more things

you know it's windy when your sailing instructor's memory has been jogged to remember the time he sailed in a hurricane for fun when he was 14 and his sails started ripping. although, i was glad to hear that story.

so i'm taking sailing lessons on monday evenings. yesterday was a windy one out on the Hudson rio. it was the two gentlemen's first time putting up the jib sail when we got into real choppy waters, and the jib wasn't going to go up anytime soon. then Gill and I, attempting to put up the main sail (also my semi-first time), were dealing with a broken zipper to get the sailcover off. water was a splashin', bow was a slammin', halyards were tangling around the shrouds, el instructor had to abandon the helm to check the jib situation and leave it with the Belgian visitor who hadn't sailed in many, MANY years she said. the back of the boat with motor was plunging in and out of water, which caused the motor to turn sideways, right as we were nearing the side of the river, causing us to head straight for shore. el instructor ran to the back to kick the motor straight. meanwhile, Jeff and Dave held onto the whipping jib and sidelines for dear life and so as not to lose the sail. i clung to the boom and my hat.

once we got the sails up, el instructor took the helm the whole way upwind, as we had a pretty nasty heel, and strategic tacks were extremely necessary (and none of us know what we are doing). Gill and I were on "jib crew," standing off the side of the middle of the boat on the windward side, or the side that was highest out of water, hanging on to the shrouds (the tight wires that steady the mast) to add a little of our weight to bring it down. not sure if this helped at all, only frightened me a bit, but I got more used to it.

sailing with the wind is much, much calmer. on our way back we students did some sails. it's pretty exciting to use the wind as your propellor and have to adjust the sails just right.