Sailing

This afternoon, I took Frost to the Mt Baker boat center for an Introduction to Sailing class. It was cold, drizzling, foggy and slightly calm. It was not ideal weather. There were another couple of participants - a Kiwi (Louie) and his son Jack (7). It was a good match for us. Louie had done hobie sailing in New Zealand and of course I grew up with various sailboats. Our instructor was Max, a college student from the area who grew up sailing in Miami.

With all the sailing enthusiasts having come from warmer climes I started to wonder about the wisdom of cold-water sailing. Still, we rigged and climbed into a fairly large sailboat - I think it was a Flying Fifteen or something similar. We sailed out slowly and then had some fun reaches across the Lake where the wind picked up through a cut past Seward Park. Frost was very cold and looked apprehensive. He was very quick to react when I gave him advice and most upset when I quickly grabbed the tiller to avoid a jibe. He was listening carefully to what to do (keep the tiller centered) but wasn't able to check on our direction and make corrections.

Since it was his first ever sail in a boat this was pretty good!

Our instructor recommended the 420 class as the best family boat. Apparently it is 2 handed boat but sails well with kids once they are 12 or so. It goes fast and is widely used as a college race boat.

Unfortunately, they don't have these at the UW boathouse but I think that Frost will enjoy Laser sailing with me once I get rated there.