Busy, busy, busy, and holy crap this is a long post!

After a week, I have internet again and now I must post.

I have been rather busy, this past week, with sailing. I am taking my Bronze V. Monday was fun, because I hadn't gone sailing for a year, and I sailed in a new 420 with Mini PJ (AKA Andrew). There wasn't much wind, so we spent our time capsizing. Everyone did. There were thirteen of us in our class, but Monday night, Mini PJ managed to break his wrist again, so we are down to twelve, a nice round number. The only other girl is named Amelia, and she is French and only started sailing this summer. Most of the people in my group are fun; I usually hang out with Amelia, PJ, Jamie, John, and Greg, because everyone else is boring. Our instructor’s name is Matt, and I volunteered with him for a couple of weeks last year when he was teaching Whitesail with Jeremy. Monday was just a "get used to the boats again" day, and we didn't learn any skills.

On Tuesday, after a fairly unexciting game of Capture the Flag, we got to the dock, storm rigged, and learned how to fly a spinnaker. Then after lunch, we got into our boats, I was with Jamie in a new 420, but there was barely any wind, so we had barely gotten out of the channel before we were told to head in.

There was no wind again on Wednesday, although in the morning we did get to practice with the spinnakers on the water with the little wind we had. I was with Amelia, again in a new 420, and we got almost all the way to the candlestick. The wind was coming from the East, so we were on a run all the way there. However, we had to get towed in by Matt. After lunch, we learned how to remove a mast from a hull and organize it so all the ropes didn't get tangled, and also about five different types of anchors and which boats they are generally used for. After, we went for a ride in Big Red, where we went “swimming," meaning that everyone pushed each other into the water until everyone was sufficiently soaked. Except for Matt and I. I got wet, but I wasn't thrown in because I am allergic to the salt in the water and getting it in my eyes is equivalent to being squirted in the face with shampoo, plus I am wearing contacts. After that we de-rigged, and went back to the boathouse. I almost missed the train home because I left my sandals in Big Red and had to wait for the truck to bring it up.

On Thursday I got to sail in a Laser, and since the rule is you rig up the boat you docked the day before and then either Matt chooses what boat you will sail in and who you will sail with, or it is a random draw. I switched with Jamie, who sailed ended up sailing in a new 420 with Ryan. There was actually wind on Thursday, enough to make up for the previous three days, but in a way, that ended up being really bad for me. The idiot who rigged my boat doesn't remember how to rig a Laser. While I was still in the channel, I noticed that my tiller had been attached to my rudder on top of the travelers and that was impeding my ability to turn, so, while I was still in the channel, I had to turn into irons and fix it, running the risk of getting my daggerboard caught in the mud because the tide was out and the area around the channel was very shallow. After that, I headed out to the candlestick, not intending to go any farther, mainly because I wasn't supposed to, and also because if I went too far, it would just take me that much longer to get back. I was nearing the candlestick, and went to turn, heeling over and nearly capsizing myself. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was wrong, but then I realized I couldn't let my mainsheets out. My clue tie-down was tied very tightly over my mainsheets. I was stranded for about twenty minutes because I couldn't stay in irons long enough to fix it and there were no boats anywhere near by, Lasers being faster than the other boats because they are lighter. Eventually a Sabot came somewhat near, with a Junior and Jimmy, a volunteer sailing in it, and where there's a Junior, there's a Jeremy. Jeremy soon came over in Lucy, and I got him to hold my boat while I fixed my mainsheets. After that, I had a fairly good time sailing, except for the few times I got my mainsheets stuck on my transom because I had forgotten to sheet in before I tacked. While I was heading in, there was this huge gust of wind and since I was on a run, I practically flew towards the dock. All the volunteers were on the other side of the dock, so none of them heard me calling for someone to catch me. I executed a near perfect docking, but I drifted over a bit before Jimmy grabbed my bowline and held my boat until I removed my daggerboard and got out. It was extremely hard to pull my boat over to its designated spot, and I had to wait for someone to come over and help me pull my boat up. By then the other boats were starting to arrive, and within in a few minutes, John came over and helped me de-rig, even though he had never de-rigged a Laser before. While we were trying to detach the sail from the boom, the boat capsized on the dock, and, if my daggerboard hadn't still been attached to my boat, I would have lost it in the water. I finally got it de-rigged, thanks to John, Amelia, and even Smiles, who helped fold the sail.

Yesterday was supposed to be our day trip to Barnet Beach, but once again, there was no wind. All the sailors, Juniors, Whitesailors, and Bronzesailors played a few games of camouflage, then we rigged up, put our lunches in Big Red, and started on our way. Matt put Amelia and me into a new 420, which was fine with us. We got out just past the candlestick, about halfway between it and Reed Point Marina, where we were given our lunches while still in our boats. Matt and Sam, who was volunteering with him that day, stole some of my brownies before giving me my lunch. Later, after giving the remains of our lunches back to Matt, we spent the next few hours having a huge water fight, swimming, and jumping onto other people's boats and capsizing them. Every once in a while, a boat, usually the Byte, would turtle, and we would have to laugh at whoever was sailing it at the time. After that, we slowly made our way back, with David in our boat as well. He skippered all the way back, because I had been skippering all day and didn't want to. It was originally just the two of us in the boat, then when we were about halfway back, we were joined by Amelia, who had been in the Laser II with two other people, one of whom was Greg. Laser II's are not made for any more than two people, unless most of the people on board are very small (the whole incident with the Byte last year proves that a Laser II can be sailed like that). After that, nothing memorable happened, except that when I got home, I spent nearly two hours washing dishes. On Tuesday our kitchen and laundry room sinks backed up, partially flooded the kitchen and laundry room and got some of our boxes of books wet. Most of the books were fine, but it took us hours to fix the problem and clean everything up. Because of this, nobody washed any dishes for a few days. I finally did it, because we had run out of clean spoons.

