Party Time

I went to a great party with my sailing friends yesterday--had a super time but had to go it alone.  That isn't necessarily a problem, in fact there are two sides to the alone vs. the coupled party.  First I needed to get through all of the questions:  "Where's Xing Fu?"  That took about the first half hour of the party--explaining to all why he wasn't there.  Not a bad thing--this was actually the second party I've been to without him and with our sailing friends.  And even though I'd have preferred him to be there with me, I think there were some advantages to being there alone.  So a little comparison:


With Xing Fu, we'd have been there as a couple & probably interacted more like that with everyone else & certainly we'd have been more into one another.  That is very nice of course, but I think one on one conversations would've been far less & the real stories may not have made it to my ears.  Also the physical interplay with others would've most definitely been less.  You know, the touchy-feely guys, seeing Xing Fu with me would equal no touchie.  And yeah, some of it is ok, but as people get stupider drunk, then of course the inhibitions lessen.  I did very little drinking & mostly stuck to water because I had to drive back up to Baltimore.  I think if Xing Fu was there, I probably would've indulged more.  So score for having him there--both being able to have less attention paid to my physical person & that I may have imbibed a bit more & been fine.  Plus the comfort of his presence & not having to walk around for the first half hour answering questions.  

Without him was also very interesting--I learned a lot about stuff (drama stories--always fun).  Got to meet a ton of folk & had intimate conversations that probably wouldn't have happened.  In fact, may have found a great guy to do my hair who happens to live up here in Baltimore.  As I said before--much more of a hands-on evening--and of course the last folk left at the end of a very late night were the sailors.  Again, I think being alone allowed some people there to be more relaxed with me & I enjoyed that quite a bit.  So which do I prefer?  Ultimately I like to share the party experience with Xing Fu but it was fine without him too.  Good that I enjoy both ways.  Even better was seeing everyone--spent so much time with them over the summer--I miss them since we aren't spending most of our Wednesdays & weekends together anymore.  Love you guys!!!

Screwpile Regatta--Strike Papa

(Solomons Island)

 (Screwpile Lighthouse)

 Nope, not some off-beat sexual position but a sailing regatta that lasts three days on Solomons Island in typical July Chesapeake heat & no wind (or very light air).  Of course, most sailing terms could be considered sexual....but I digress.  I spent 4 days down on Solomons sweating buckets & baking myself in the sun.  But unlike another blog post that I saw (whine, whine, whine) about the regatta, I had an amazing time.  Yeah, it was blistering hot most days & I got pretty dehydrated, & yeah, we had serious equipment failure on day two, but my team rocked!  Especially on day 3 when our crew was down to only four people (6-7 is favored for the J-30). I was just so damn happy to be down there--last year I got bumped off the boat I was to race on less than a week before the race, and on my birthday no less, which majorly sucked--so this year I was greatly anticipating...including the fact that Xing Fu would also be racing.  Altogether a great few days.  

So a recap of sorts:  On Saturday Xing Fu & I drove down to Solomons & pitched a tent (more on this in an upcoming post).  There had been an overnight race from Annapolis to Solomons & a lot of folk were already in, but my boat had just taken Saturday to motor down from the West River.  Sunday was the first day of Screwpile and we knew it was going to be a scorcher--light winds, etc.  But, luckily it was not too bad--we had a good crew on board--6 of us, including a guest appearance from an old buddy of mine--Seamus.  As I've mentioned previously, he is a great sailor & tactician & his joining our team led us to a second place.  It was great fun to catch up with him.  

The entire fleet was divided into 3 courses: North (our fleet), South (Xing Fu's fleet) & West.  Our Race Committee was phenomenal--they really were an excellent team.  I loved hearing them over the radio, "Strike papa, raise delta" just before start for the one minute warning.  My understanding was that not all of the courses had as good an RC.  Our courses were windward-leeward (four legs).  As for my boat--we executed beautifully on day one & ended our day very hot but happy--hopped in the pool at the marina to cool off & then joined the party under the tent at the Holiday Inn.  Big Party--lotsa rum drinks, Spinsheet Birthday--15 years.  I purchased a t-shirt & a long sleeve tech shirt with our boat's name listed along with the other competitor's names on the back.  

Day 2 was not such a good one--we had sustained 18-20 knot winds which is actually really good but as we were reduced to only 5 crew it became very difficult--in addition, we had some problems with equipment namely that our spin halyard broke, the traveller lines broke as well as the boom vang...time to go back & visit Marine West for some needed repairs--we cut our loses after the second race & returned to port--swimming & party--a girl can get used to this.  We also visited a few restaurants on Solomons--I had a great crabcake the second night at Stoney's Kingfishers.

Day Three brought even more challenges--further crew reduction to 4, had to repair the damages, blistering heat--but I gotta say that we kicked ass--not only did we get the boat around the course very well but we put some serious pressure on the leaders--they covered us & watched us quite closely--a tip of the Mount Gay Rum red hat to the underdogs!  Speaking of red hats--as the core 4--we received the red hats for this regatta...nicely earned.  After the last race, we pulled up to another boat in our class & I hopped aboard as we were sailing...had to slow power as much as possible to bring the two boats together but we did & I scrambled on for my ride back to shore as my boat pulled off for the long trek home. 

I must say that I truly enjoyed the entire experience at Screwpile this year & am looking forward already to next year's--Xing Fu says that Screwpile is the height of his sailing summer--he looks forward to it all year--I agree--we had a blast & got a ton of sailing in too.

Believe it or not, I came back for more yesterday--it was the Wednesday Night Series after all. 

Miles Part I

There's a lot going on right now which is bringing up my more ditzy side.  I've been joking lately that I'd do better with my head disconnected from my body as it seems to be getting me into more trouble than not--for example, big race this weekend--Miles River.  Did it last year & really looking forward to it--just not as drunk.  So on Tuesday I emailed the skipper of my boat to ask about taking stuff down with us on Friday (Xing Fu & I are driving two cars down to St Michael's tomorrow & leaving one there with the bags etc., that people want there after the race) & mentioned that I could pack stuff on Wednesday after the race.  The skipper emails me back to say that she's not racing.  Of course, I thought she meant for the Miles race.  So stoopid!  I panic immediately & rush to send off emails to other skippers trying to find a ride for the race.  I email Xing Fu & tell him & he starts sending emails to other skippers too.  Shortly, I get a response from Seamus telling me that a lot of folks have been turned away...not good!  Xing Fu & I have pretty elaborate plans for the weekend which involved having the car down there & possibly camping out that night (find out that Talbot County does not allow camping--some zoning thingy--was on the NOR doc from the Miles River Yacht Club), then returning to Baltimore on Sunday for BFF(J) & Hubby's big Memorial Day Bash.  A little bit later I receive an email from Xing Fu saying he's found me a ride on another boast--yehaw!  Now I don't have to worry....got a boat, plans stay put, all is right with the world.....heh!  As it turns out, if I'd bother to read the original email a little more closely I would have seen that she meant the regular Wednesday race & not the Miles Race.  Now I'm double booked!  And I thought it would be difficult to find a spot...go figure.  But what to do?  Thankfully, the skipper of the new boat understood & I was off the hook, but as I said, what a ditz!  Yeesh!  


Anyway, early tomorrow morning we're off to the Eastern Shore to drop off a car, meet a friend of Xing Fu's for lunch, & then come back up to the West River for the night as I have a 7 AM dock time.  Looking forward to a great time!