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Sailing
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 7:34AM We’ve lived near the Gulf of Mexico for more than four years now, though we didn’t come here for the water. We have great beaches within a short drive in several directions. The Gulf of Mexico affords opportunities to fish, sail, kitesurf, bum on the beach, or any other water/wind/sand combination you might come up with. Of course, the Gulf of Mexico is also the stomping ground for hurricanes now and again, but that’s another story.
We live this close to the sand and the water, but we don’t spend much time at the beach. We go to the beach a few times a year, usually when we have out-of-town visitors who want to poke their toes in the sand and collect a few shells. Up until recently, we’d never been sailing here. In fact, I’m not sure if any of us have ever been sailing.
Some friends of ours live a much more coastal lifestyle. They live on the beach, ocean kayak, windsurf, sail, and have a tight connection to the water here. When they called one morning and asked if we wanted to go sailing, we jumped at the opportunity. Ok, most of us jumped. Sonar X4 was less than thrilled at the prospect, and was anxious and cautious throughout our sailing adventure. The other guys looked like they were born to be on the water.
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L to R: Sonar X4, Sonar X6, our friend the Honorary Sonar, and Sonar X9 (Look at the hair on that one. Gorgeous.) (Photo by Carrie Robertson)We sailed in a sheltered area because the wind was pretty strong. After a few passes, we dropped anchor and swam to a little barrier island. This was both the most fun and the most frightening part of the day for me because I’m not a great swimmer. The moment before we got into the water was also Sonar X4’s peak panic moment and we thought perhaps he was trying to drown his dad as we swam.
I’m happy to say that I’m a better swimmer than I realized and no one drowned. We came home with a sunny glow (ok, I was a tiny bit sunburned), and covered in salt, but we had so much fun. Sonar X9 would like you to know that he now wants to learn how to sail. No, I’m not buying him a boat.
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L to R: Partner, Sonar x4, Sonar X9, Moi, and Sonar X6, with the wind in our eyes. (Photo by Carrie Robertson)
Reader Comments (1)
It was a fun day and Dan and Dani's kids were natural born sailors. Let's do it again soon!