Inspiration vs. Perspiration (Maiden Voyage)

Propelled by the invisible, yet all pervading power of WIND, we sailed Me Voy! Magical ride. OK well, if you want to get picky about it, we did rely on Tow Jamm to get out of our tight little spot in the Oxford Marina, but, after that, it was all wind, all the way.

Now I don't know much about sailing and I still have that slightly woozy surreal feeling when I look at Me Voy floating in the water but, it seems, just seems, that sailing is about 90% inspiration and 10%perspiration.

(Not counting that stanky odor of hard work,that went into getting her this far, of course) What I mean is, sailing was actually relaxing, and pleasant, and fun. There were moments of intense activity, like when we touched bottom once and everyone sprang to action. But unlike our one past sailing experience where we knew nothing about anything, and freaked out at the smallest heel of the boat, no one freaked out about anything on this trip, and we all worked together to keep her on track.No wonder really old people can do this! (If there are any really old people reading this, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about really old people... )

Don't get me wrong, I know there will be times when I will want to go below and suck my thumb in a fetal position while cursing the day I ever thought sailing was a good idea, but, this was not that day, and I am inflated with our success, and therefore saying reckless things sailing is Awesome!

Docking, however, is tricky. I did get our

dock meister Bill (who for some reason is kissing my hand in this pic) to assist us when we come in, and he turned up with half the marina ready to grab a line. This was reassuring, in the kind of way that seeing a familiar face in a crowd of strangers is reassuring. Yes reassuring, but not really helpful, because that familiar face turns out to be only an aquaintance, and you realize that its still up to you. So... it was still up to us to maneuver Me Voy, in the dark, into a little slip, under sail, with the wind against us, and our helpful line grabbers shouting things like, "Go that way!" "Starboard!" "The other way!" Well you get the drift, it was tricky.

After the helpers stopped giving helpful pointers, we managed to squeeze into our spot, absorb some ooohs and ahhhs, clean up a bit, and crawl into bed next to Billy, who was wondering where the hell we've been the last three days, and why we smelled like the wind.