Sailing into the Sunset of Broken Dreams

As I write this, my test is in the process of being graded, or waiting to be. Unfortunately, even with all of the skills we worked on, my confidence for this is severely down. Rewind one month. I had gone sailing (at Mac Sailing in fact) with Ryan over the summer, though it wasn't a very strenuous course, and it wasn't one with a test. It was, though, helpful to have some extra sailing experience. It was fun to get out onto the water, and it provided somewhat of a break from normal life. The first time sailing was a great climate, though with minimal wind. Week two we got the wind we asked for, just we should have been more careful with our wish. A rainstorm pelted and froze us as our instructors took us out for a couple of minutes. The swells were immense, and it was quite fun, albeit freezing. Week three was similar, just we had to sail. The numbness racked me as I had tried to help sail around for a couple of tries. Week four was better, although still cold and often with far less wind. It is a good idea to not sail in October with minimal cold weather clothing. Next time we head off I plan to bring a coat and rain pants, with perhaps gloves as well which should make the experience far less painless. The four sessions also helped greatly in teaching me the points of sail and more about the workings of the boat. Sadly, there was much on the test we were not taught. Next time I will assume that we will have to learn the booklets on our own for the test, and that there will be things on the test that didn't pertain to us and our particular sailing experience. Regardless of the outcome, though, I will eventually get the certification, likely via a retake.

I can only wait, and hope.

Signing off for the second time in grade 9,

-Derek

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