We Are Sailors

Have you ever seen pictures of a sailboat parked in a cove at a paradise location, mast down, hovering over clear blue waters, so clear that you can see its shadow laying on the ocean floor a few meters below? Those pictures have always been intriguing, so we decided to sign up for a class and last weekend became officially certified by the Hong Kong Sailing Federation. The first day was spent learning techniques and theories and we never even got to touch a boat before lunch. Finally we learned how to assemble the boat, all 57 steps (a little exaggerated but seemed to be that way). When we got on the boat it was rather confusing and didn't seem all it was cracked up to be. By the end of the second day however we got it down pretty well - the tracking, the gybing, the zig-zagging tracks upwind, taking it back to shore...it turned out to be pretty fun. So now we have our 1st level certificate but all we can do from here is move up to 2nd level, so we're planning on doing that soon and then we'll be qualified to rent our own boat and go on outings. Maybe we'll reach that cove one day after all.