(no subject)
I got to drive THE ZODIAC!!.
My ex-girlfriend decided to have her wedding reception on her step-dad's sister's husband's (my dentist's brother-in-law, by the way) boat: the schooner Zodiac. I initially thought that this would consist of going for "a ride" on the boat, but I was pretty surprised when they actually had us help the crew in raising the sails (and later refurling them).
And I don't just mean that I got to hold the wheel for a couple of pictures. At first it just meant finding a spot on the horizon and heading towards it, while keeping the boat from veering too far one way or the other.
Then we arrived at a very mini "bay" where he told me we wanted to clear the shore by about 300 feet off the starboard. The thought make me a little nervous at first, but apparently I did pretty well so he let me make the u-turn within the bay, bringing it first hard to port then hard to starboard.
(you can only see the open water behind us, in front was land)
On our way back to Fairhaven The captain taught me how to watch the streamers at the top of the mast to know how to turn the boat so that the wind filled the sails (tacking (sp?)), while also managing to head in the general direction of our destination.
He later mentioned that usually when someone wants to drive the boat it actually means more work for him, but that I actually seemed to have a knack for it and made things easier for him. Maybe he was just trying to boost my ego or something, but it was still pretty cool to hear it from the captain. =D
My ex-girlfriend decided to have her wedding reception on her step-dad's sister's husband's (my dentist's brother-in-law, by the way) boat: the schooner Zodiac. I initially thought that this would consist of going for "a ride" on the boat, but I was pretty surprised when they actually had us help the crew in raising the sails (and later refurling them).
And I don't just mean that I got to hold the wheel for a couple of pictures. At first it just meant finding a spot on the horizon and heading towards it, while keeping the boat from veering too far one way or the other.
Then we arrived at a very mini "bay" where he told me we wanted to clear the shore by about 300 feet off the starboard. The thought make me a little nervous at first, but apparently I did pretty well so he let me make the u-turn within the bay, bringing it first hard to port then hard to starboard.
(you can only see the open water behind us, in front was land)
On our way back to Fairhaven The captain taught me how to watch the streamers at the top of the mast to know how to turn the boat so that the wind filled the sails (tacking (sp?)), while also managing to head in the general direction of our destination.
He later mentioned that usually when someone wants to drive the boat it actually means more work for him, but that I actually seemed to have a knack for it and made things easier for him. Maybe he was just trying to boost my ego or something, but it was still pretty cool to hear it from the captain. =D