You know how you feel when you cross the finish line after running a marathon? You don’t? Yeah, me neither. But I imagine it isn’t too far from how I felt Saturday evening after a day sailing with the family on Lake Gaston. I’m still sore from it but there’s a definite smile on my face. It’s a good soreness.
We started planning right after breakfast. Kelly packed the food and dressed the kids while I retrieved the boat from our storage place and got it ready to sail. We were headed north around 11 AM and got to the lake a little after noon. This was our first time launching at this lake (though not the first time sailing) so we had a little time to figure out what to do. Fortunately, rigging the boat came relatively easy and I did it all with a little help from Kelly. About an hour later we had the boat in the water. I motored the boat over to the Naylor’s dock while Kelly parked the car there. She came aboard there and we were off.
The wind was picking up the whole time we were rigging the boat, so I had a feeling we were in for a good sail. After we motored out to the wide part of the lake, I popped up the motor and began raising the sails. After that, it was smooth sailing in every sense of the word. The wind was steady and strong, with some gusts strong enough to scare me into releasing the mainsheet at least three times. We set a course to the eastern end of the lake, where we turned around in front of Eaton Ferry Marina. As luck would have it, the wind back wasn’t as strong as going out – and we were sailing upwind – so we had a more leisurely trip home. I was glad it picked up near the Naylors as I took pride in not putting the motor back in until we were done.
After dropping Kelly and the kids off at the dock, I went back to the ramp to unrig the boat. Kelly did an outstanding job backing the trailer down the ramp, so well that I think she picked up a new responsibility! Another hour or so and the boat was ready for storage.
The family fared very well on the boat. The kids were happier when below as they were freed of their lifevests. Both of them shrieked with delight every time I hit a wake or a good gust heeled the boat over. Both seemed to be unbothered by the rocking and got the hang of balancing fairly quickly. Neither one of them slept any, which would have been nice as Travis for one was getting very clingy towards the end.
I did most of the steering though I did turn it over to Kelly for a bit. Other times she opted to stay below with the kids, sometimes as a result of the strong gusts affecting the boat. When the kids get more comfortable in the cabin, we can relax a bit more and focus instead on the sailing.
This time of year should be good for breezes so the odds are we’ll be out again soon. The boat’s big enough that getting wet isn’t an issue. That should extend our sailing well into the cooler weather.
Our boat’s also big enough that I shouldn’t have to work as hard at sailing it, but I certainly did. The previous two times we’ve sailed, the wind was light enough that I didn’t have to adjust the main sheet at all: just point it into the wind. With the kind of gusts we got Saturday, though, if I didn’t mind the mainsail we would have gotten a taste for just how far our boat will heel! Had I thought about it ahead of time, being on an unfamiliar boat with big gusts of wind and the kids on board might have terrified me. Instead we all did just fine. It shows that as a sailor, I’m more capable than I gave myself credit for. Kelly and the kids are, too.
Oh, and we think we’ve got a name for the boat: Whimsy. It just seems to fit.
Being on the water Saturday made me forget about all the hours I’ve spent this month crammed into a too-small airline seat or locked inside an airport terminal. Now, how many days until the weekend?
