Took My Kids Sailing

The day before Thanksgiving, my kids were all in town. So we decided that was a good opportunity to go sailing. I'm not ready for Finn to come along yet. He's 2 now, but he can't sit still, and there's really no way to strap him down in a Merit. So we left Emily home with Finn, and she made all the desserts for Thanksgiving.

Dan, Jen, and Matt all came along. None of them knew how to sail, although Dan has some experience with lasers and cats, and Matt has lots of fishing/motor boat experience. They all picked it up pretty quickly, though, and had lots of questions... most of which I could answer... some of which I referred them to Dave at dinner that night.

We headed out toward the bridge with about 5-8 knots of wind. They got pretty good at tacking, and we even went wing-and-wing on the downwind return. The day was relatively uneventful except for me skippering with a boat full of newbies for the first time. We all had a lot of fun, though, and they all thanked me for the experience. I think maybe they'll go out sailing with me again sometime... I hope so, anyway!

More pics of this day and Thanksgiving at my house are in my Picasa web album!