I went sailing yesterday.
It’s the first time in years that I’ve been on the water.
My coworkers and I all went on a team-building cruise on the boat of one of the team members.
It was a big keelboat, 47′. I am pretty sure that’s the largest boat I’ve ever sailed on. As one of the only people with sailing experience in my group, I was called upon to help onboard. I raised the main, tailed the dock lines, and ran the starboard jib sheet.
We sailed on the SF Bay out of Berkeley Marina. The marina looks right out the Golden Gate, so we were beating upwind in pretty choppy water for the first half of the trip. It was blowing about 28kt and I got drenched.
We got close to Angel Island before turning back. The reach downwind was nice; I began to remember sailing days on the Puget Sound, with the surge of the rollers catching up with the boat and making a sound that is indescribable but unique.
I was pretty cold when I came off the water. A hot shower fixed that.
As I fell asleep last night, I could still feel the rocking of the waves. Very nice.