For those who have read my posts “How I turned my Zombie Apocalypse Plan into an Early Retirement Plan.” And “ Sailing around the world.. Literally”, you know I have been working to learn how to sail.
Even though I have been on a few booze cruises, I finally joined a local sailing meeting up group called New Orleans Social Sailing Meetup.
I met the first time at a local restaurant and met members of the group. Seth is the Organizer and quite a pleasant fellow. He was very knowledgeable and has been sailing for years. I also had the chance to meet Tyler as well. After following the group for several months I was able to make my first sailing trip and what a wonderful time we had.
I got a chance to go 2 days in a row. The first day we sailed Tyler’s boat from Slidell to the South Shore Marina in NOLA East.
Once we got on the boat and got it set up we were underway shortly.
The crew was Captain Tyler, his first mate and co-worker David and I.
After a short while, David and I asked a million questions and he let me take over the help.
The only downside was there wasn’t very much wind once we dropped sail so we were going very slowly.
There was a pretty decent storm coming in so we docked quickly and prepared for the next day of sailing.
The next day we got to go out in Seth’s boat. He has a Catalina 28. I brought my friends Jesse and Ana to enjoy the day with me plus the rest of the crew.
We motored out about a mile away from shore. Captain Seth said that gators stay closer to the shore so who am I to argue that point. We anchored off and had a great swim.
I purchased a new camera just to take better pics and made sure it was waterproof.
Once we got back in the boat we sailed around for another hour and bombarded Seth with questions about what the different equipment was and how best to rig and tack.
All in all it was a fantastic 2 days of sailing. I love the quiet of when you are under sail. I know for sure I am hooked now and will in short time purchase my first boat.
Come find me on Facebook “Shack Abroad” and let’s talk about your sailing experiences. I am eager to learn more or if you want to take me out on your boat, I’d love to go.
