Emily

Dear Blog,

One of the unexpected benefits of writing you for the last three years is that I can look back into your archives and read about not only what I was doing one, two, or three years ago, but also what I was thinking, dreaming, pondering, and otherwise generally blathering on about at those times.

As you know, I do sometimes actually browse through my old posts and remind myself of what was going on in my head in the past. Is that narcissistic? Am I the only blogger in the world that does this? Or the only one prepared to own up to it?

Anyway, back in April 2005 I had only been blogging for a few months and hadn’t really gotten into my stride. That month I went on a long road trip to the Florida Keys to attend one of Rick White’s Sailing Seminars and then, on the way back up north, I raced in the US Laser Nationals in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. I see that I wrote posts about the areas of my sailing that needed improvement and how I screwed up in one of the drills at the seminar, and was also whining about all the minor injuries I sustained there.

By April 2006 I think was definitely well into the blogging swing. I was actively sailing in the Laser frostbite series at Cedar Point YC in Connecticut and posted this picture of me making a front-line start in one race. (No I didn’t use Photoshop. Sometimems even a blind squirrel finds a nut.)

Usually my finishes were not as good as my starts. I wrote about one such day in Wheeze Uck.

I was also showing my serious, analytical side on the blog with a whole series of posts about Dave’s Top Ten Tactical Tips (based on a lecture by Dave Dellenbaugh that I had attended) and was provoking my readers to share their (lack of) knowledge about how sails really work in a series of post such as Geeking Out. There was also time for some fun too with lighter observations on sailing such as Weather Forecast for Sunday and Rule 18 Protest Hearing. And I did find an excuse to show you all some pictures of my new granddaughter in Yoga.

Last April it seems I wasn’t doing so much sailing as I was in the middle of a house move (actually literally homeless for all of April) and was training for the London Marathon. I wrote about running the marathon and I see I was still stirring things up with some geeky posts such as Why? and Apparent Winds, Shear and Twist. Of course, I still found an excuse to post a picture of my granddaughter in a post title Red Sox Nation.

And I did write about my first sail of the year in the north-east in Best Six Things About Sailing Saturday.

Hmmm. I sailed in Massachusetts before April 9 last year did I? Seems like it’s time to go sailing. See ya.

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

The greatest pleasure this summer has not been all the Laser regattas in which I have sailed or even settling into our new house by the sea. It has been the opportunity to spend much more time with my granddaughter now that we are living closer to her.

We haven’t taken her sailing yet but her mother and father have been getting her comfortable with the water through sessions in their backyard pool and numerous visits to the beach. When they are not around I have taught her other ways to have fun with water such as shooting Grandma with a water pistol.

Of course we all think she is the brightest and cutest baby there ever was. And she does seem to be very articulate for her age. One of her favorite words is “ocean”. I suspect that is what she was saying at the time the photo above was taken of the two of us.

However, much as she loves the water, she does occasionally get confused about the relative sizes of various bodies of water. On seeing Mount Hope Bay this weekend (the bay in front of our house which is about 7 miles long and 2 or 3 miles wide) she proclaimed that this was “Grandad’s Pool” and that all the yachts sailing on it on a breezy sunny Sunday afternoon were “Grandad’s boats.”

I wish.

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

What a month! The first weekend of July I won a regatta and celebrated my 60th birthday. Then this weekend the best present of all… today I held in my arms my first grandson, born yesterday at 8:52pm, Aidan Christopher, 8lb 5ozs, mother and baby doing just fine, thank you for asking.

Big sister Emily was thrilled with the arrival of her little brother. As soon as she saw his feet she started playing This Little Piggy Went to Market with him. And then she held him in her arms and sang Frère Jacques to him as he snoozed.

Could we be looking at the Harvard University Sailing Team 2027 season Intercollegiate Championship winning A-team and B-team skippers? Who knows? But here’s an omen. The first visitor from outside the family to show up at the hospital this morning was the sister of famous sailing blogger Dan Kim of Adrift at Sea.

