and for my next trick (trip??)...
... i will magically transform myself into a sailor, acquire a boat, and follow the winds around the world, chasing summer, and generally living the life.
admittedly, the last two days have been a small taste, but i'm a quick learner. and if i thought it sounded good in abstract before, i'm quite certain now that i am meant for the cruising life.
it probably helps that i had fantastic hosts. my sister had forwarded me an email that some friends of theirs, currently cruising, were in nz. after a quick exchange of emails, we realized that we were both in the same place. so i showed up at the boat club with a description of their boat and inquired to another couple on the dock. the man was just telling me how i would need to paddle or swim around to find the boat, when the woman asked, "have you tried the yahoo?" "huh?" and she starts shouting "YAA-HOOOO" and sure enough, a few minutes later there was bruce and tiffany rowing towards me. unbelievable. they invited me to dinner that night, and then to go sailing overnight the following day.
i think i've only been on a sailboat once before, back in north dakota when i was in high school. i LOVED everything about the last two days on the boat. the first day, we headed out of russell, to one of the islands that was largely public lands. when we arrived, the little bay was swarming with tourist boats and dolphin cruises but they had largely cleared out by the time we finished a late lunch. we had a good swim from the boat, watched a giant ray hanging out under us, then swam ashore, explored a couple of lagoons, layed on the beach examining all the shells, hiked up to the top for a view...
it was a gorgeous starry night so i slept on deck. after a relaxing morning, we pulled up the anchor and sailed around another of the small islands in the bay. anchored in a little cove for lunch again, and then sailed back to russell around mid-afternoon.
mostly i worked hard at trying to stay out of the way, but bruce did humor me with some "pull that rope" sort of tasks. but i'm still convinced that i could pick it up. i think i've nearly got the lifestyle already; it'd just be that boat operation bit... and a little vocabulary...
admittedly, the last two days have been a small taste, but i'm a quick learner. and if i thought it sounded good in abstract before, i'm quite certain now that i am meant for the cruising life.
it probably helps that i had fantastic hosts. my sister had forwarded me an email that some friends of theirs, currently cruising, were in nz. after a quick exchange of emails, we realized that we were both in the same place. so i showed up at the boat club with a description of their boat and inquired to another couple on the dock. the man was just telling me how i would need to paddle or swim around to find the boat, when the woman asked, "have you tried the yahoo?" "huh?" and she starts shouting "YAA-HOOOO" and sure enough, a few minutes later there was bruce and tiffany rowing towards me. unbelievable. they invited me to dinner that night, and then to go sailing overnight the following day.
i think i've only been on a sailboat once before, back in north dakota when i was in high school. i LOVED everything about the last two days on the boat. the first day, we headed out of russell, to one of the islands that was largely public lands. when we arrived, the little bay was swarming with tourist boats and dolphin cruises but they had largely cleared out by the time we finished a late lunch. we had a good swim from the boat, watched a giant ray hanging out under us, then swam ashore, explored a couple of lagoons, layed on the beach examining all the shells, hiked up to the top for a view...
it was a gorgeous starry night so i slept on deck. after a relaxing morning, we pulled up the anchor and sailed around another of the small islands in the bay. anchored in a little cove for lunch again, and then sailed back to russell around mid-afternoon.
mostly i worked hard at trying to stay out of the way, but bruce did humor me with some "pull that rope" sort of tasks. but i'm still convinced that i could pick it up. i think i've nearly got the lifestyle already; it'd just be that boat operation bit... and a little vocabulary...
posted by bethany @ 5:03 PM
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