Finally!

Tomorrow Amber Joy and I head off to Jerusalem for three weeks! In the meantime, we've had lots of very important things on our to-do list... but none of them ranking so high as finally learning to use our sailboat! Our previous (abortive) attempt found us both completely soaked, the boat tipped over and crashing into things, and a drenched Amber Joy soulfully singing "I will go down with this ship!" This time, we actually manage to get the boat in the water, put up the mast, and pull the sail into position in ten minutes time without any major accidents. (Okay, we're both sporting some pretty bruises from the effort, but it was still successful!) So far, so good.

Now comes the part that's been especially tricky - slinging our bodies into the boat without tipping it over. We circle around the boat to look for the best spot, slipping on the mystery sludge on the bottom of the lake and losing our shoes to its slimy, clingy algae. Amber looks uncertainly across the boat at me, hesitates just a moment longer, and then flings herself into the boat. Last time, the boat (with the help of a massive gust of wind) keeled over with her, but this time it did little more than give a tiny splash. Now it's my turn. I toss Amber the rope to the sail and heave myself into the back.

We look at each other in shock - we did it! We're in the boat! ... But we're not moving anywhere. Hmm. After a few minutes of fiddling with the rudder and trying to move the sail to catch the wind, we're finally inching forward into deeper water. YESSSSSSS!!!! We're sailing!

The wind isn't totally cooperative. We get about a quarter of the way out from the shore, and it dies out. We creep along at a snail's pace, feeling the sun heating up the backs of our necks. Occasionally, the wind picks up and we're really zooming along. We manage to turn the boat around and find that it's easy to head home, so we sail back out to the middle of the lake one more time, and then head home. One day, when we don't have anywhere to be for hours, we'll take the boat out for a much longer excursion. For now, we're happy with our first successful sailing trip of the summer!!!

So, anyone want to go sailing?!