Saturday, July 20, 2013

Hey Baby... Ya Wanna Race A Sailboat?

It takes fierce concentration to be good rail meat
We got a phone call from a fellow sailor friend extending an invitation to join he and his wife, Teresa for a BYC Club race.  Now in the old days... I might not have accepted, but now that I no longer work and I have time to work on the boat AND play, I said YES!











Teresa at the helm
We have always admired Neil's boat, Waypoint.  It's an Ericson 38 and he and Teresa keep her in pristine condition.  What a treat to sail on a boat with no "STUFF" flying around.

Bruce and I met while sailing on Corpus Christi Bay.  There were many years that we mostly raced and I know that Bruce misses it a lot.  Today he got his chance to trim sails and strategize.  He's a born foredeck man... always popular as crew.

Neil is a knowledgeable and patient teacher















We met a new member of the Club, a young one!  It is great to see young people, and especially young ladies, showing interest in sailing.  Corpus Christi Bay has a long history of Club sailing, but there has been a marked decline in activity in recent years.  I don't know why EVERYbody isn't out sailing on our beautiful Bay.



Nearing the weather mark








Since we had ample crew for the demands of this race, I, became rail meat.

I will do my part if needed, but I would MUCH rather sit the rail and see if I can get that elusive special pic.

The benign conditions and easy course made for an enjoyable race.

There were four marks to round, upwind, broad reach, and downwind, then the finish. The race took about three hours.  We saw some ominous looking clouds and pouring rain in the distance but, luckily,  it slid right past us.

All too soon, it was over and we were once again on that last stretch towards the finish.  The good news is we got Third Place... the bad news is only three boats finished.

So what if we were last across the line.  Bruce and I had such a great time reliving our glory days on the Bay.  It is nice to keep those memories of our early days together alive and fresh.  Thanks to Neil and Teresa for the great day on the Bay!

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