Recreational Sailing? Try Recreational Rowing

Ugh! Matt and I went sailing yesterday. Or rather we *TRIED* to go sailing yesterday. He was busy until 2:45 PM, so we didn’t get to the boathouse until 3 PM. The boat we were planning to use was full of water! So we had to drain it first. Then, we had to tie everything down. Then we had to get gas. And then I grabbed the sails, the battens, the lines, the toolbox, the box with the extra shackles, the bailer, the lifejackets, the extra bungee cords, put the hitch in, and hooked up the trailer. Whew! Now it’s 4:00 PM.

We drive the 45 miles to the nearest big lake (there was one closer, but it’s tiny). We put down and rig everything up except…. Except…. Matt goes, “Where’s the rudder?”

Talk about marital bliss. We had marital bliss right there for about 15 minutes, while some houseboat next to us is blaring “Bad to the Bone” at full volume. It was now 5:15 PM.

Yup. So we de-rigged the boat, and Matt went to get the trailer. Now. I’m no expert in Marina Etiquette, but I would like people’s expert opinions on what happened next.

Matt is backing down the trailer for the sailboat, and a motorboat comes and pulls in directly in front of our trailer, essentially preventing me from getting to the trailer with our sailboat.

That just seems wrong to me. But I ended up rowing our boat around the thing and scooting into the trailer. Yay for arm muscles!

Anyway, that was our afternoon. Maybe next time, I won’t forget the rudder! (I’ll forget something else, like the plugs.)

Recreational Sailing

The other day, Matt and I were driving back from the park, and I saw someone cartopping a Sunfish that I swear looked like the one that was stolen from the club 2 years ago. Oh well. I hope they put it to good use. (Bastards.)

The sailing team is up at Northwestern University again today, racing 420′s. I’m stuck down here cuz I had to study. (At least I don’t have to take the SAT this weekend, like my cousin Daniel!)

So, to make up for it, Matt and I are going sailing this afternoon. Another guy wants to come along, but he’s bringing 2 friends who’ve never sailed before. I wouldn’t normally mind, but… The guys took the sailing club car, so all I have is my little Toyota Corolla. And I do *NOT* fancy pulling a 600-lbs boat (with rigging and gear) 45 miles with my little 4-cylinder inline engine. If it’s just Matt and I, I could bring one of the lighter boats (250 lbs).

Ah, the life of a trailer sailor is forever entwined with that of one’s car.

CAR REPAIR

Last weekend, our sailing club car died. Basically what happened is that, our Commodore was backing it out of the driveway, and just as he was pulling out of the entrance, it gave a weird cough and choke and went *POP* really loud, and wouldn’t move. It was still running, but stepping on the accelerator didn’t do anything except make the engine sound a little louder. It had a strange chugging sound, like some of the pistons weren’t firing. So, we put the car in neutral, and four of us managed to push the thing back up the driveway so at least it wasn’t blocking the road.

So over the week, Bob came over with the GMC Jimmy manual and figured out what was wrong. First he made sure it had gas in it. It did. Then he checked the engine. The engine was running, but, as I said, the pistons just sounded like their timing was off. It was just the distributor. The distributor is what helps the pistons fire in sequence. All he did was rotate it a few degrees, and the truck was running better than it had when we bought it.

Bob saved us an unknown amount in car repair. Actually, he ended up spending a little more money on a strobe light, so he could align the belt more accurately. But otherwise, the car is running fine.

Just thought I’d post a little car repair story, because cars really aren’t as mysterious as people think. Car mechanics and medical doctors just do a lot of reading.