Training and Sailing

It's safe to say that after a frustrating wait, I had my fill of boat time this past week.  First, David and I took the day off on Wednesday to sail, reasoning that it would be the only nice day for a while.  By the end of that day we had made arrangements to have an instructor from Cooper Boating to spend the day with us on Saturday.  We spent the morning in False Creek reviewing anchoring procedures.  This brought the boat home even more for me, given that I live on False Creek and watch the boats mill about every day.  I have dreamed for years of being out there and looking back up at our condo from the water.

We tied up at Granville Island for breakfast and lunch - another milestone.  For most people, part of the attraction of Granville Island is watching all of the boats that tie up there.  It was kind of novel to see Ge'Mara tied up at the docks and the tourists taking pictures of her.

In the afternoon we did some more anchoring in English Bay.  The weather turned out to be spectacular for February.  The skies cleared and 10 degrees C.  We spent the balance of the day running through miscellaneous procedures that needed some practice such as reefing the main and heaving to.  I called Brenda from the boat and asked her to pick up some steaks for and red wine for dinner.  What more can you ask for in a day?

At the beginning of this blog I mentioned a good friend who convinced me to learn to learn to sail with him.  It's a little ironic that I turned out to be the one to buy the sailboat in the end.  Strangely, after having the boat for a month or so he still hadn't been out so he and I spend Sunday together sailing in light winds and celebrating every time we broke 5 knots.  When the wind finally died we were off Pt. Atkinson.  Instead of immediately motoring home we hove to and bobbed around for a while, pondering the future to come - me with my boat and he with twins only weeks away from being born.  There's something about sitting quietly on the water that is very conducive to reflection.

As I type this Monday morning I can still feel the movement of the water, a testament to how much boat time I had this weekend.  Time to re-focus on work and my very patient girlfriend.