Invested

The fleet out for a sail

I bought the Fiat Lux in the depths of winter in 1989, seduced at the Philadelphia Boat Show by its sleek lines, red color and physics.  The physics?  I could get a rigging designed for my weight class, with less sail area and a shorter mast, which bent slightly under load to keep the force centered on the correct spot.  The vector diagrams were so lovely and compelling.

The Quantum Theology Laser fleet now has two boats, mine and a second, standard rigged Laser (which makes Math Man happy as that is geared for his weight class - allowing him to get a up a good head of speed).

We went sailing yesterday, the family plus (including Crash's girlfriend, The Lady of House Clark, and a friend of The Egg's), on a day when the winds were just a bit stronger than optimal for a first of the season sail.  Math Man was excited, I kept saying there is such a thing as too much wind!

I enjoyed having a team that knows what they are doing in terms of rigging the boats, and lifting the boats is easy when you have six people on the job. The winds were a bit wild, shifting direction by 180 degrees a couple of times, and the Egg had a hard time holding the standard boat down, flipping it once.  I took my boat out twice by myself, enjoying having to pay careful attention to keep the sail trim and full.

But the most fun?  I had to hike all the way out to hold the boat flat, flying about a foot above the water!  And the moment when I was over the side and still had six inches of the lee gunnel under water.  Whee.  And no capsizes for me — unlike two years ago.

I do have some epic scrapes and bruises, however, as a result of clambering around the shallow cockpit wearing my somewhat less limber body and a personal floatation device that increases my effective circumference to 55 inches.  It's like trying to sail while dressed up like an enormous Campfire marshmallow.  Despite this, I am invested in wearing a life vest.  I like floating. And while I swim well, no one swims well while unconscious.