24.08.2002
feeling kinda
and it worked pretty well. i have a new sail duffel that i picked up Monday, when Chica and i were up in Essex. packed it up with dry goods (snacks, dry socks, sunscreen, various things in a ziploc bag), and put all the fridge stuff in a plastic bag, tucked on the next to bottom shelf. i also thought to take Penny to the car wash and the gas station yesterday after work, so she's well fed and clean. somehow that makes the drive nicer, being in a clean car.
the drive is becoming more comfortable, as well. i almost don't need to check the directions. and i'm sure i could find a shorter way, but at this point, it's becoming habit driving. and there's one exit i like passing, because you can just see an old stone bridge. just a glimpse, enough to tempt, thru the foliage.
interesting group of people today. someone else from work, his lady friend, and her son, plus me and the Cap'n (who has taken to referring to me as Little Buddy, after a series of bad Gilligan jokes). mind you, i show up in shorts and sneakers, with a baseball hat, ready to work on the boat. she showed up in neon orange corduroys and black boots. huh? whatever. we only really need three to crew, so it all worked out fine.
bit choppy out there today, mostly from the wind. the waves weren't that bad. we ended up heeled over pretty hard on the way back, which Little Sailor kept calling wobbly. hee hee. 'it's really, really wobbly now. i don't think i like wobbly.' he did quite well, for a little kid. didn't whine or cry, kept himself pretty well amused, and figured out a lot of things about the boat. he's even figured out how to figure time. when he asked how much longer it would be til we got back, we told him the time. and he did the math to tell me how many hours and minutes we had left. plus he knows how to figure from, say, 24 past the hour to know that it's 36 minutes til the next hour. go, kid! i was all proud of him for understanding analog clocks. not many kids figure that out so early, if at all, these days. and yes, i did just make a 'kids these days' comment. :)
when it got really choppy, Little Sailor ducked into the aft cabin to read. then i heard him talking about Mister Ten Foot, so i ducked in to see what he meant. turns out, he was convinced we'd see a 10 foot wave, because it was *really* wobbly. i got him to move the curtains and look out at the water to see that the waves weren't really that big, and tried to help him understand how big 10 feet really is. not sure he got it, but he got into watching out the window, which was fine. i think it might have helped keep his stomach less wobbly, too.
i did some serious steering on the way back into the marina. still nervous, but i called the tack three times, and did pretty well. i still have a hard time judging distances and when to tack. as a friend pointed out the other day, it's harder to learn to navigate than to drive - because boats don't have brakes. either you get it, or you don't. *light dawns on Marblehead* riiiight. so simple, so obvious, and yet i hadn't put two and two together yet.
Little Sailor was getting a bit jumpy when we got back into the marina, so i invited him to sit up on the rail with me. i love that he felt comfortable enough to do that. it was so cool to sit there, with my arm around a little kid, just talking. he noticed that one of the islands we saw on the way out looked much bigger now. observant little tyke. when he asked why, i pointed out that we could see more rocks, and did he notice anything different? smart little guy. he figured out that the tide had gone out.
he also said that he didn't see why the safety lines had to be there, because they made for a Really Big Step on and off the boat. 'heh. remember Mister Ten Foot? you want those lines there.' 'oh. *thinks* okay!'
the Cap'n promoted Little Sailor to junior sailor, after i pointed out that Little Sailor had helped stow the cushions. i think i'll make him a bracelet, navy twine and shells, as a badge for his promotion.