Today I was all about comfort. I spent a lot of time on the internet, rarely going outside, wearing yoga pants, my landmine awareness shirt, my niftilous new belt and glasses. I didn't bother to brush my hair this morning and it is still in its braids from yesterday. Now, I need sleep, because this has taken me forever to write, and I know my mom is going to be pissed off at me for being up so late, when Erin has to work tomorrow. I shall now include a glossary, because I know that not all of you know all of these nautical terms, than I am going to bed.

Glossary

420 - The minivan of all small sailboats. If you go down to the pier, they are the boats witht the coloured hulls. Two sails.
Big Red - The largest Zodiac owned by the Rocky Point Sailing Association (RPSA). Complete with driver’s seat steering wheel, this boat is usually reserved for the Bronze classes.
Boom - The metal pole that is perpendicular to the mast. The bottom of the sail attaches to it and it swings around a lot. It really hurts when it hits you in the head.
Bronze V - The course I am taking, and the highest level you can complete with the RPSA. The levels from beginner to avvanced are: Junior, Whitesail I, II, and III, Bronze IV, Bronze V, Silver VI, and Gold VII. Depending on which level you have, you can also take instructor levels, Green, Blue, Red, and Black.
Byte - A one person, one-sail boat. These boats are rather small and are usually made for smaller people. They are also evil and I am never sailing in one ever again.
Candlestick - A landmark on the water. It marks the end of the sheltered part of the inlet, about halfway between the docks and Reed Point.
Channel - A deeper area of water near the docks. Marked by ed triangles and green squares attached to pylons, the deepest part is next to the red. Once you get out of the channel, the water is deeper, and you can pretty much go wherever you want.
Clue Tie-down -Ties the clue of the sail (the corner at the end of the boom) to the boom.
Daggerboard - A large piece of wood that fits through a hole in the middle of the boat. It is used for balance and for un-capsizing boats.
De-Rig - Removing sails, ropes and whatnot, and putting it all away.
Heeling - when the boat tips on its side. Usually this is a good thing if you want to go faster. When the boat has heeled over so much, that the boat is almost capsizing, that is called banana boating.
Irons - Turning the boat directly upwind and pulling in the sail(s) all the way, so the boat doesn’t go anywhere.
Junior - Little brats between the ages of seven and nine who are trying out sailing. Al are extremely annoying because they can get away with anything. The female Juniors are usually man-haters. They sail Sabots, Optis, and on occasion, four or five and a volunteer will sail in a 420. Not a prerequisite of Whitesail.
Laser - A one person, one-sail boat. Slightly larger than a Byte, this is my preferred boat of sailing.
Laser II - Larger than a Laser, but smaller than a 420. Two people, two sails.
Lucy - The smallest Zodiac owned by the RPSA, it is actually quite cute. The other two Zodiacs are twin boats named Patty and Selma.
Mainsheets - Ropes responsible for controlling the sail, letting it in or out.
Rigging - Getting boats ready to sail.
Rudder - A piece of wood at the back of the boat that is used for steering.
Run - Sailing directly downwind with all sails out, and the daggerboard up.
Sabot - A small, slightly akward-looking boat. Usually used by Juniors, because if you weigh more than sixty pounds, you shouldn’t be sailing one.
Sheet In - Pulling in the mainsheets and consequently, pulling in the mainsail as well.
Skipper - The “captain” of the boat. The one who is steering.
Spinnaker - A third sail, that goes in front of the gyb (the second sail, pronounced “jib”). It can be used on 420s and Laser IIs. Used only when you are on a run, it helps you to go faster. You need to know how to fly one to pass Bronze V.
Storm Rig - Partially de-rigging the boat. It is mainly used when there is a storm and you don’t want your sails damaged, or, if you are a Whitesailor or Bronzesailor, you storm rig before you go for lunch.
Tack - A way of changing direction. When you tack, you push the tiller away from you and switch sides. Whe you are tacking, you are turning upwind. The opposite, jibing (the “I” is pronounced like an “I” this time), is the exact opposite.
Tiller - Attaches to the rudder. You hold it, by holding on to the tiller extension, which is attached to the tiller itself. The tiller extension allows you more control, and also allows you to sit forward in the boat to improve your CLR (Center of Lateral Resistance), and your CE (Center of Effort), but we won’t get into that because I wasn’t listening when they tought us that in Bronze IV.
Transom -The very back of the boat. It is different from the stern.
Travelers -a piece of rope with a pulley attached that the mainsheets attach to. Called the traveler because the pulley is not fixed, and it travels to whatever side the mainsail is on. The travelers are slightly different in a 420, but not much.
Turtle - Turning your boat completely upside down in the water. It is a bitch if you turtle a single-handed boat, because your daggerboard will fall throught and you have to swim underneath to fix it. Turtling a 420 is equally annoying, because you need the weight of two or three people to un-turtle it.
Whitesail - Whitesail I, II, and III are all taken together. A beginner’s course, with no previous sailing experience needed.