On the Water

At last! Adam and I snatched an afternoon to go sailing. You'd think, living in the sailing capital of North Carolina and having a sailboat, we'd get on the water more often. Life gets in the way.
This morning (after prayer shawl meeting, while Adam was teaching his first telescope mirror-making class), the Neuse displayed its usual cache of diamonds. When the sun rises a bit higher, they disappear.

Even a tired old boat hull is beautified by light and reflection.

Adam was chatting, so I sat on the boat and snapped some photos. Ropes and shadows ~

A clear sky and good wind gave us fun sailing. The water was slightly choppy, with little cats' paws showing in the river's center.

My cowboy sailor ~

He loves grasping a line of sail and keeping the boat from heeling too much for my comfort.

The afternoon waned and the sun slipped down the sky. I couldn't see what my camera was doing. Our fore sail never went up because that would have been too much speed today -- that's what you see bunched on the deck up there.

And that is neither sun nor moon, but a water droplet on the lens. See the tiny sail on the horizon?

The setting sun made the water a sheet of light as the boat passed on. This sailor was heeled far over at one point, single-handing both sails and flying along. He was sitting high on one side like he was on a sunfish instead of a 35 foot boat. Crazy!

And this fellow was cruising along. He took down his fore sail with a roller furler, and he hauled down his mainsail. I suppose he has some cruise control going - haha!

Not sure which of these photos I prefer ... maybe the first one. I wish I knew who this fellow was, so I could send him a copy of his boat with that sun.