Playing on the water.....

[Dani Carson]

      Remember when you were a little kid and there was something so intriguing it dared you to break house rules to keep going?  And when mom said “no”, that lack of permission made you want it even more.  Then despite numerous pleadings of “oh mom, just one more time!”, your whining got you nothing.

     My attempts to barter with Mother Nature over the past few months for good sailing weather, just like when I tried to persuade mom to let me stay outside and play in the dead of winter, have been in vain.  And Lady Luck, well, she’s also been unrelenting in keeping me from finding new sailing friends as old ones moved out of my life.  

     So it’s been, until yesterday.

     When Mom Nature granted Friday’s weather reprieve and with acquiescence of our significant others, my new SeaKnots friend Larry Wilson and I, like two little kids, were on our favorite playground by 10AM.  With a projected high of 74 and winds at 15 knots, we were given a “just one more time”.

      Grinning like a young boy who just stole first base,  Larry shut down the engine then looked at me and simply said, “we’re sailing”!  So with nowhere special to go, we played on the Rappahannock Playground.  Tacking a little, cruising more and laughing a lot, with childlike innocence we enjoyed six precious hours of sailing. "Perfect" can't even begin to describe those nineteen miles we shared.

     It doesn’t take much to humor a little tike.  Maybe a ball and bat; possibly a shiny new bike. Or perhaps, for the kid in all of us, some weather, wind, water and a sailboat. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Works for me.

[Barry]

there is nothing more excilerating than that first sail of the season, or that lucky moment to sail in the dead of winter.  Reminds me of a Febuary in 2009 we went for a sail down the lake, it was wonderful, nice winds, warm temps and in Febuary.  It was so wonderful, the kids and I decided to anchor out over night, and enjoy the joy of sleeping on board.  All was well until the front the wonderful wind was blowing in arrived.  Then it was cold, We awoke to to freezing tempertures and winds blowing 20 knots out of the north, we had to sail north into the teeth of this cold.  Well long story short, we sailed didnt motor, was smoother ride sailing than motoring into the waves.  When we got back had ice all over the bow, and forward life lines.....was an amaziing sail but cold... Leason to self, check the weather, LOL.  Loved your blog Dani, hope you get more moments to sail and enjoy. 

Barry

[sailorgirlca]

Good to read that you and Larry had a great day of sailing......always exhilarating !!!

[Snik, aka John W. Perkins]

Kewl.