So we got 'settled' into the apartment, sleeping on inflatable mattresses, and using cheap desks from Walmart. We have zero furniture, so we use the breakfast bar or sit on the floor for all our meals. Everything is golden ;-)
Next step - learn to sail!
I had found a sailing school online when I was looking for a place in Texas to go, so I signed up for a class. This first class only had one opening, so I would go alone (with 3 people I would meet at class time). This was an American Sailing Association (ASA) 101 class - just the basics. It was a three day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) class - mornings in the classroom, afternoons on the water practicing.
Of course, life can't be easy..... we had a nice tropical depression on its way in the weekend of my class, so Friday went pretty well, classroom in the morning, sailing in the afternoon - I met my classmates, they were all great people and I am still friends with them. Captain said we would 'play it by ear' for the following day. We met at the classroom in the morning, and the weather was not terrible, but the afternoon was forecasting thunderstorms - so we went sailing first. This sounds great, but remember, we are learning... so now we are practicing things we haven't studied in the classroom yet (we were supposed to read a book in advance, which I did, but a lot of it doesn't stick until you get to practice!). We all still had a great time and everyone did well, we worked well as a crew together.
Sunday, however, ended up being stormy all day. Thankfully, we all lived in Corpus Christi, so Captain asked if we could do a 'make-up' day. This sounded great to us - so we wrapped up the classroom portion, took the test and went home - for about three weeks. In the end, I really enjoyed the way it played out. We sailed on a Friday, took the whole day sailing, and the information had a few weeks to sink into our heads, so weren't quite as nervous and unsure. The day was beautiful and the sail was unforgettable.
About a week after my make-up day, Michael and Bean took the same class, they also made some new friends and had a great time. If you are in the Corpus Christi area and want to learn, I highly recommend 'Learn to Sail Texas' and Captain Chris Lower. He has probably forgotten more about sailing than I know, he is a tad eccentric, which I loved, but friendly and personable on shore. On the water, he takes charge and makes sure people are doing what they need to do. He gives us some leeway to make our own mistakes, but generally, he guides you, but you do the work and you learn - sometimes the hard way (sorry again about that accidental jibe!)
Our journey had begun, we all had a little time on the water, so far, everyone had liked it, and we were excited for the next step. Remember those friends I mentioned earlier? We decided to book a private 6 day class with them for ASA 103/104 (coastal cruising and bareboat certification)
That's all for now friends, talk to you again soon!
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