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| Annapolis |
WooHoo! It's back! Wednesday Night Racing in Annapolis! And I am so psyched for a new season. I'm on a new boat with a new skipper (very experienced sailor), new crew, & new position. All of us have sailed & raced fairly extensively & it looks to be a good mix of folk. Even more exciting for me is the opportunity to be on main. It makes me more valuable as a crew member in that I have the ability to pretty much slip in wherever needed (my Wednesday night ride doesn't do weekend regattas). Since I don't have a designated boat for the weekend regattas yet, I have to find boats who need crew. Unfortunately Xing Fu & I missed the Crew Listings Party from Spin Sheet last week because my son was in a crew (rowing) regatta in Chestertown. Excited for him to be participating in a great sport that I did competitively in college, but bummed that I couldn't meet skippers looking for crew for sailing in weekend regattas.
But with two races down so far, I'm so happy to be out there learning a new sail. Just hope I can figure it out eventually--and I hope the skipper has patience. The season is young....
Been a nice weekend. It wasn't one that I shared with Xing Fu but doesn't matter so much at this point--had plenty to do. One biggy was meeting up with my crew down in Annapolis for the J-30 one-design awards luncheon. As always, it was great to see everyone--I have found that I miss them quite a lot & am looking forward to April 16th--the first regatta of the season. My calendar is already marked with the major races & my folks already know that this summer they will be taking my son down to North Carolina for camp as that same weekend is Screwpile. As I drove into Annapolis, I looked out over the harbor & it was just a a wee bit depressing seeing very few sticks at AYC & the snowy frost rimming the water...sigh, April is a long way off.
Also spent a nice bit of time with my BFFs--big wine tasting this weekend--major stock-up at one place & of course we finished out out our usual haunt, tasting some really nice cabs. Actually went twice--BFF(J) made me go when all I wanted to do was get a coffee at Starbucks (the wine store is next door) and hustle down to Annapolis in time for the luncheon. So I tried a few in a real rush & then at leisure after the luncheon when I came back. This year there weren't so many sold out by the end of the day so we didn't miss much. But as usual it was just great being with my friends--all of them this weekend--wish I didn't need to go back to work--I wanna sail! But, the Ravens won--woohoo!
It has been hella-hot around the B-more area these past few days--so much so that BCPS(S) has closed summer programs for the past 2 days (I'm not complaining but I don't get paid on the summer days that I don't work) and it has been nice to just have to focus on getting the kid packed for camp. We leave to take him to camp on Saturday & it should be an interesting & fun trip. And then next weekend is Screwpile...more on that later. It will be less than a week that I see my kid--back now from France (he had an amazing time) & off to camp for a month on Saturday...must be nice. I'll miss him but he'll continue to have an amazing summer.
So last night was a Wednesday race evening. And did we race???? No way! Well, mebbe....It was so hot with a spotty breeze--my skipper pulled up in her little runabout powerboat stuffed full of water skis, a board, & a big tube & said that she'd rather swim & ski--how did the crew feel? Some of us were game to race (Xing Fu & myself, along with others who, if pressed may have acquiesced), but we then thought about the downwind leg & decided that perhaps tooling around in a motorboat was far more preferable than bobbing on a hot sailboat for hours. I had brought my suit in anticipation that the race may be called & we'd swim so I was all set..changed on the sailboat & dove in...it was a great evening--team building a bit, a bunch of sailors enjoying an evening on the water. We motored over to the start with our PHRF B flag flying & registered for the race & then went around to our competition hitting them with a watergun. Later, after we'd tubed & skied, as we watched the boats begin to die on the downwind leg as predicted, we decided that for once we'd finish the race in first place. One of our crew got on the water skis & flew the PHRF B flag from his hand as we crossed the finish line & got the gun from the RC. Finally, a first in our class--without the spinnaker!!! We finished the evening at the skipper's house for a bbq. She had brought back pre-mixed Dark n' Stormys from Bermuda--they came in soda cans--very cool & quite good for a pre-done drink. Looking forward to Screwpile & 3 days of craziness on the water with my boat. But it isn't a total loss this week--Xing Fu & I will be racing Friday on a new boat for the AYC Beer Can series. Non-spin, but still racing...
