“Sailing Away “

“Well it’s not far back to sanity, at least it’s not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away and find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see
Believe me”

Does anyone remember this Christopher Cross song? Well wind and miracles are two key words from this past Saturday.

Friday night I took our daughter to piano lessons. I decided to go to a near by bar called Hanover’s to study for my class and have a cold beer. I arrived and ran into an old friend (So much for studying). I was not quite in the mood for Guinness, so I compromised with a Black and Tan. My friend and I started conversing when one of his co-workers arrived. Very pleasant conversation; however, my friend made a rude comment to me. Last time I had seen him he had done a similar thing. I calming let it roll off my shoulders and ordered a Bass. Needless to say I am not sure this individual falls into the category of friend.

I left in a rush to pick up our daughter. She was a little upset because she was missing open house at her school. We quickly headed toward the school, but I knew we would not make it in time. The cell phone rang and it was my better half. I think she is psychic. “Honey we are going to go out to eat” with the K family and the H family. “Sounds great honey”! We went to Serrano’s Mexican Café. The main reason I mention this is for all of you parents out there in Austin land. Kids eat free Wednesday through Sunday with the purchase of an adult meal. This ends August 31st, so enjoy. Six adults drinking and 6 goofy children made for a great time, especially since I had an early start with 2 imperial pints.

OK Now to Saturday! I got up reasonably early because I had a long list of honey-do’s. I had permission to go sailing in the afternoon, but I HAD to accomplish certain honey-do’s. I cleaned the gutters! Now that was fun hanging on to the eve’s of the house for dear life and getting poked in the rear-end by spirea bushes. Yee-Ha! Next I did the normal yard beautification project of edge, mow, and trim. Finally I did my most favorite chore of pulling weeds for 2 plus hours. In total I spend about 4.0 hours in the hot Texas heat. Oh wait there is more! I come in from the hot sun and wet mop the floors. I did win the prize in that I could go sailing.

Remember the last time I went sailing there was no wind. This time there was wind and we are going to race. I had never participated in a regatta and I had no earthly clue what is expected of me, but here I am part of a three person crew on a 26 foot sailboat called Vitamin Sea. It is quite an amazing site watching 40 or so boats tacking back and forth across the lake vying for position and perfect access to the starting line. Mr. D our captain definitely had a plan.

The horn blasts into the air from the starters boat and 2 seconds later we zip past the starting line and the race is on. I believe there were 5-6 boats in our flight. I quickly learned my role with respect to the tacking maneuver. Back and forth we went, heading for the first buoy. We are battling it out for first place. The other boat cut directly in front of us twice. If you ask me just a little to close for comfort, but I was informed that that was part of the adventure. Around the first buoy we go, then we head toward the dam and the second buoy. We are still in a very tight race, but things are looking good. The other boat gets around the second buoy just ahead of us. At this point the wind is at our backs and we need to use the spinnaker. Check it out I know some sailing terms! FYI – Spinnaker is the huge and colorful sail. The other team got their spinnaker up with out a problem. Let’s just say we mucked up. First mate M was cursing and there I was not having a clue as to how I could help. Finally we get things straightened out, but now we are way behind.

We head to the third buoy. As we rounded this buoy we mucked up again. This time I had a little part in the fiasco. Captain D had asked me to steer the boat. Heck I did not know you move the rudder right to go left and left to go right. I think that is correct, but I was so confused. I did not do a good job, so I did not keep the wind in the sails like we are supposed to. I think somewhere in this chaos I received a rope burn on my middle finger. I was even wearing gloves! Another mistake and even further behind, but now we are in third place. Captain D is not happy!

You think this is fun! Just wait!

We head back to the buoy by the damn. This time we are ready for the spinnaker move. We executed it flawlessly. Got team! Soon we are back in second place. The really cool part is that we have to go the entire length of Lake Travis on this leg of the race. We got to relax a little bit and have a drink. I was not up for beer after Friday night. I slammed down a bottle of water. It was hot out on the lake, but we were to busy to really notice. Let me tell you working a sailboat is no picnic.

We seem to be making up some ground on the first place boat. I learned that we have to actually spot that team time, since we have a larger keel. I think the keel is the thingy under the boat. We are relaxing and enjoying the ride and it was a beautiful day. The third place boat was nowhere in site. We prepare to round the final buoy, so the spinnaker must come down. Captain D had given me some pointers. My role was to grab the spinnaker and get into the boat as quickly as possible. I stretched out and grabbed the proper rope and pulled handfuls of sail as fast as I possibly could. Then I grabbed the rope for the Genoa (smaller sail) and hoisted it up as quickly as possible. We did it flawlessly as we rounded the final buoy.

Then this look on my face appeared! “Holy shit!” Looking toward the finish line we see this wall of grey clouds. I mean a huge wall! Before we had time to breath the sky opened up, dumping buckets of giant rain drops. The wind increased at least by 3 times. The sailboat is almost on its side. I am clinging on for dear life. Captain D starts yelling “Get the Genoa down Get the Genoa down!” Instinctively I climb up onto the deck of the boat. The damn Genoa will not come down. If feels like we are about to flip over. First mate M and I are frantically trying to bring down that sail, but the wind was not cooperating. I grabbed onto the mast. I leaned out as far as I possibly could. I was able to grab onto the bottom of the Genoa. We tugged and pulled. Finally the sail came down and we stuffed it onto the front deck of the boat. Next thing we know Captain is yelling “Get the Genoa up! Get the Genoa up!” The storm had ended and by some miracle we are only a couple hundred yards behind the lead boat. We quickly jump into action and get the sail back up. We are now heading for the finish line. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky and it was almost a complete rainbow. Wow that is also a miracle! And I am thinking to myself it is a miracle that my fat butt did not end up in the lake. It is a miracle that the boat did not capsize. One boat in the regatta apparently was not so lucky and it had been flipped over. The regatta sponsors had to pull someone out of the water. Everyone was OK!

The wind on the Lake was now tranquil and almost non-existent. We finished in second place about one minute behind the first place boat. Needless to say the Vitamin Sea would remain in first place over-all. There are six races total. I certainly hope to race again. The second half of the race was nearly flawless.

We ended up meeting my wife and kids at Johnny Carino’s, where I quickly slammed down 3 huge glasses of water and to huge root beers. Man I was thirsty!

What a great time! I can not help but think someone was watching over us. I got one message very loud and clear. “Wear a life jacket next time you idiot!” I probably will not listen to that voice, but it is probably sound advice. Give me that next list of honey do’s, because I am ready do experience it all over again! The other lesson I learned is that “Yes Honey, I am out of shape!” Let’s just say I was a little sore in the legs and arms on Monday.

Sunday we had some friends over for a light dinner and dessert. We had goat cheese and roasted red bell pepper sandwiches. We had a great visit!

Kids started school this week without a hitch. Our son started kindergarten and is really excited. He eagerly wakes up to get ready to go to school. Soccer season will soon be upon us, so we will have something going on every night of the week. For the first time in 9 years my wife and I do not have to work split shifts. It is really nice to have all four of us sit down to dinner every night. We still might have 3 different means, but that is a different story.

I have managed to play a little poker her and there, but nothing exciting. I do get tired of people complaining about the flaws of a given site or the way you played a hand. I guess that comes with the territory. I did manage to get a straight flush on my cell phone video poker.

Sail on!