Lost Week

Wow, where did that week go?  I kept meaning to post a blog, but kept getting distracted.

Last week I finally got a chance to do the on-the-water test for my CYA Intermediate Standard.  It had been part of my course in the Caribbean last winter, but we weren’t able to do some of it and didn’t bother with the rest.  We accepted the lack of instruction on Day 3, when the Instructor noted “We haven’t opened our textbooks yet.  Should we start studying an hour each morning, or just do it all in Toronto when we get home?”  The lack of a single coherent word in our responses suggested that we should wait and enjoy the cruise.

And that is how I found myself on the lake Monday night.  Two friends agreed to crew for me, and I spent hours performing Crew Overboard maneuvers and docking/undocking the 35’ yacht.  Lots of fun, and I was good at it.  The 2 friends that crewed for me are also on my Caribbean charter this coming winter, so we had a few pints afterwards and talked about what we want to do down there.  We’re all pretty excited.

The rest of my evenings were spent either sailing or spending much-missed time with Wife.

Yesterday I did the practice exam for my Coastal Navigation course, and did pretty well.  My mistakes were mostly due to my skimming the question and missing key points that caused me to misinterpret.  I’m pretty confident that I’ll pass, so I booked that exam for Thursday evening.  I’ll just have to remember to read the question fully and highlight the key variables.

Life is full, but good, these days.

And in a week Wife and I are going away for five days to celebrate our anniversary.