We're On A Boat...

Our friend and neighbor, David, bought and fell in love with a sailboat that he keeps docked in Annapolis. He’s spent countless hours and unspecified dollars in resurrecting the boat. We’ve often talked of it and the joy it brings him, and he’s invited us to go out for a sail with him many times.

We finally made that happen, and it was fantastic.

David brilliantly invited along another couple, David and Natalie, who have extensive sailing experience. After seeing how much is involved in sailing the 34-foot craft, I was grateful to be able to watch and enjoy the sun and the children and the beauty of the day.

We got to the marina around 11 a.m., the plan being to sail out to a restaurant for lunch, then back home, making for a pleasant outing. The weather was perfect; a little crisp, and sunny.

Crew Member #1: Natalie

We learned over lunch that Natalie is a researcher studying the markers of climate change. We also learned that she’s a fantastic sailor. She’s the one who took the helm for the first part of the trip, and once things had settled down, it was amazing as she would count down to when a gust would buffet the boat. The outbound trip was calm by water-seasoned folks standards, though tippy for landlubbers. Natalie was calm and made it fun even as the boat tilted sideways.

Natalie’s Mate: David, was Mate #2.

And, our David:

We went out under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, then headed back for home. The tide was too low for the float up restaurant, so we ended up at a cute pub back on dry land, and that was an excellent ending to the day.

For the nautical set, we used the spinnaker, which was beautiful. The ride home was amazingly smooth compared to the trip out. I was able to relax on the trip home, and Buds and the kids went up on the top of the boat to enjoy the unrestricted view.

Buds got to captain the boat for much of the trip back…that’s how smooth it was. He received several compliments about his natural feel for the boat.

It was brisk on the water if you were in the wind and not in the sun. Mom had on many layers.

The kids created a sumo wrestler game that brought much laughter from below deck when they bounced off each other wearing their life jackets.

Now that we’ve had a taste of the sailing life, we will jump at the chance to go out again. It was absolutely glorious. Thanks, David!