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.

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.

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.

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

In article , Empress Otku wrote:
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.

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.

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.

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

Sailing is wonderful for you. I own a 21 ft powerboat myself, but I
sailed once. I honestly liked dieseling more than actual sailing, but
sailboats are great no doubt. Boating in general is a great thing both
from the social and emotional POV. It is also not as expensive as it
is made to sound.

i

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!

Empress Otku wrote in message
...
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.

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.

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.

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

My sister and her late husband spent the last part of their lives together
sailing throughout the Caribbean. Stopping at one port after another until
they made
their way to South America. There is an entire community of people who
have given up shore life to do that very same thing. They are called
"cruisers" or
"liveaboards". Estelle and I flew down to spend sometime with them while
they
where on the island of Eleuthera . We spent the most memorable Thanksgiving
of our lives eating turkey barbqued in a pit on a deserted beach. A large
group
of American "cruisers" sailed to a small deserted island just to celebrate
this way.
It was quite extrodinary.

The sailing life is truly idyllic and very tempting. Beautiful sunsets. No
work
beyond what it takes to live your daily life (primarily finding food and
water)
Party evry night. Leave when you get bored begin to dislike your neighbor
or wear out your welcome. Some people live everyday this way.

Most importantly though, you have a lot of time.

The experience you had shows us that there is something else in life.

http://www.geographia.com/bahamas/

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:21:20 -0400, "urf" wrote:

My sister and her late husband spent the last part of their lives together
sailing throughout the Caribbean.

etc.

The experience you had shows us that there is something else in life.

I don't think I could live that way, not sure why. It seems sort
of... aimless.

OTOH, I had an experience years ago which makes me think I might be
able to adjust. It was living on a beach (in Greece) with very little
money for a week.

My boyfriend and I had worked and saved for over a year and then took
our money and travelled through Europe and Greece. We backpacked,
took the cheapest forms of travel and stayed in hostels or camped to
save money. We stayed at my parents' house (they were retired and
living in Greece at the time) when we got there. But we spent one
week on the beach of a small island (and I don't remember which one!)
with nothing to do but walk into the village and eat a couple of times
a day.

I remember that I was pretty antsy the first day or two, it seemed
like I needed something to *do*, but that feeling soon wore off and
eventually my system slowed to enjoy the rhythm of the slow days. We
would sit in the sun, and when we got too hot, we'd swim and cool off.
I remember watching the shadows of the trees move along the sand as
the sun moved, and that seemed, somehow, graceful and "enough".

~Empress

You can't take luxurious showers.

Like everything else it's a set of trade-offs.

Empress Otku wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:21:20 -0400, "urf" wrote:

My sister and her late husband spent the last part of their lives
together
sailing throughout the Caribbean.

etc.

The experience you had shows us that there is something else in life.

I don't think I could live that way, not sure why. It seems sort
of... aimless.

OTOH, I had an experience years ago which makes me think I might be
able to adjust. It was living on a beach (in Greece) with very little
money for a week.

My boyfriend and I had worked and saved for over a year and then took
our money and travelled through Europe and Greece. We backpacked,
took the cheapest forms of travel and stayed in hostels or camped to
save money. We stayed at my parents' house (they were retired and
living in Greece at the time) when we got there. But we spent one
week on the beach of a small island (and I don't remember which one!)
with nothing to do but walk into the village and eat a couple of times
a day.

I remember that I was pretty antsy the first day or two, it seemed
like I needed something to *do*, but that feeling soon wore off and
eventually my system slowed to enjoy the rhythm of the slow days. We
would sit in the sun, and when we got too hot, we'd swim and cool off.
I remember watching the shadows of the trees move along the sand as
the sun moved, and that seemed, somehow, graceful and "enough".

~Empress