Friends at Sea

Departure: 2:30pm Sept 8, 2007
Return: 6:30pm
Weather conditions: Sunny with 17+ mph winds
Tide: flood tide
Boat: Blue Club Boat
Crew: 6 (Andersons, Davis' & Brewers)

Isn't it interesting how no two people have the same experience in life. For instance, one person on a boat can be screaming with joy and exhilaration, while one person next to him (or her) is puking over the side and another is cowering in the cabin or frozen, white-knuckled on the lifelines. We're all on the same boat, in the same winds doing the same thing, but having completely different experiences.

I've been putting off writing this entry because I really wanted to do it justice, but now time has passed, and my memory has faded and I'd better just write something so it's not lost.

We had a full complement of guests on this outing. We had three couples including my wife and I. The other two couples were friends from church who purchased the "Adventure" in a fund-raising auction. In other words we had a full boat.

We also had clear skies and a stiff breeze - stiff enough that the club manager said he'd reefed his sails earlier that day during a class. It really couldn't be better. Everyone arrived on time, and the boat was already set up for us because Dave (the manager) had had it out earlier. All we had to do was climb aboard, stow our gear and take off.

The wind was everything that Dave said it would be. It was quite strong, and we had fewer people, I'm pretty sure, I'd have reefed the sails right away. As it was, we managed okay with full sails. The waves were probably the largest I've ever sailed in which made for quite a bit of excitement. Most of the guests were thrilled; my wife was scared to death. I felt bad, but there wasn't much I could do.

The passage across the mouth of Colvos passage was the roughest. Once we were in the lee of Vashon Island, the winds lightened up. We figured that was the best place to eat our dinner so we hove-to and enjoyed some nice finger foods. Being stationary in the large swells made one of the guests sick. The swells were still large even though the winds were light in that spot and this made her very queasy. She ended up pumping her bilge over the stern. After we ate, we got back to more sailing.

Our sick guest did best when we were sailing to windward so we tried to do that the most, but it was still dampening her experience. At the four hour mark, I confessed to them that I had the boat until dusk (another 2 hours) and that one of them would have to be the "party-pooper" and say it was time to go in. Immediately the ill guest said it was time; and it had been a nice long afternoon.

After bringing the boat in, we enjoyed more of our meal, and a sunset, at a table on the dock.

It really was a great day of sailing. Even our the guest that got sick said she had a good time.

And that's it.