Hard to starboard!!

Joyful and I had a wonderful day at sea, sailing off of Fishers Island in CT with my Aunt on her 27 (or was it 28?) foot sailboat. We took a launch (correct term?) from the marina piers to where her boat was moored and ate lunch as she explained some of the terms and showed us the boat. She just started sailing herself but is still very capable. We used the motor to get out a little bit before spreading out the jib and mainsail. At first the wind was light but then it picked up and we were moving along at a speed of up to 7 mph or around 6 knots (the GPS we had measured in MPH). We had a good heel going and it was a lot of fun cruising along. Joyful and I each took turns at the tiller and helped with the sheets and such.

You will notice that I am trying to use a lot of technical sailing terms. If you want to be a sailor, you have to learn the language! It also helps that I have been reading the book series that the Master and Commander movie (with Russell Crowe) was made from. That takes place during the Napoleon War when English had the great ships of the line. The books are fascinating and I have grown to love the Age of the Sail and the great ships. Those ships were amazing. They could travel all around the world without using any fuel! They used wind, a renewable energy source! And even if the wind is blowing in the direction you want to travel, you can always tack and get there eventually. Then there are the great navy battles, tactics, and commanders such as Nelson. I also failed to mention the physics of sailing, ships, navigation back in the day, etc.

Granted our little one masted boat with two sails did not have any cannons, but it was all fun nonetheless. The feeling of gliding along on a beautiful day, with your sails full of wind, was amazing. Hopefully we can go out with her on some more trips on the boat!

In other news, Hurricane Irene is coming our way! The weather people are saying that this could be the worst storm the Northeast has seen since the 1930's! We could lose electricity and then what would we do? Well it is simple really. Joy and I will take our tent and live in the woods. We will purify water and cook on our stove, just like we were back on the trail! Ok, we have a bed here, so we won't be staying in the woods. And we have plenty of extra food and water but we could get water from a brook and purify it if necessary. It is good to be a backpacker and have some survival skills! Bear Grylls would be proud!

Lets give her a full broadside!