Ballast Beauties, Inc.
Saturday night, back at the sailing club, Skipper Collin had invited me back for yesterday's race and I accepted. He was also lamenting that we didn't have enough weight on the boat to balance her out when she leaned over in the strong winds. So I suggested that not only could we easily get more weight, but we could do it in style.
So I went back to the hostel that night and asked the first three friendly and pretty girls if they would like a free sailboat ride the next day. Marie Helene, a Quebecois lass I had me the day before and had become friendly with and Tanya and Celia, two Norwegian gals who had just arrived were game and excited for the opportunity.
So it was with great pride that we went down to the dock at noon yesterday. The rest of the crew was quite happy to see that we now had the weight we needed to balance the boat and that the weight wore bikinis.
We all had a great time sailing the race, a simple 4 laps out and back from windward to leeward. The gals did great, hopping like jackrabbits under the boom as we tacked and clambering up the other rail to lean out for balance. On the downwind legs, I got to be the pole again as we got the most out of our jib by goosewinging it out opposite the mainsail. After the second lap, Jason and I managed to rig up a metal pole to do the same job with a lot less effort and chaos.
Collin and his senior crew sailed the boat great and we crossed the finish line very happy with our effort. The gals all had a great time and appreciated the unique opportunity to be in the middle of a rather exciting yacht race. Because each boat has a handicap, we wouldn't know the actual results until later that evening at the sailing club. So I dropped off Tanya and Celia, who wanted to go swimming at the lagoon and Marie and I went over to the club to meet the rest of the racers, have a drink and wait for the results.
My reputation preceded me, apparently how I wrangled up those beauties was becoming a popular story. After a while of schmoozing and drinking, they served a BBQ sausage snack and we all gathered around to hear the results of the race.
First they announced the results of the previous day, we came in 4th, which was great considering that we were expecting to finish 5th or 6th. Lochie and Felicity came in 1st in their division, and everyone cheered heartily for him and his crew.
Then the announced the results of Sunday's race, starting with last place. We waited as they announced each boat, each time hoping it wouldn't be us. We all got quite excited as one by one the names of our toughest competition were read off, leaving only us at the end. Sandpiper won first place! Big high-5s all over and everyone was very happy. The bonus was that this race was the last in a 4 week series and our victory had also secured Collin 3rd place in the series! Lochie had also cleaned up and taken first place in the race and the series. We were all smiles as we congratulated each other.
And so, after another beer and a drink from the rum bucket, it was a weird sad moment when I realized that I'd be leaving Airlie and this crowd behind in the morning. I've been here two weeks now and I was really starting to get into the flow of the town and the people. I can see how picking up and leaving all the time is going to get tiring. Collin and his crew were great guys and all offered me a berth the next time I come through. Lochie extended an open invitation on Felicity as well. Marie and I made our farewells and I took my leave of sailing in Airlie. For now.
After leaving the club, we were a bit tipsy and not in form to drive the 1 km back to the hostel, so Marie and I walked down to the lagoon for a moonlight swim. After getting the yayas out, we called it a night. I probably would have rather spent my last night in town partying, but instead, I asked Amand, my new Norwegian friend if he would put on some of is Norwegian electronic music like Rokksopp and I zoned out on the hammock for a while... then went to bed and was out by 10.
So now my tale of Airlie is done. I'm going to go grab a gyro from the shop across the street and head off towards Mackay and then Carnarvon National Park. I might not have net or phone service for a few days, so please don't panic if you don't hear from me. I'll probably crash in the town of Emerald tonight, I doubt I'll make it all the way to Carnarvon today. It's about 600km from here.
So I went back to the hostel that night and asked the first three friendly and pretty girls if they would like a free sailboat ride the next day. Marie Helene, a Quebecois lass I had me the day before and had become friendly with and Tanya and Celia, two Norwegian gals who had just arrived were game and excited for the opportunity.
So it was with great pride that we went down to the dock at noon yesterday. The rest of the crew was quite happy to see that we now had the weight we needed to balance the boat and that the weight wore bikinis.
We all had a great time sailing the race, a simple 4 laps out and back from windward to leeward. The gals did great, hopping like jackrabbits under the boom as we tacked and clambering up the other rail to lean out for balance. On the downwind legs, I got to be the pole again as we got the most out of our jib by goosewinging it out opposite the mainsail. After the second lap, Jason and I managed to rig up a metal pole to do the same job with a lot less effort and chaos.
Collin and his senior crew sailed the boat great and we crossed the finish line very happy with our effort. The gals all had a great time and appreciated the unique opportunity to be in the middle of a rather exciting yacht race. Because each boat has a handicap, we wouldn't know the actual results until later that evening at the sailing club. So I dropped off Tanya and Celia, who wanted to go swimming at the lagoon and Marie and I went over to the club to meet the rest of the racers, have a drink and wait for the results.
My reputation preceded me, apparently how I wrangled up those beauties was becoming a popular story. After a while of schmoozing and drinking, they served a BBQ sausage snack and we all gathered around to hear the results of the race.
First they announced the results of the previous day, we came in 4th, which was great considering that we were expecting to finish 5th or 6th. Lochie and Felicity came in 1st in their division, and everyone cheered heartily for him and his crew.
Then the announced the results of Sunday's race, starting with last place. We waited as they announced each boat, each time hoping it wouldn't be us. We all got quite excited as one by one the names of our toughest competition were read off, leaving only us at the end. Sandpiper won first place! Big high-5s all over and everyone was very happy. The bonus was that this race was the last in a 4 week series and our victory had also secured Collin 3rd place in the series! Lochie had also cleaned up and taken first place in the race and the series. We were all smiles as we congratulated each other.
And so, after another beer and a drink from the rum bucket, it was a weird sad moment when I realized that I'd be leaving Airlie and this crowd behind in the morning. I've been here two weeks now and I was really starting to get into the flow of the town and the people. I can see how picking up and leaving all the time is going to get tiring. Collin and his crew were great guys and all offered me a berth the next time I come through. Lochie extended an open invitation on Felicity as well. Marie and I made our farewells and I took my leave of sailing in Airlie. For now.
After leaving the club, we were a bit tipsy and not in form to drive the 1 km back to the hostel, so Marie and I walked down to the lagoon for a moonlight swim. After getting the yayas out, we called it a night. I probably would have rather spent my last night in town partying, but instead, I asked Amand, my new Norwegian friend if he would put on some of is Norwegian electronic music like Rokksopp and I zoned out on the hammock for a while... then went to bed and was out by 10.
So now my tale of Airlie is done. I'm going to go grab a gyro from the shop across the street and head off towards Mackay and then Carnarvon National Park. I might not have net or phone service for a few days, so please don't panic if you don't hear from me. I'll probably crash in the town of Emerald tonight, I doubt I'll make it all the way to Carnarvon today. It's about 600km from here.
posted by Scottley at 4:01 PM
3 Comments:
Wow, now _that's_ a great Airlie story. You have my fondest congratulations, and utmost respect for a vacation well done.
A little news from stateside: the washu cs dept. invited me to speak to their students, and tell them how to find good jobs. They're flying me out at the end of the month. I'll say hi to Andrea Heugatter for you :)
Hey Scottie - welcome to the world of Big Boat sailing - it's a blast, eh? What kind of boats, if I may ask?
Either way, nice work recruiting the hot rail meat :)
Dude - your trip is awesome. Sailing races??? Are you Richard Branson or something??
Jeremy
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