Sailing the Regretta Regatta

Yesterday, Adam, Julia, and I went sailing!!! Friends from church have a lovely boat and belong to SCOO, "Sailing Club of Oriental." The club calls this the "Regretta Regatta," a silly little race for fun, in which all kinds of cheating is allowed and even encouraged. We met over at our friends' house.

Their boat is a 31-foot O'Day.

First thing, Mr. Bob made sure he had a life vest fitted to Julia's slim size.

We motored out of their well-populated creek. In Oriental, boats are prolific.

Elaine navigated us out of these narrow spaces.

Julia enjoyed the experience from the first minute.

Now here's a cute little houseboat. It's decorated within and without.

And it was a stupendously gorgeous day:  sunny, breezy, just the perfect amount of cool air and warm sun. We were comfortable in our capris and t-shirts. I should have worn my hat more, because I did get a little sunburn.

See? What a lovely day!

This fellow right here? He thoroughly enjoyed himself. He has adored sailboats for 20 years, read all about them, wished he could build one, or at least sail one. Bob got Adam to help him with all the lines and sheets and sails, and whatever other words those sailors use. Adam likes working the sails the best.

Here he is, putting up the main sail.

Bob works too.

And it's up!

During the first leg of the race, when we had great wind, Adam got the helm, and Bob worked the winches to tack the sails back and forth.

There was a lot of head-craning, as the sky was perfection itself, and the sails were billowing and full.

Happy Julia

Bob kept an eye on everything.

One of the enemy boats off our starboard side. Adam said he could easily transform us into a little pirate ship by mounting a small cannon on the back :)

The sails gathered in the general Oriental harbor area, ready for the horn to begin.

And they're off! We did well in the first leg of the race. Each boat was stretching and leaping over the choppy river.

I particularly loved this bright boat with its pretty red sails and trim. I watched it throughout the race.

Here's a boat with three sails. The one out front is called the jib. The middle one, which is partially obscured, is the main, and the little sail in the back is called the mizzen.

Lovely, isn't it? Why is it that the shape and movement of a sailboat are so alluring?

Lined up and dashing along the river!

Here's little red. As she got closer, I was excited to get a better picture.

Then she was just off our port side, with another boat. They pulled ahead of us!

Adam, working one of the winches. That jib sail went back and forth, and those lines got cranked back and forth, for the second half of the race.

Finally, Bob and Adam took down the sails, and we began motoring toward home. Who won the race? We didn't know! It seemed to us that, about 3/4 of the way through the race, everyone seemed to drift away toward home and nobody seemed to win.

Julia went out front for a little "Titanic" experience.

And this was one happy man, yesterday afternoon. Many thanks to our friends for such a fun day! I think Bob and Adam make a great pair for sailing.

And wasn't that a fine homeschool field trip for Julia?