Happy Mother's Day! I woke up early and snuck out of the house to get breakfast for Mom, but Bobby woke up right after i left and Mom's first present was that she got to change two diapers. )-:
As a consolation, I did make some good omelets with onions, Swiss, salmon, and horse radish. Hmmm.
We decided that today was the perfect day to take Bobby for his first sail. I packed up the boat and the car, and we headed down to Lake Union. It usually takes about 40 minutes to set up the boat, but we weren't there for 5 minutes when a woman approached and wanted to interview us for the news. She interviewed Mom, and took some video of Bobby, almost perfectly immobilized in his tiny little life jacket. I worked feverishly to set up the boat, while Katy kept Bobby entertained on the dock. We finally got set up, facing downwind (northerly breeze) on the dock, which was handy given we were pointed in the right direction, but we weren't able to raise the main - so we sailed out on jib and mizzen. Once out, I raised the main and off we went, and WOW, the wind, which had been light when we left the house had really picked up - it was practically whistling through the rigging. Bobby was a total trooper - sitting packed into his life jacket, and Mom was even more so - not packed into a life jacket, but being a real trooper jumping around the boat keeping Booby safe while we heeled and rocked and bounced around.
It was pretty clear to me that we were stretched a little too thin. I had rushed to get the boat ready so it wasn't as ship-shape as it should have been. The wind was stronger than we expected, and not only was I single handing, but Mom was relatively immobile - which didn't make me comfortable. We sailed about half way down the lake and turned around to sail in. Quite content with what would be a 30-minute sail (and at least 2 hours of rigging and de-rigging). We sailed back up to the north end of the lake and debated whether to put the motor in or sail into the tight little channel. We pulled off to a quiet little cove and put the motor in - one of the very nice things about a yawl is that you can strap the mizzen in tight and let go of the main and jib and it'll hold straight as an arrow into the wind while you do chores like setting up the boat. I was curious how the motor would respond to a winter off - but it started right up and we put-putted home. Bobby seemed to like the vibrations and the white noise.
There were one or two moments where Mom and I had to scramble, but certainly not dangerous - just a little hectic. On the ride home, I said, "well, I think that was a little rough for the first time with the boy. I think some lessons are that I shouldn't rush to get the boat ready - I've said that before, and I think I need an extra set of hands so we should arrange to bring friends. I also think it was a good call to just come in since the wind was a bit more than we expected - even if it means that we have a half hour sail. What do you think?" Katy said, "Yeah, well, I'm not sure I've ever been so frightened in my life." OK let's stop here and talk about great mothers. Katy grew up in central Pennsylvania, she's been a great sport about my little obsession with small boats. She let me take over our yard to build it, and our honeymoon to take it sailing. We've been in some pretty scary water and she's been perfectly trusting of my boat and my skills. Talk about pushing my luck - taking our little 4-month old baby out. She was actually scared for our safety, and this, riding in the car home was the first I heard of it. On board she was smiling and even helpful - despite having her hands full. What a Mom. Really. Happy Mother's day.
PS We were the lead story on the evening news. The anchor called Bobby a cute little sailor. Let's hope this is the last time he'll be the lead on the evening news...
As a consolation, I did make some good omelets with onions, Swiss, salmon, and horse radish. Hmmm.
We decided that today was the perfect day to take Bobby for his first sail. I packed up the boat and the car, and we headed down to Lake Union. It usually takes about 40 minutes to set up the boat, but we weren't there for 5 minutes when a woman approached and wanted to interview us for the news. She interviewed Mom, and took some video of Bobby, almost perfectly immobilized in his tiny little life jacket. I worked feverishly to set up the boat, while Katy kept Bobby entertained on the dock. We finally got set up, facing downwind (northerly breeze) on the dock, which was handy given we were pointed in the right direction, but we weren't able to raise the main - so we sailed out on jib and mizzen. Once out, I raised the main and off we went, and WOW, the wind, which had been light when we left the house had really picked up - it was practically whistling through the rigging. Bobby was a total trooper - sitting packed into his life jacket, and Mom was even more so - not packed into a life jacket, but being a real trooper jumping around the boat keeping Booby safe while we heeled and rocked and bounced around.
It was pretty clear to me that we were stretched a little too thin. I had rushed to get the boat ready so it wasn't as ship-shape as it should have been. The wind was stronger than we expected, and not only was I single handing, but Mom was relatively immobile - which didn't make me comfortable. We sailed about half way down the lake and turned around to sail in. Quite content with what would be a 30-minute sail (and at least 2 hours of rigging and de-rigging). We sailed back up to the north end of the lake and debated whether to put the motor in or sail into the tight little channel. We pulled off to a quiet little cove and put the motor in - one of the very nice things about a yawl is that you can strap the mizzen in tight and let go of the main and jib and it'll hold straight as an arrow into the wind while you do chores like setting up the boat. I was curious how the motor would respond to a winter off - but it started right up and we put-putted home. Bobby seemed to like the vibrations and the white noise.
There were one or two moments where Mom and I had to scramble, but certainly not dangerous - just a little hectic. On the ride home, I said, "well, I think that was a little rough for the first time with the boy. I think some lessons are that I shouldn't rush to get the boat ready - I've said that before, and I think I need an extra set of hands so we should arrange to bring friends. I also think it was a good call to just come in since the wind was a bit more than we expected - even if it means that we have a half hour sail. What do you think?" Katy said, "Yeah, well, I'm not sure I've ever been so frightened in my life." OK let's stop here and talk about great mothers. Katy grew up in central Pennsylvania, she's been a great sport about my little obsession with small boats. She let me take over our yard to build it, and our honeymoon to take it sailing. We've been in some pretty scary water and she's been perfectly trusting of my boat and my skills. Talk about pushing my luck - taking our little 4-month old baby out. She was actually scared for our safety, and this, riding in the car home was the first I heard of it. On board she was smiling and even helpful - despite having her hands full. What a Mom. Really. Happy Mother's day.
PS We were the lead story on the evening news. The anchor called Bobby a cute little sailor. Let's hope this is the last time he'll be the lead on the evening news...
posted by Roger Coulter at
1:02 PM
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