Thursday, November 13, 2008

The McGee's Go Sailing



We squeezed in one last casual sail in the remaining days of pleasant fall weather when Jason McGee and his lovely wife Chris came to visit. The batteries didn't have water in them so the engine wouldn't start. I borrowed and returned a battery I found on another boat to give us a jump start and we were on our way. We decided to take it easy and head out to Lake Washington instead of Puget Sound. There are a couple of draw bridges along the way. So we pulled out our air horn to signal them to open and "bppphhissssssss". It was empty. After about 15 minutes of trying to hail the bridge over radio someone else opened it and off we went.

There wasn't really any wind at all on the lake but spirits remained high anyway. We drank rum and cooked brats on the grill that hangs over the railing. I got a chance to know Chris a little better and as much as I love my old friend Jason I frankly don't know how he landed this gal. :) Smart, comfortable with herself, confident, fun, easy going, and beautiful. Fine work Jason. I apologize for those 8 years after high school where I questioned your sexuality.

After plenty of new and old stories we headed back. Of course the motor wouldn't start again so Deetz spent about 15 minutes leaning off the back of the boat trying to pull start the motor. I should note that the motor doesn't have a rip chord. Deetz used some reef lines (rope) to wrap around this emergency pull start ring on the top of the motor. After plenty of yanking the rope and then re-wrapping it the damn thing started. We actually got a little wind and enjoyed a broad reach for about 30 minutes. It was a good day and it's fun to sail even with no wind with the right company.