Hmmm.

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back

This guy has been sending me emails for a couple of weeks now.

The messages are about how they are having informal Laser racing on Saturday afternoons at the lake club where I raced a few weeks ago. Short course fleet racing. As many races as they can fit in between 3 and 5. Keep it friendly. Not too serious. No keeping score. All about having fun and building the Laser fleet. Every Monday I receive an email telling me about how much fun they had the previous weekend. And every Friday in comes another email with a note about how the weather forecast for Saturday is perfect for sailing and encouraging me to join them.

Hmmm.

Actually two hmmms.

Hmmm #1. If only someone had bothered to market our district regatta the other weekend in a similar way then maybe we would have had more than seven boats show up.

Hmmm #2. This format reminds me of something we used to do at Hunterdon Sailing Club in New Jersey. In the middle of the summer there was a “proper” Wednesday evening Sunfish series with a race committee, and scores, and trophies (and even the occasional protest meeting). But the season stopped at the end of August because once the evenings became shorter in September it was impractical for those poor souls who have to work for a living to arrive at the lake early enough to fit in much racing before sunset.

So some bright spark started the GUST series. GUST stood for Geriatric or Under-employed Starboard Tackers. A bunch of us retired layabouts would race through September and into October on Wednesday afternoons from about 4 until sunset. Rabbit starts. No race committee (or even a safety boat). No keeping score. Just a friendly group of old geezers having fun.

Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes. Saturday afternoon.

So anyway last Saturday I drove over to my son’s house in the morning to play with my grandchildren. “My grandchildren.” I like saying that. I’ve only been a multiple grandfather for two weeks but it’s a good feeling.

At the grand old age of almost two weeks Aidan really only has do three things: drink milk, sleep, and poop. The kid is incredibly talented at all three, and even did one of them while sitting on my knee.

Emily was excited to see me and we spent the morning playing doctors (involving giving extensive “check-ups” to every doll and furry animal toy in her vast menagerie using her new toy medical chest) and having fun with a hose pipe and her paddling pool in the back yard. Did I mention that this kid loves the water?

After drying off and having lunch, I headed down to the lake which is not far from my son’s house. Of course, having won the regatta there three weeks ago, I had to put up with some good-natured ribbing about whether I had to come to show them all up. As it turned out, this was far from the case.

The courses were short. One lap windward-leeward lasting not much more than five minutes. We must have done about ten races. Success depended on the start and the mark roundings. It was more like practice drills than real racing but it was a hell of a lot of fun. I won one race and was second a few times but was also nearer the back of the fleet a few times too.

It struck me that one of the beauties of sailboat racing is that it’s really so many different games rolled into one. Even sailing the same boat all the time, the Laser, the skills demanded are so different from week to week.

At the lake regatta, in light patchy winds, the keys to success were the ability to see the big picture as to what the wind was doing on the lake and having the skills to keep the boat moving in the very light stuff.

Last week at Barrington, at least once the breeze was up, you needed to be able to spot the shifts, hike hard upwind, and play the waves downwind.

But on Saturday, on such short courses, it was all about the close boat-to-boat stuff, battling it out at the start line, being aggressive, and having quick reactions and good boat-handling at the mark roundings. Man these guys were good at that stuff.

It made me realize that this is a group of skills that I need to work on. I’ve become lazy at the boat-to-boat stuff, unconsciously (but incorrectly) thinking that if I can find a clear lane and sail fast in big-course races, all will be well. Maybe I need to spend a few more Saturday afternoons at the lake…

Just before I left the lake, the guy who had been sending the emails thanked me for coming and pointed out that I ought to spend Saturday morning with my grandchildren and sail with them in the afternoon more often.

Hmmm, I like the sound of that…

Then home to the beautiful Tillerwoman who had made fish and chips and mushy peas for dinner. I am a very lucky man.

Original post by Tillerman and software by Elliott Back