Completed: 4. Go Sailing
I know nothing about sailing… other than JFK looked good doing it. Exhibit A:
Unfortunately, my unrefined blue-collar blood prevents me from being as cool as a Kennedy. Exhibit B:
My goal this year was to simply “go sailing,” but I actually wanted to learn how it all works, so I took a two-hour course. Thanks to Living Social and Annapolis Sailing School, I was able to get a little baby taste of the Kennedy life.
The course was really hands on. I steered for about five minutes and took care of the jib sail (my poor calloused hands!) during most of the session. I learned a lot during the course, but I honestly didn’t enjoy sailing as much as I thought I would. Possibly, if I had known it is completely normal for a sail boat to lean (or heel) to one side, I wouldn’t have been so terrified? Maybe.
For the first hour, I was nervously gripping onto the boat and planning my escape route for when we capsized — Would I be able swim to shore before getting eaten by an Osprey? What if I get knocked out and stuck underneath the boat when it capsizes? Thoughts of Natalie Wood’s death took over – wait was she even on a sail boat? — but then the instructor told us that capsizing would be near impossible in our boat.
So that allowed me to enjoy the last hour.
Another thing to note, the two adorable couples who were on the boat with me looked like they had just filmed a Sperry Top-sider ad. Little Lyssa from Manassas, the only one on the boat whose translucent pale skin was fully covered on the 80-degree day, was wearing a Jailhouse Rock shirt, workout pants, Converse, and a Gorton’s Fisherman-looking jacket, cementing the fact that I am not meant for this fancy outdoor activity.
Land ho,
– Lyssa
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