Here Comes the Sun: Day 1 - Friday

One of the advantages of buying and sailing a boat in winter is that your expectations are quickly tempered.  I hear talk of people learning to sail in the Caribbean and I can only imagine what that's like.  I have no idea what it is to sail on my boat in just shorts and a t-shirt.  And so it is that with the arrival of a sunny Easter weekend, I feel blessed.  I should say that this was no ordinary weekend.  Easter in Vancouver is often quite nice but this year we were treated to glorious sunshine and temperatures approaching 20 degrees.

My first sail was on Good Friday with David.  We had contemplated taking advantage of the long weekend to do something more than day sailing but both of us were overdue for some quality time with our ladies so day sailing it was.  Friday morning was gorgeous.  Then again, as we sail deeper and deeper into spring, each outing seems to top the last.

We motored into English Bay to find the West side filled with sails of all descriptions.  At first I thought this was just a random boaters taking advantage of the first really nice weather of the year but David explained that it was the start of a yacht race called Southern Straits, sponsored by West Vancouver Yacht Club.  They start at Dunderave pier in West Vancouver and depending which course they have chosen, sail to Nanaimo or further North and back to Halibut Bank.  These were serious boats with sails made out of some kind of high tech material.  The dudes all seemed very serious as we passed the starting point and I was just as happy not to be among them.

After fiddling around near Lighthouse Park trying to spot a friends house on the shore, we raised the sails and tried to find wind.  For a while it was slow going but we consoled ourselves by noting another sailboat off our bow that was similarly bobbing around.  Soon though, the wind freshened and with a few tweaks to the sail trim we were clipping along nicely.  We quickly overtook our nearby friends and passed them with a wave and a friendly comment - one of the little pleasantries that boaters observe (although more so it seems, on sunny days).  As we left them astern we were more than a little pleased with ourselves at having actually passed someone while under sail.  Maybe we are starting to get the hang of this...

David was up for another Burger at Bowen Island Pub and I wasn't about to argue so after a couple of hours of fine sailing we pulled into Snug cove and found one of the last spots at the government wharf. We later learned that Union Steamship Marina in Snug Cove had been fully booked for months.  90 minutes later we slipped our moorings and headed toward home.  Davids eyes had been bigger than his stomach so he was groaning and complaining about how full he was but he refused to go below for nap.

As usual, on the long downwind run back toward the Lions Gate Bridge we both settled into our own thoughts and stared off to the horizon, contemplating the growing cityscape before us and the snow-capped mountains to our left, bathed in the waning sun of another perfect day.