The bright side

Sunday was a disaster of epic proportions. And if you want to know all the many ways it went wrong, you need only read about it on Suddenly Single Journey, where I liken the experience to Gilligan's Island. Oh, but I don't want to focus on all the bad things that happened. Instead, I want to share the good stuff, too.

See, I love the water. I have always loved the water. And when we started this little adventure, we could see ourselves tooling around on a sailboat and really relaxing. At least, that is how I always imagined it.

Sam, apparently he thought that way, too. We would talk about sailing around the Caribbean and how I could be working online while he steered us in the right direction. After actually spending a day sailing, neither of us is so sure it's going to be that way anymore.

Sailing is actually a bit of work. And I seemed to bear the brunt of it as we sailed.

The Catalina that we took out was significantly smaller than Lancer, the set up is completely different, and I felt a whole less secure on it since there are no railings on it. See, I had to handle the sails. It was my responsibility to raise the jib and the main. I had to walk out to the bow while the boat was moving and undo the bungee around the jib then raise it and secure it. The main had to be untied in three spots, then raised and secured also. That was way less scary.

I learned how to tack. I just have to remember to be more vocal. I kept forgetting to say ready. I would just look at Sam and Buddy expectantly while holding the jib sheet. My bad.

Oh, but there is so much to love about sailing. It was so peaceful out on the water. It was absolutely perfect. I love the smell of the salt air. There were porpoises. I kept saying dolphins, but was corrected repeatedly. And Sam just smiled at me every time.

We saw the sunset. We saw the moon rise. We did what I was afraid to do: night sailing. I had read so much about it from others that I knew it could be dangerous. Things can happen night sailing, bad things, when you can't see where you're going and the only light provided is by stars and the moon. Luckily, our moon was full and we weren't that far from shore at any given time. We didn't head out to the open sea this trip.

Sam and I had spoken about sailing much in the days before. He had warned me that I needed to be serious. It's not that I'm not serious. I knew exactly what he meant. I have this way of being clumsy and making mistakes. Instead of getting upset about them, I just giggle. Sam usually finds it to be both amusing and charming, but he knew that a sailing lesson was serious. So did I. This is our future we're talking about.

There was no giggling. And I have to tell you, I was really proud of myself. Not because of the giggling, but because of how much I learned, how hard I worked, and how much out of my comfort zone I was. I never saw sailing as something particularly athletic. Now, I see it differently. And apparently, I'm something of a natural despite the fact that I'm not particularly athletic.

Buddy and Sam were talking and I heard him say that he could tell I had been on sailboats before....only I haven't. And I took to the knots fairly quickly. I can tie off really well at the cleat. And I surprised even myself with my ability to jump off the boat and onto the dock from pretty big distances when we were docking. I had to man the bow line. It was scary.

Still, none of my fears came true. I stayed dry, for the most part. I didn't get hit with the boom. (I was way too short for that.) And I didn't make a total fool of myself. Heck, I was even good!

I can't wait to go again. I want to learn everything, soak up all the knowledge I can. I'm ready for our adventure to begin.