This morning I dressed in bathers, shorts, a polyester shirt, old sneakers without socks, and a support string around my sunglasses*. Obviously I was getting ready for my first sailing lesson.
Despite my long-held beliefs about the dangers of going outside to have fun (which were only proven last Wednesday when I fell off my skateboard and I'm getting way too old/fat to do that), I agreed with my housemate that maybe a five week course in the art of yachting would be a great way to spend some time.
So a bunch of clothes to get wet in, a giant smeer of sunscreen and one bucket-hat later I found myself sitting in the Elwood Sailing Club listening to a charisma void teach some basics about sailing.
Some things I didn't expect:
- They (the instructors) called the front of the boat "the front".
- Similarly the back was called "the back".
- There was no emphasis on what sort of knot to use when.
- They felt it important to tell us that ropes weren't called "ropes" but instead needed to be referred to as "sheets" and "halliards".
- They still refused to use the words "bow", "stern", "port", and "starboard" which I had spent the previous day cramming into my head.
- It's really easy to capsize a boat and almost as easy to get it back up again.
- I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to next week.
But don't tell anybody about this last bit or my reputation as a hater of outside will forever be ruined.
----
*When the sunglasses hang on the string below your neck and you're wearing a polyester sports-type shirt with a collar, it really makes you look like you know something about sailing.