Saturday, June 18, 2011

Summer Sailstice 2011


I've been working on getting the BYC Series race scheduled for today hooked up with Summer Sailstice.  I sent out invitations to fellow sailors in the Corpus Christi Bay area to join our race and sign up on the SS website to be eligible to win hundreds of prizes.  I bought toys for the boat and the winds dashed it all!  The Race was cancelled so Bruce took us all out to Bird Island Basin to play while he windsurfed.  The kids set off with this board to paddle around.

I spent my time sunbathing on the shore.  I had the perfect job.  Keep one eye on Bruce as he windsurfed, and keep the other eye on Brittney & Matt as they slowly drifted downwind and nearly out of sight.

Bruce came in to mention (too late) that the kids should have gone upwind first.  The winds were really blowing and we figured that they would have a hard time getting back upwind.  I wasn't too worried.  There was an island downwind and they could go to shore and walk back if things got bad. 

I turned my attention to trying to get the perfect picture of Bruce as he darted in and back out on the board.  He was really cutting right along.  There were few windsurfers out there so it wasn't hard to pick him out.

I waded out into the water near the drop off to get some closer shots.  The water was bathwater warm but surprisingly clear for these windy conditions.  Bruce was working on his jibes and seemed to improve rapidly.  He came in for a rest after an hour or so.  He was having a ball.  He even got his blisters back! 







I tried briefly to stand on his board.  It's pretty tricky so I gave up right away.  I still have no desire whatsoever to try windsurfing.  Even with the realization after watching the other windsurfers out here at Bird, that there are many old and out of shape people out there trying it.  NOPE!  I'm staying on the shore!  The afternoon wore on and I saw the kids go to shore.  I took pity on them and went to get them in the van.  I think it saved their relationship...

We went home to shower and change for the BYC Potluck dinner.  We still had a fun evening ahead of us.  The potluck was well attended.  Since we spent the afternoon out playing, we bought BBQ as our offering for the potluck.  Our dinner had a Summer Sailstice theme.  Everyone wore outrageous sunglasses and brightly colored summer attire.  We had a great time and I hope to get more organized next year and make it a bigger event with the whole Bay area invited.  Maybe the winds will cooperate next year.  If you're a sailor type... check out the Summer Sailstice website.  I've been a member for over a year.  No spam, just a few emails per year.  The purpose is to create global awareness for our sport.  Sail locally, celebrate globally!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Rockport Music Festival 2011

Bruce and I invited our "Best Man", Chuck, and his girlfriend Michelle to join us for a weekend in Fulton to see the Rockport Music Festival. We had to shuffle cars to get the boat to Port A, where Bruce would bring our guests to sail to Fulton Harbor with him on Friday while I worked.  

Brittney drove me out there after work where I arrived all wound up and grumpy, to find my husband and friends already well into their weekend.  I joined them in the cockpit of Elan where we ended up spending the entire evening.  We had tickets to the Friday show but never got there... even though it was just a few steps from the dock.  Many of our BYC friends were there and more arrived as the day wore on.  Merlin flew their giant flag which was a true crowd pleaser as it could be seen from all over the area. 

We spent the day on Saturday wandering back and forth from the boat to the Music Festival.  Many of our friends did the same.  It was very hot in the wall to wall sun as we set up our chairs to watch the performers.  We had a nice breeze but Bruce and I hadn't brought any type of shade.  We put on our sun shirts and sat out while the bands were playing, but went back to the boat to cool off during the change from band to band.  With the wind blowing it really wasn't too bad.

Bubbles (Michelle) didn't mind the sun at all!  The people watching was quite entertaining.  The bands were good.  Ray Wylie Hubbard was my favorite as he is quite the entertainer.  You know I'm not too into the Country music so you might wonder why we spent $200 for tickets to see this show.  Well, for one, it was a great way to get out of the rut and do something new and different.  Secondly, Bruce and I like to encourage this type of entertainment by throwing some dollars at it to stimulate the economy.  We did our share this weekend!  We listened to the bands until the end, then we joined our friends aboard Merlin for the BYC After party.  It was a loud and raucous affair and I was proud to outlast several of our usual die-hards.  Bruce and I didn't go to the boat for bed until Midnight!

Sunday morning, Bruce let us all sleep in until about 7:30!!! Then he rousted us all and stirred things up until I reminded him of my basic goals for the weekend... get some rest and relaxation and eventually reach our slip in CC before 8 pm.  Once reminded of this, he settled down.  He helped several of our BYC boats on their way, then we set out at about 9 am in the dazzling morning sunshine.

We had a fabulous motor from Fulton to Port A, where we made the turn into the CC Ship Channel and finally raised sails.  More fabulous times on the water.  The day was beautiful and the winds perfect.

Bruce got to have a fun sail across the Bay and got us all safely to the slip well within my time frame.  We still had to go back and pick up a car in Port A before we met Chuck and Bubbles back at the boat so we could join them for a nice dinner at the Surf Club.  We left them there watching a basketball game with goodbyes and thanks for a great weekend!