thought about paddling, then the Porch Stomp music and dance festival on Governor's Island, then I got practical and was going to go hit some used furniture stores in search of a large bookshelf (the random piles are primarily composed of stray books that followed me home, a friend very aptly described that as an "occupational hazard" for folks in publishing, so a bookshelf would really help), then about ten minutes later I saw an email talking about sailing and my nice sensible furniture shopping plans went out the window. Ever have a weekend like that? Jeeze. But I'd really been looking forward to sailing so I was really happy that that was where things ended up.
And then there were even more changes of plans when we got to the club on Sunday - there were scary big slate-gray clouds looming, there'd been more storms forecast for the late afternoon, and it was only 2 pm, but it looked like the front had maybe arrived early. This being my first sail of the season, I wasn't sure I would be ready to handle high winds, so I decided to scratch the sailing. I wavered between weeding my garden and getting out my surfski for a bit and eventually got as far on the latter plan as getting out my surfski and putting it on the dock.
My thought there was that I would stay in the basin and be able to scuttle back to the club if thing started looking hairy. I suppose I could've done that with a Sunfish, too, but the surfski's just so much simpler.
Then just as I was getting my lifejacket and wing paddle out of the container, the heavens opened and everybody's plans went on hold for a bit (top photo).
And then there were even more changes of plans when we got to the club on Sunday - there were scary big slate-gray clouds looming, there'd been more storms forecast for the late afternoon, and it was only 2 pm, but it looked like the front had maybe arrived early. This being my first sail of the season, I wasn't sure I would be ready to handle high winds, so I decided to scratch the sailing. I wavered between weeding my garden and getting out my surfski for a bit and eventually got as far on the latter plan as getting out my surfski and putting it on the dock.
My thought there was that I would stay in the basin and be able to scuttle back to the club if thing started looking hairy. I suppose I could've done that with a Sunfish, too, but the surfski's just so much simpler.
Then just as I was getting my lifejacket and wing paddle out of the container, the heavens opened and everybody's plans went on hold for a bit (top photo).
And then the downpour finished pouring down and it got beautiful!
One of the other sailors checked radar and confirmed that we had a decent window before anything else blew in. So I put my surfski away (poor boat, I promised it that it would get a turn before too much longer - at least it got some fresh air and a nice bath!) and saddled up a Sunfish instead and it was lovely.
All pictures after this - click for a slideshow view!
All pictures after this - click for a slideshow view!
4 comments:
Yay!! Friday was our sail day here, after boat cleaning! Lol!
Seems to me you should get a bookshelf as part of your work compensation!
Oh, yes, wouldn't that be appropriate? "Welcome to the Really Big Children's Publishing Company. Here is your bookcase."
I learned the wind can be your friend or your worse nightmare when I used to windsurf. Several unexpected situations arose like the one when I had to lay on the board and paddle with my arms for hours just to get back to shore. It was dark and I just kept my eyes trained on the tiny light on shore. Adventure! Glad you had a great day! Brenda
Yeah! Much rather be in my kayak if something's going to blow up on me, I just don't have the confidence as a sailor. I was so happy I was able to get out, though. Ended up being a really good first sail - we didn't have any particular destination, so I just went out and sailed back and forth around the navigation markers outside the basin. Excellent warmup.
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