Hang on Sloopy

What began as an ordinary humid summer morning turned out to be quite the contrary. I sluggishly woke up for an early morning Sloop lesson at Hoofers. As I made my way downtown, I noticed myself running late so I parked in the lot underneath College Library, well aware that there was a two hour limit enforced. I met up with the instructor Raj and my fellow crewmates as they began rigging the boat. I had just barely made it.

Out on the water, a variably light North wind took us in the direction of Picnic Point. Only somewhat semi-awake, I let the other guys skipper first as I sunk myself into the rail of the boat. In the distance, a few fishing boats staggered near the shore but the lake was mostly left alone. Upon approaching the mooring field, a few beginning windsurfers were seen out with one of the UW's Physical Education courses. At only a few hours up from sunrise, Harvey (the Rescue Boat) was not open for business. There would be no rescue if we needed the help.

When it came for my time to skipper, I demonstrated, without hesitation, my command over the boat. I had some excellent tacks and jibs as I navigated my course around the windclock. By the time I took the helm, the variable wind had begin to pick up to an almost consistent light wind. In one short moment, Raj surprised us all by jumping in and then having me rescue him in a man-overboard drill. Again, I felt comfortable commanding the crew to get off the wind to lose some speed and then come about upwind to slow us to a stop in front of the floating instructor--a successful rescue.

Near lesson's end, the lake slowly began to fill with activity. The yellow hulls of the Techs could be seen near shore as we made our way back in. Slightly past the mooring field, we heard yelling from the water. A young girl was splashing around and calling for help. No one had seen her amid the shadow of the boats in mooring. From our Sloop, we were in the best position to mount a rescue. This was no drill. As the skipper, I took action to come about beside her. It was when we neared our approach that we noticed her without a life jacket and desperately fluttering to stay afloat. Another shocker was that she had somehow lost her top and was clinging to a canoe oar. I commanded the crew to close their eyes as I offered the vulnerable girl my shirt. Her story was that she had swam too far from shore and being anemic, she was not able to swim back.

After the success of our rescue, each of us were tested on our landings. I took us in on a close-hauled approach and just softly touched the pier with the bow nose. In one of my crewmate's attempted landings, a rear rope had caught up against the rudder and in the commotion of setting it free, someone trampled my Oakleys. With the lenses intact, I think I can fix them. Once we got on pier, one of the lenses slipped out of my hand, fell in between the wooden planks, and into the water. I immediately jumped in and opened my eyes to the murkiness of the lake. I saw a faint object falling and reached out for it. With sheer luck, I had successfully grasped it as it fell. Boy, this day was just growing increasingly interesting.

At the end of the lesson, I was the only one that Raj had awarded the Sloop Rating. Finally, I had achieved this summer's goal. Already way past the two hour limit of the parking garage, I expected to get back to the car to see a big yellow ticket. There was none. Very thankful of the day's luckiness, I quietly made my way to State Street to grab a quick lunch. There I ran into my friend Gabriel and we sat down to eat at Mediterranean Cafe. There was just enough time to eat and then run to class.

After class, I went back out to the lake for some windsurfing. The wind had picked up enough to enjoy a few nice rides on a 7.5m sail, by far the largest I've taken out. As I was returning my board, I ran into Brock. He was about to take a board out himself but by this late in the evening, Hoofers was closing up. Instead, we get a pitcher of beer and sit out on the rigging deck. Later, I convince him to tag along as we searched for Stephanie at the Scuba Social. There I met a lot of the members such as Amber from Pardeeville and then I invited them all out to the upcoming Wingsday. We drink and we chat as I get to see my good friend Steph to cap off what turned out from the ordinary to the most extraordinary of summer days. Perfect.

Fei-O-Meter
Activity: 3 | Energy: 3 | Friends: 3