Empress Otku writes:

Went sailing yesterday, with some friends. It was one of those days
where there's no wind and yet deep troughs to rock the boat. Luckily,
I'd decided to take a half a tab of Antivert; I don't always on boats.
If only I hadn't shared half a wine cooler, I might have been better
company.

And you wouldn't have slept with your cute roomate.

We sailed around off the Santa Cruz shore and when we got hungry, went
to Capitola to eat. On the way home we had to sail around the weekly
Wednesday regatta, who were going nowhere fast, but looking very good
doing it. I learned what a spinnaker is, and why they're trickier to
sail.

Those are the part of the roulette wheel that turns, right? They're
hard to sail because they _aren't_ boats! For the equivalent
experience, try a coracle.

We'd chartered a Catalina 34 from Pacific Yachting, a very nice
sailboat and "not squirrelly" according to one experienced sailor
onboard. What a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day. A little
more wind would have been nice, of course, but bobbing around in the
sun isn't bad, even if you're only taking a half-nap while keeping an
eye out for otters.

Are the otters a serious hazard?

I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested and knows how to sail.
I'm thinking of taking a sailing class, so I'm not quite as useless
onboard. It's quite the feeling of mastery to command the wheel of a
sailing yacht! Arrrrrr!

~Empress, AKA Pirate Queen

Avast ye mateys!