Where's the camera???

Ever have those moments when you needed your camera, but didn't have it? I've had a couple of those recently.

During the first instance I was driving, so it was probably a good thing (safety wise) that I didn't have the camera. But man I wished I had one! I would have snapped a shot of Paul on a tractor driving 20 mph on a highway where everyone else is driving at least 65 mph or more. Yep, he was "that guy" on the road that causes everyone to switch lanes and then check their rear view mirror after they pass him, thinking "what's he doing on the road"? I was the car behind him with my flashers on so that no one would hit him (instead they'd hit me, but I guess the theory was that I would have an airbag...which would probably hurt me more than help since I'm short, but that's beside the point).

The next incident involved our sailboat on Paul's birthday. One day I'm going to get a waterproof case that I trust for our camera, and I'll capture these moments. For his birthday, we took off work and went out to Clear Lake near Kemah Beach, TX (the lake feeds into the Gulf). We stayed on the lake part - didn't venture out into the Gulf part (I'm too chicken).

It started out kinda rocky for me - I just have trouble with getting the sail up and keeping the boat pointing into the wind while we get the sail up. So I started out pulling the sail up, then switched with Paul so he could pull the last 6 inches up (it always gets caught at that point and I just don't have the guns to pull it the rest of the way). So I'm now at the tiller (while he's pulling) trying to figure out which way the wind is coming from so I can stay pointed into it. It didn't work, and by the end of it I'm on my knees on the bottom of the boat with my head touching my knees to avoid the boom (holds the bottom of the sail) from coming across and hitting me (because the wind has caught the sail that's partially up - all my fault). We did survive this, and after 10 minutes I was able to speak and relax and enjoy the sailing part. Paul's comment was "I don't remember you being so nervous about this when we were in North Carolina" (refering to high school days sailing at his grandmother's cabin)...to which I replied, "I was young and stupid back then - I know better now" (because now if the boat capsizes I have to figure out how to un-capsize it and pay for any damages that occur).

But that's not the part that needed a picture. The really great part was as we were coming back. We had survived--and had fun--going all the way down to the end of the lake, and had survived coming back (a little trickier to tack with the wind behind you we found out, but we did make it work). But on the last tack, Paul said, "Coming about", I switched sides, and then a crazy gust of wind or a big wave came along and tipped the boat up so that I was literally looking DOWN at Paul. I started to lean way back to try to counteract the boat's movement, Paul was scrambling to try to climb UP to get to my side of the boat, but in the meantime water was pouring over the side of the boat. By the end of it we were ankle deep in water inside the boat, but thankfully we were upright. Paul immediately starts laughing hysterically and can't stop, and I'm left sitting in shock wondering how in the world we're going to make it into the dock without crashing our boat (another time during sailing when I get pretty nervous).

My next research project is to find an electric motor that we can have on the boat so that we can motor out away from docks and cement walls to put the sail up and bring it back down again, and be able to motor into the dock (not paddle).

I do have a "before" picture of us with the boat. The car took the picture (timer on the camera), so that's why it's looking down at us, instead of at eye level.

Below is a pic of the concrete that we had to navigate around. It helped keep the dock area calm and broke the waves, but it still made me nervous and I paddled super hard to make sure we didn't hit it.

Okay, tell me if I'm alone in this, but doesn't this sign seem a little odd to you? I mean, usually with the "don't" or "no" signs, they have a picture of the activity with a circle and slash through it, or a No preceding the picture. But this picture doesn't look like a person swimming. It looks like a person drowning. But they're clearly trying to say no swimming. Maybe they needed to put the words "Swimming", then an equals sign, then the picture of the person drowning. Or just put a person that is swimming inside a circle with a slash. But this sign is just a little disturbing to me. Maybe I'm the only one though.

I'm going to combine blogs here and add Saturday to our Wednesday adventures. Paul installed a garbage disposal. And not just any garbage disposal - one that doesn't use electrity. It uses water pressure only. It's a little slower at chopping up the stuff, but it is so quiet you almost don't know it's running. So that was fun. Paul had fun installing it, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching (there's only so much room under the sink, so clearly I couldn't fit in there to help, especially since I know NOTHING about plumbing). :)

Paul said I needed a "before" picture so you can appreciate the improvements. So this is the "before".
Here's the "after" picture! What a beauty.

Okay, that's all for now. Until next time!

Adventures in Sailing...Part 1

Saturday we washed the boat after its long winter on dry land. Then we waxed it, and boy did it make a difference! We don't have a name for our boat yet - I think we're waiting for a memorable experience to occur that will render an appropriate name for her (boats are usually female, right?).

I think I discovered today that I'm really NOT a natural at sailing. I took an 8 week sailing course in 2001 (4 sessions in classroom, 4 sessions on the water), but haven't practiced it since then, and apparently the physics of sailing didn't remain with me. I pretty much turn into a stiff board - I could probably use myself as the rudder I'm so scared. Granted, today was pretty windy - I think the weather channel said winds up to 18 mi/hr. But basically any time the boat gets moving and we tip even slightly, I tense up even more. So I'm only really comfortable when we're sitting still in the water. But I hope that with practice I'll get better at that.

I did almost take off Paul's head, and I hit mine with the boom vang (I think that's the correct terminology). It's the big metal thing that apparently goes "boom" when it hits you in the head - that has to be how it got it's name. Anyway, Paul was trying to raise the mainsail higher (I got it most of the way up, but he had to raise it to the top). I was charged with keeping us level and pointed into the wind so that we wouldn't tip over. But I failed in that mission, and then barely had time to say "Coming about" before the boom was flying over Paul's head, and knocked into my life jacket cushion, which thankfully lessened the blow to my hard head. So we were all fine, but I was definitely shaken up. As we sailed on the lake, I improved, but I was only in charge of the rudder - Paul was in charge of the lines that controlled the boom. I do know that you call them "lines", not "ropes".

Since our camera isn't water proof, I only have pictures of the boat on dry land. But here are a few so you can see what I'm talking about.

It's about a 13 or 14 foot long sailboat - 1973, so it's definitely seen some years that even we haven't witnessed. But she is good enough for us! Here's the boat at Lake Somerville - it was an overcast day, but perfect for sailing...if only I had the courage for perfect (i.e. windy) sailing days.
Okay, the picture below doesn't seem that ominous - pretty normal sailboat pose, right? Well, take note of the top of the photo. The electric wire is behind the mast. And we had to back up to get the boat into the water. And we didn't look up or scrutinize this photo before we backed up....so yeah, the mast hit the electric wire as we were backing up. I was at the wheel, and Paul was walking alongside the boat because he was volunteering to stand in the chilly water while I parked the car & trailer. Anyway, I suddenly noticed that the boat lurched forward on the trailer as we were backing down, and the lines holding the mast went slack. It took a few minutes for us to look up, but as soon as we did, we realized that we had made a big mistake!!! So note for future sailing trips - check for low hanging wires across the boat ramp and make sure to put the mast up AFTER you clear the wires!
Paul was my hero today - I got to go sailing and really only got a few drops of water on me. He stood in the water and held the boat as we went out, and came in. And he sat in front so he got all the spray off the bow of the boat.

And I just noticed the shirt he's wearing today - no, he didn't go to Texas A&M. But it was a $5 longsleeve t-shirt and we're surrounded by Aggies so it was a safe shirt to buy (you definitely do not wear any Longhorn shirts around camp!).