Sailing

On Friday I went to the ward activity of my friend Rafael. They were having a sailing activity. I was excited when he invited me because last year the Relief Society had a sailing activity but I was unable to attend. I always thought it would be fun to try but didn't have the opportunity. When Rafael invited me I was super excited to have another opportunity. 

 We went through our hour instructional course and then watched the instructor Matt go out on a sail boat. He was the Skipper and the girl in the boat is in the position of the crew. The Skipper steers the boat and the crew follows the direction of the Skipper in controlling the sail. 

 The wind wasn't to strong but there was a little bit of wind.

 

 This is Rafael and I on the sail boat. I went out twice. The first time my friend Joe invited me to go out with him. He had been sailing before so he had me start in the position of the crew. He helped me to understand how to get the sail to catch the wind. I learned how to watch the wind line up the ticklers on the sail.Then he had me take the position of the Skipper and I learned how to steer to boat. It was a lot of fun.

 Rafael was in charge of grilling the hamburgers and hotdogs so as soon as he was done cooking he and I went out. I will have to admit I was a little nervous because he had never gone out before and he missed most of the instruction class. When we were getting ready to get in the boat Rafael was asking Erik who was helping us in the boat a few questions and then he said maybe for my first time I should go out with someone a little more experienced. I almost agreed with him. I told him we would do fine. We got in and I started out as the Skipper since I knew more of what to do. It took me a minute to get the wind to catch the sail and then we started to haul across the river. It was so much fun and Joe did a good job in teaching me and I did a good job in teaching Rafael. I switched spots with Rafael and had him take the position of the Skipper. One of the most amazing things was while we were on the boat out on the river we had the opportunity to watch the sun set over the city. It was amazingly beautiful.

I would have to say my first time sailing was a pleasant experience and it was a lot of fun. I will look forward to the next time I get to go out sailing. I hope it will be sooner than later. It was a fun feeling to let the wind blow you effortlessly across the river. It was an experience worth having.