After a week of sleeping and dreaming on the boat on the trailer in the
driveway, I took it for my first sail yesterday on tiny, local Pinto Lake.
Good thing the ramp wasnt crowded. Kept blowing the back-up and having to go
around the parking lot again, to the great entertainment of the picnickers on
shore. Fortunately, my husband who works at the little next door airport
happened to show up, and directly inserted that boat into the water. Next
thing out of his mouth was a reminder to put the tiller under the traveler
while I was placing the rudder, so he was banished back to the airport for
being insufferable. My boat, my learning. He sure knows how to whip a
trailer around, though. When I remarked to the kids how lucky he happened to
show up, they admitted theyd feared never getting out of the parking lot and
had surreptitiously cell-phoned an SOS. So, what the heck, at the end of the
day, we called him again and he hauled the boat out of the water
right smartly. Showed up with hot pizza, too. A wonderful man!
The boat is wonderful, too. My 15-yr-old son took the helm, and declared
himself a natural sailor, conveniently forgetting the one summer of sailing
lessons, and the next summer racing lasers. But the boat, at least in the
light lake wind, does have a way of making you feel like a natural. It tacks
crisply, and has a big boat solid feel combined with little boat
responsiveness. When my 12-yr-old son finished scrubbing the road dust off
the deck, I raised the jib and put him at the helm, and he did very well
despite the distractions of tree-lined-shore wind changes and fighting with
his older brother. A Potter 15 showed up and there was great halloo-ing as
we passed each other up and down the lake. We played around with weight and
balance and each of us took turns for a small nap down below, listening to the
splashings on the hull, and the thumping around of wrestling boys on deck, and
we all agreed wed like to live on board forever. Next purchase: a
swim ladder.
Given my obsession with my new toy, my husband has taken to calling it the
other man, and thinks I should name the boat Francois or Emilio. In that
vein, I think Ive come up with a better name. Im seriously considering
calling it Bob.
Happy sailing!
Grace M15 #478 Bob (maybe)
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