I love sailing!

Back when I lived in an upscale beach town on in southwest Florida, I was part of a youth sailing squadron at the yacht club. Well, that sounds rather schnobby I guess (Like "I was eating hors d'ouvres with Charles, my limo driver, at the YACHT club..." Um, nah.) but really it was just a bunch of us middle-class kids getting together to sail some really tiny little boats. :-) Just had to get that straight because sailboats seem to carry an aristocratic connotation, and I am not aristocratic in the least. Whatever.

Anyway, each kid skippered his or her own International Optimist Dinghy, an *extremely* tiny one-man craft about the size of a bathtub. We navigated around the local bays and inlets, just exploring and "pleasure cruising," as one of our instructors called it. Other times we entered regattas around the state and competed for prizes. I didn't usually do very well because I was the heaviest kid on the team (actually, I'm very thin and lanky, but I was the oldest kid and just plain weighed more). In one race though, with over 80 people sailing in it, I won eighth place! I was amazed.

I love the feel of the wind in my face, the brisk spray of the water on my arms, and the feeling that I'm in total control of my own boat. I can go wherever I want. It's great! Plus, like you mentioned, there's no roar of an engine, just the peaceful sound of the waves lapping up against the boat. Dolphins and manatees used to swim right up beside me and follow me around the bay. That was probably the best part of all!

Just thought I'd drop a post about the great times I had sailing. Can't really do that anymore now that I live in the middle of the state, but thanks for the memories. :-)

-useless"Skipper! Skipper!!"ness