The Kids Finally Enjoy Sailing
June 5th 2021
My kids have been sailing with us a hand full of times. They have tolerated it, but never truly enjoyed it. The trip a week earlier I could tell the started to finally come around. Today everything changed with them, they finally were excited to go and wanted to go back almost immediately.
My brother Ian came along with us for this sail, which makes everything always way less stressful. We left about 11 a.m. as usual, and the wind was blowing pretty good. We got out to Eardley pretty quickly with Mark helping with the sails and Warren relaxing in the cabin.
I raised the keel a bit so that we could get a bit closer to shore today, but it's still a long way to swim in.
The kids played and I walked the half mile through the sand to the other side of the spit, something I haven't done in the past. Walking on the spit is a lot different than walking in most sand. When you step down, you foot sinks through the sand two or three inches, hits a crust, then the crust breaks with some pressure, and then you foot sinks another few inches. This makes the walk seem like a lot more than it really is.
The edge of the wate on the other side of the spit was crystal clear and extremely calm.
We spent about an hour playing at the beach before swimming back to the boat.
I think the trip back was where I realized that Mark especially was really enjoying his sailing. He found a new place to sit, and I think it made all the difference.
This is one of my favorite place to sit on the boat as well. The wind just blows against you, and you glide over the water slowly bobbing up and down in your own thoughts. I think for Mark there was just a silence about it all, a completely worry free spot, where all his pent up anxiety can just melt away.
Warren was able to just sit below and relax, not bothered by anyone, and watching one of his favorite shows.
Sadly, within two weeks, and before the kids could sail with us again we were forced to pull the boat from the water as the lake level continues it's drop.