Jay invited me out sailing on Walkabout wednesday. I had just pulled Sea Puppy out of the water for the year the day before and was feeling pretty down about it. He’s a good friend.. He came and helped me put Sea Puppy on her trailer and take the mast down. The next day he took me out sailing to cheer me up. 🙂 It worked.
The wind built from about 8 knots till it was blowing a steady 15 to 17 knots true. Walkabout just dug in and flew, as the wind built we did a steady 8 to 9 knots boat speed…. with flat seas that built to about 2.5 ft or so as the wind built it was a nice ride.
What a neat feeling it is to see land disappear over the horizon. It just doesnt sound right to say it. You would think that seeing land disappear would be a bad thing. It was more of a feeling of freedom though.. With thoughts of far destinations, or even more so, thoughts of a long ocean voyage.
It was just Jay, Zasnic and I. To be honest Jay did most of the sailing and that was minimal. We ran a straight course out from the coast of about 175 degrees or so for a little over 16 miles. Most of the day was spent watching the fishing poles on the stern or just laying back in the cockpit with your eyes closed feeling the rise and fall of the boat as she powered over the swells. A few times you would look up and notice a fishing pole bent over with a small spanish mackerel on it. We would motivate enough to reel it in and net the fish and then go right back to our comfortable corners to relax back into the oceans’ motion again. I can close my eyes and if I concentrate, I feel it now.. the wind over my face as I lay back with eyes closed, the rhythmic feel of the boat rising and falling to a swell that probably started a thousand miles away.
I didn’t take any pictures, even if I had had my camera I don’t think I would have taken any pictures. It was a day for living not recording.
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