City sailing

Water sports have always been a passion of mine. I pretty much enjoy doing anything on the water. For several reasons sailing is one of my favorites. So it was rather ironic that the last major move I made was to Arizona. A landlocked desert state. Even more ironic that for a period anyway Arizona had more boats per capita than any other state in the union.

Go figure.

But now I live in Massachusetts. Only a short drive from the Atlantic Ocean. Not to mention lakes galore. My buddy has recently been getting certified in sail boats of various sizes at a local boating club, and has been wanting to take me out for some time. Yesterday was a perfect day and opportunity so I finally joined him.

So where did we go? Some nice ocean sailing? Maybe a scenic New England lake? Of course not!

We went to downtown Boston! Not Boston Harbor. But downtown!

As humorous as that sounds, it is actually the truth. Plop in the middle of Boston, right by the downtown area, between two bridges on the Charles River, is a veritable sailing paradise. Who’d a thunk?

Sure it is not a huge area. And it does not have the same majesty as sailing on the open seas. But still it is sailing at its best. We started on a smaller boat (all he was qualified to take out), and played on that for an hour or so. Then we came back in, and got permission to take his test on a larger boat, so he could get the qualification to use that boat as well. The smaller boat can easily be handled by one person. The larger boat, while manageable by a single person if they are skilled enough, is generally easier with a second.

I played Gilligan for him.

Somehow he still managed to get the certification. So we got to play on the larger boat for a while too!

All and all a very pleasant outing. And a good reminder that even in a city one can still commune with the world.