oh to be 8 again

If I got to choose to be anyone else I might have to be my 8 year old nephew Levi. My nephews definitely lead the good life in part to a bit (lots) of spoiling from lots of people but Sam and I are probably spoil them the most. This week he is in sailing lessons for the week - yep pretty sure Uncle Sam had a bit of an influence there. After his first day at sailing camp he ran out to greet me telling me how awesome it was and he didn't want to stop sailing. Definitely taking after his Uncle here.

He is sailing in an Opti all by himself with the instructors coaching from dinghies. I was a little concerned the first day about how he would do and if it would all go okay and kept my phone close but turns out I had worried for no reason at all. Which I guess as far as worrying goes is really a good thing.

Levi shared his whole day with me, then with his mom, his Uncle Sam, and then with his dad. I am pretty sure at that point he was done recapping but each time he told everyone about it he got excited again about how well it went.

Yesterday he told me he sailed all the way to the floating bridge and on Friday they will sail from Meydenbauer Bay to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. Pretty impressive all in a small, tipsy, one child sailboat. The whole no motor idea doesn't hold much appeal to me for some reason. We tried that a few weeks ago and I really missed it.

Watching the kids in the boats it is pretty impressive how quickly they catch on. Also saw one kid fall overboard and within a few seconds he was scrambling back on board with a huge grin on his face. That is a kid thing for sure - can't imagine many adults still grinning or climbing back on so easily onto a very tipsy sailboat. Having tried to get back on board our Harbor after going swimming it was more like a beached whale flopping around since we didn't have a swim step.

What I have realized is that I should have started sailing as a kid then maybe the leaning thing sailboats tend to do wouldn't bother me at all. I also maybe wouldn't be so worried about tipping the boat since that is the very first thing they had all the kids do in class on Monday. Levi thought that part was great and quite fun - perspective certainly changes with age.

Guess if they get it out of the way early then they aren't scared when it does happen. But Sam it is a bit late in the game for that so don't get any ideas now - I prefer to keep our boat upright in a soft lean - no cleats in the water for me, blame it on not going to sailing camp as a child.

the true marriage test

I have thought a true test of a marriage is docking a boat together or even sharing a double kayak together - though for the sake of our marriage we have elected for single kayaks after a single double kayak ride once. We know our limits and a double kayak simply isn't for the two of us - a little something about both of us wanting to steer. I would now like to submit crossing a start line in a sailboat race with no or little wind as the true test now.

Our second weekend of vacation Sam had signed us up for the Shaw Island Race. This is a very casual race - which is the only reason I agree to participate. I have done numerous duck dodges in our boat but that was a 20 foot Harbor that was very easily maneuvered. This is a boat we would take out on the 4th of July on Lake Union and sail among all the boats quite easily so not quite the same as a 37 foot sailboat.

In fact the race was casual enough that our 4 month nephew Ethan was on board along with my sister Carla, her husband Dave, my mom, and dad. Am pretty sure Ethan would have received the youngest sailor award if there was one. Hey you have to start them early now though it turns out right now he enjoys power boating a bit more and sailing is a bit slow for him, I am sure Sam will figure out a way to make him a sailor eventually - look what he did to me.

We were all assigned jobs by Sam and I was the tactician. What that really meant was that I would tell Sam where other boats were in relation to us. About the only tactics I called were those when Sam didn't have a clue which way was best and he could ask me so I could be to blame when we lost ground.

Once again there was no wind at the starting line. Normally I am pretty happy without much wind but in relation to starting a race I would like a decent amount of wind so at least we wouldn't drift into each other. After jockeying to the line we ran out of wind along with many of the other boats and started to drift into each other. Fortunately we fended off each other without damage though there was some (a lot) yelling involved.

I think there is enough to figure out during a race without having to fend off other boats. Since I get nervous if a boat is within 50 feet being able to reach and push off another boat really isn't for me. Sam doesn't quite get why I am so freaked out and worried about hitting other boats. Maybe it is because we have been hit a few times though not in this boat - other than a nasty scratch on the side when we weren't around. I mean he doesn't seem too happy when another car gets that close.

So while Sam is enjoying all the excitement and loving the adrenaline rush I am freaking out and wondering once again why I agreed to this. Usually during this time there is a bit of yelling at each other but Sam says that is just part of the racing thing. I on the other hand would prefer a start away from every other boat even if it would mean we didn't have a great start, I see no reason to have to remind another skipper when we have rights.

This time we were right in the middle of most of the fleet and it took us 10 minutes to cross the starting line - not quite the start we were looking for. Eventually we drifted across and we were off - well kind of. The wind did pick up and we were finally moving along a bit. Of course because we were no longer right next to all these other boats and I felt we were out of danger I suddenly became competitive and wanted to win. Now I wanted to pass other boats and choose the best course to finish well.

Really I should figure out a way to climb on board after the start - I am sure Sam would prefer it that way but who would tell him when he was going to hit another boat or point out every boat within 200 yards that could possibly tack into us. Somehow he doesn't understand why I don't think the start isn't much fun and I get a bit stressed. I try and explain it by reminding everyone someone needs to be the responsible cautious one on board but I don't seem to get much appreciation or agreement from everyone else.

The rest of the race was great and I enjoyed myself though I was asking Sam why we weren't passing up our competition and how we could have done better. When he reminded me that races are often won at the start I decided first place might not be all that important anyways. I mean weren't we just out for a nice day on the water - who really needs a trophy? If it means I have to be stressed out for the 15 minutes before the race and the 5-10 minutes after the gun worrying about who is going to sail into us just finishing is fine with me.