"Flat Bottom Girl" WVYC Ladies Sailing!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of sailing on an amazing 42ft Sailing boat with some of my closest friends for the Annual West Vancouver Yacht Club Ladies Cruise. We where a mixture of talented sailers and like myself slightly more novice sailers, all hoping to make our mark on the race. We started the race feeling rather confident in our abilities and after a short "Coffee & Muffin" break, we quickly realized that we had forgotten completely about the race and now where sitting in very last place. Unfortunately, the crew of the Eclipse were unable to recover from this relapse in judgment and our "Flat Bottom Girl" could not re-gain her place with the rest of the pack.
After losing our wind, we floated for what seemed like forever in the "Doldrums of Bowen Island", feeling slightly embarrassed as we watched a group of Kayakers pass us by. The crew of the Eclipse discussed various options (ei; starting up the engine...oh and starting up the engine), but the greater majority of us stayed confident in our wind luck changing (also, we had nothing else to do). So we bobbed about floating at around .01 knots, being pulled sideways with the current. We were very happy to not be stuck in the middle of the Ferry Traffic part of the channel and waited patiently for the wind to fill our sail's back up and push us towards the finish line.
Sure enough, after 4.5 hours of "intense" racing (eating and drinking), we crossed over the imaginary line. With no one there to cheer us on or watch us complete the race, we did what any enthusiastic sailor would do! We Blow our own air horn and cheered loudly!
Pulling up to the dock with our heads held high, we soon learned that the winner of the race was a very talented Solo Racer, who manhandled her 30+ racer by herself all the way to the finish line. Our last place finish was consoled by some fantastic food; cooked for by a couple of the Yacht Club men and we enjoyed the beautiful Centre Bay docks and facilities.
Here are some shots from the fantastic weekend and thanks to everyone for letting lose and having a good time!
Experienced Sailor Linds, fine tuning the jib. Gusting 25knots on our way home from Gambier.
Our Fearless Captain, Fiona steering us into the wind!
Linds pretending like she is working hard, just so I can take a picture of her.
Rule of thumb: "Always Look behind you when photographing, sometimes the best shots come from you just turning your head around!"
Emily balancing on a log. We had an incredible hike on Gambier. Mostly filled with caterpillars and very large ferns!
1 out of 2 boat dog mascots, Tikka enjoyed the wind in her hair!
