Sailing

Sorry I haven’t posted much this week. I went sailing out on Morton Bay on Wednesday and was waiting to receive some pictures from a fellow crew member, but no luck so far. It was the first time I’ve out sailing since we’ve been in Brisbane, so as you can imagine I was happy to find out that pretty much any Wednesday afternoon I can go out racing if I’m willing to make the 50 minute drive out to Manly. This is not because I’m such a wonderful sailor or so pleasant a person, but rather because it’s an opportunity that is extended to anyone interested in sailing.

Wednesday Afternoon Go Sailing (WAGS the G used to be for “Gentlemen’s” but now women are welcome.) is a long time tradition at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron and an example of the friendliness that we have experienced in Australia. The day I was out, over 100 people had signed up to go out for a casual race/sail, and all found boats to sail on! The quality of racing was perhaps not all that high: it was a triangle course around an island with a long first beat, a few tacks, then a broad reach back to the YC, no flying sails, but with inexperienced crew you wouldn’t really want to put up a chute in the 15-20 knots that is typical on the bay.

There were all sorts of boats out: big boats, little boats, Etchells, trimarans, a bit of everything, maybe 30-35 yachts total. I was on an older, 40 foot IOR affair, pretty beat up looking (perhaps I’ve gotten spoiled sailing on the Midsummer and Tantivy), but nothing broke and the owner seemed quite competent. I was just glad to be out on the water with a bit of cooling breeze. I should say “cooling” is relative term. It was about 90 degrees F. on shore that day, so going up wind it still felt at least 80 F. The water was quite warm too. I got fairly wet from the spray while sitting on the rail, but it was like bathwater and I dried off quickly in the sun.

It was interesting to notice that some aspects of sailing were exactly the same as in the U.S (at least for big boats). The ladies (a 20 year old German backpacker, woman from Melbourne visiting her son, and myself) mostly stuck to the front of the boat and sat chatting on the rail, while the men worked the cockpit. The owner and his buddies were the usual suspects: older, graying or balding, somewhat overweight, but good-natured. There was the typical younger, regular crew guy doing most of the grinding and hard work, and of course, the usual putting the boat away routine with a lot of standing around and talking once the sails were folded. I opted to skip the beer at the dock and the following amble down to the yacht club since I had a long drive back home and getting arrested for “drink driving” (yes, that's what they call it)is not something I want experience while in Australia.