Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Sailing

These are Mercury Sailboats from CBI on the Charles.  I know I've used this photo before, from here....

In high school, I was on the sailing team for all four years.  And before that I sailed Mercury's at CBI for a summer or two, and on Sunfish at sleep-away camp, and before that, I learned to sail on Rhodes 19's in Boston Harbor.
There's just something about being on the water, about basically hanging off the side of the boat, pulling as tightly as you can, about that lovely humming of the centreboard when you're going really really fast.  I love sailing - I love the freedom of just hanging out and talking to my friends on the water on non-race days, I love the exhilaration of a race in a 420 with my skipper Nate, I love the satisfaction of a perfectly executed roll tack and the complete awareness it takes to sail well on a really windy day on the Charles.  The wind in your hair, the spray jumping up, the sting of the ropes in your palm - I love all of it.
This will be my first year in a while of not getting a full sailing season in - and probably no sailing this summer, either.  Honestly, the Seine is a little small to sail on, and it's not like there's an ocean nearby, so I guess I'll wait until I get home or get to university to sail again.
I'm going to university in Portland, and my uncle lives in Seattle and sails, so maybe on weekends when I don't have too much homework, I can visit him and get my sailing fix that way... he has a much bigger boat than the 12 and 15-foot long dinghies I'm used too, though...
Do any of you sail?  Do you like it?

6 comments:

  1. Wow! That's awesome. We recently sold our sailboat, and I didn't know how to sail :( You could have taught me! If I didn't get so nauseous on the water, it would be more fun haha.

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  2. Haha, yes, I could!
    You can still sail - if you live in Boston, CBI (Community Boating) offers pretty reasonable rates and teach you how to sail - they're probably better at it than I am, anyways...
    Do you get nauseated in sailboats or on bigger boats or both?

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  3. Yes, always nauseous :( Even in cars if I'm not driving.
    I live in Toronto but if I'm ever back in Boson, you'll be the first to know hahaha :)

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  4. Oh, that's awful; I'm sorry!
    Maybe if you were sailing it - the way that you're not sick if you're driving?
    Do let me know - we'll sail sometime!

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  5. You might be on to something; cool!! Thanks for the offer Bronwyn!

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