Capsize!
I had my first sailing lesson today. It was great fun sailing along in a little GP14 dingy. (GP=general purpose 14=14 foot long). I really thought I was getting the hang of things - sailing straight, tacking, jibing and then suddenly...
...with awful inevitability I realized that no matter what I did we were going over. The other learner in the boat with me was a rather large man and somehow both of us ended up on the same side of the boat as the sail.
Time slowed as the sail got closer and closer to the water and eventually we were in and the boat turned turtle - right over.
It was a mad scramble to grab the center board and pull until it righted. I jumped in and tried to help my partner in. He slipped from my grasp and suddenly the boat was sailing off with me trying to figure out what the heck was going on and my partner's anguished cries fading in the distance.
All's well that ends well - I go again tomorrow - let's see if he volunteers to come with me again or if I'm the leper.
Cheers
Pete
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