Canarsian!
As I'd mentioned in the last post, I'd made a decision to garden rather than paddle. That was a bit of a tough call - if you've been reading this blog for very long, you'll know that I really like traditions like New Year's Day paddles and Escapes from Black Friday (by land or by sea, either one's a million zillion times better than shopping), and the Opening Day paddle is definitely one of those. However, I'd actually gotten out both of the weekends before that, one very short one before the kayak committee potluck on the 7th, and then a 14 mile solo which was my first ever attempt at finding a whale in my kayak. More on that in a trip report later. I didn't find the whale but the long paddle was very satisfying, just what I'd been aching for for weeks, so I wasn't feeling quite as much like I NEEDED to paddle as I sometimes do this time of year.
Saturday was just a perfect day for gardening, and we're getting to the time of year when I really like to get the garden going, so that's what I ended up doing, and that was satisfying too. Anyways, there were plenty of other boats out on the water, nobody organized a paddle but some independent paddlers went out, the CCNY Concrete Canoe Team was practicing sprints near the dock (they look good this year!), and some of the sailors went out. While all of these other things were going on, some club members under the direction of Jim L. (who's both a sailing committee co-chair and the head of the boatbuilding group) went next door to the Diamond Point Yacht Club to put the club's Point Comfort 23 safety boat, Canarsian, back in the water for the season.
After the potluck and general meeting, I was sitting with Barbara, our relatively new membership chair, as she signed up some new members who'd joined us. Sebago's modernized enough that there are now administrative things that can be done on tablets on site, instead of people filling out paper forms and somebody then needing to type all of their info into the club database. Barbara hadn't used the tablet for sign-in before, and although I couldn't really offer to help I did offer to sit with her and offer moral support.
Well, that lasted until somebody came through saying that Patrick was taking Canarsian out for a spin. Boat ride? Out on the water for opening day after all? Heck yeah! Poor Barbara, so much for moral support from me, I was up and grabbing a PFD off the clubhouse rack with apologies, but without a moment's hesitation.
Saturday was just a perfect day for gardening, and we're getting to the time of year when I really like to get the garden going, so that's what I ended up doing, and that was satisfying too. Anyways, there were plenty of other boats out on the water, nobody organized a paddle but some independent paddlers went out, the CCNY Concrete Canoe Team was practicing sprints near the dock (they look good this year!), and some of the sailors went out. While all of these other things were going on, some club members under the direction of Jim L. (who's both a sailing committee co-chair and the head of the boatbuilding group) went next door to the Diamond Point Yacht Club to put the club's Point Comfort 23 safety boat, Canarsian, back in the water for the season.
After the potluck and general meeting, I was sitting with Barbara, our relatively new membership chair, as she signed up some new members who'd joined us. Sebago's modernized enough that there are now administrative things that can be done on tablets on site, instead of people filling out paper forms and somebody then needing to type all of their info into the club database. Barbara hadn't used the tablet for sign-in before, and although I couldn't really offer to help I did offer to sit with her and offer moral support.
Well, that lasted until somebody came through saying that Patrick was taking Canarsian out for a spin. Boat ride? Out on the water for opening day after all? Heck yeah! Poor Barbara, so much for moral support from me, I was up and grabbing a PFD off the clubhouse rack with apologies, but without a moment's hesitation.
Because I have seen Canarsian from here...
and from here...
and from here...
and even from here, back when the boatbuilding group was first putting her together --
But because rides on Canarsian are generally being given on open house type days, when I'm making myself useful helping out with kayak or war canoe trips for our guests, this was my first time seeing Canarsian from HERE!
A fantastic finish to Opening Day!
7 comments:
I like it. Mind you, it's pretty tough pulling people out of the water from a rigid boat. That's why we use zodiacs. Still, I like it! ;)
Yeah, Zodiacs are great for swimmers both intentional and accidental. I haven't actually done race committee on the Canarsian yet so I don't know what the plan for fishing people out of the water is. The sailing committee co-chairs are pretty safety-conscious, though, so I'm sure they've got something in mind for that.
Nice looking boat though, isn't she?
what a sleek little boat!! looks like a great day.
Hoping to get out on the water this weekend....that itch is contagious!!
We have a little ladder that hooks the side...
Patrick, is that you? Thanks! That's what I was guessing, some sort of swim ladder.
Laura, thanks! Our boatbuilding committee had a great time building her. When the original planning was going on I was sort of hoping to get involved, but that ended up being the summer I found my breast cancer and everything else kind of went by the wayside . They were still working on her by the time I finished chemo and I could've joined in, it was clear that anyone from the club who wanted to help was welcome, but they seemed to have a really nice working group going and I got kind of stupidly shy about it. I do that sometimes.
I'm definitely hoping to get involved in the next project, Canoe-Buildin' Uncle up in Michigan will be so proud! More on that in another post.
The gardening season started late. I'm trying to catch up myself. And the water is still COLD!
Spring had a bumpy start, didn't it?
I'm actually hoping this rain and pleasant temperatures will get all the weeds going so I can do a good round of weeding without having to worry about telling weedlings from seedlings.
I did get out for my annual not-so-polar polar bear swim on Sunday. I still don't understand how folks do it in January! Water was still very cold, even the Bears were saying so, but the sun was lovely.
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