Day of little racing

Omg so freaking cool!

We went out to be race crew, it was all very exciting... it was their turkey day race, handicap times were in, everyone had checked in with the race committee boat... we were all waiting with bated breath for the wind to pick up, or pick a direction... and then the red and white "Cat in the Hat" flag went up signalling a delay of race.

The committee boat anchored, drifted and dragged and re-anchored... we broke out the refreshments and motored around soaking in the sun and pleasant company exchanging sailor jokes and tales of ordeals we'd survived. I'm told "you haven't lived, unless you've had a whale poop beside your boat!". I had never really thought about it, that whales poop... but I'm fairly confident that I can die a happy woman without *ever* experiencing that, thank you very much.

Relatively quickly the puff-cards (teasing breases that make you *think* the wind is picking up) gave way to a light breeze, flags were exchanged, the courtesey horn interrupted beers and sunbathing, motors were shut down and without further ado the race started!

It was relatively relaxed, there was some difference of opinion... but on a boat it doesn't matter so much. The Captain gets the final word, and whether he's right or wrong really doesn't matter, what he says goes. We tacked, we trimmed and we tweaked. There was an ever running educational commentary of what we were looking for and trying to do. New words and phrases were added to my ever expanding sailing vocabulary, in short it was awesome!

Most of the boats we were racing were smaller and lighter, making much better headway in the light breeze. There was one other boat, Serenity who for most of the race was tantalizingly within reach... a mere thought ahead of us. As we approached the 4th race marker we snuck in on a better line and passed her!

We abandoned the rest of the race to the sun sinking in the sky and the cooling breeze, one member of the crew had to be back onshore and with the delayed start we had run out of time. We congratulated ourselves, broke out the champagne and laughed heartily when it looked like another boat was following our board.

We all met up at the Yacht Club for a couple drinks, Ben my new best friend from the night we arrived was gracious enough to cook and share some Bratwurst with us, as the usual cook your own burger was short on supplies after the Commadors Ball. It was great, a very relaxed atmosphere, everyone was friendly... it was so comfortable it felt like I'd been coming here for years. We watched a beautiful sunset with our other two new best friends Boo and Scully.

The fun did not stop there, we joined Boo and Scully out at the Baja a restaurant nearby. I had so much fun, I laughed until my cheeks hurt and then laughed some more they're a wonderful couple! *smiles* Dad and I shared a Baja Bucket... which consists of shrimp, chicken, mini-steak things, and some kind of lobster that doesn't have pinchers, you get a thing of warmed up pita shells, and a side of bean and rice with your own whole little thing of melty butter! Ooooh and they have a chips and salsa bar! Like instead of a salad bar, way better than a salad bar *grins* The whole evening was fantastic!

I also had. The. Best. Rum Colada I've ever had in my *entire* life and got Boo started on trying to tie a knot in the cherry stem with her tongue. Muahaha I have many skills ;o)