Cottage week 1: Sailing and Swimming

So many activities are available at the cottage, and since we wanted to get as many of them done as we could, the first nice day with wind was a day to go sailing! Before we could sail, though, there was much to be done. We had to retrieve "The Laser" from its storage location (hung from slings from the roof of the boathouse), wash the winter gunk off of it, and put a coat of wax on it, before it could even go in the water.

It should be noted, in passing, that "The Laser" is the only boat at the Gerhard cottage that does not have a name. The big boat is called "Ed" (not a very stylish name, but tin boats should not have stylish names), the little rowing dinghy is called Pegasus (Since it was, in one incarnation, the tender to the Gerhard's 27ft C&C called Shadowfax), and the red canoe is called "Tyrannosaurus Rex", since it is properly Adam's canoe, and that was his first choice when a now-retired member of the fleet was to be named years ago. That boat was named "Abracadabra" instead (his second choice). Adam was four years old. Now that he is a grownup, it seems, he can have a boat named "Tyrannosaurus Rex".

The Laser is called "The Laser" because it is a Laser.

So anyway, we got the laser down from the slings and onto the dock where we gave it a good scrub and polish. The waxing was hard work and hardly something to require of visitors to the cottage on their second full day here. But that's what we did. ... Actually, Kelvin and I waxed up the sucker something fantastic, shinier than it had been in a long time. And it was worth it, too, because that baby hummed afterward. I mean literally hummed. OK, sorry about going link crazy. That last one wasn't completely sufficient. When a "The Laser" sails fast and flat at a particular point of sail, a harmonic resonance is set up in the keel and rudder such that the hull starts to hum. That means you're doing it right.

Sophie's Dad and William's Dad getting ready to sail





Swimming is also a popular activity at the cottage since the water is clear and fresh and screaming cold these days. It's not bad once you get in (they all say that) but the easiest way not to be intimidated by swimming in the cold water is to just dive right in. The kids had their first cottage swimming experience already, but the adults were merely wading. In order for the adults to actually go swimming, jumping off the dock was preferred.



Since it was a bit slippery from a recent rain, baby wrangling was required, but it was made much easier by life jackets. It's great that kid's life jackets have handles on the top. They pretend it's to make it easier to haul the kid out if they fall in, but we all know it's to keep a handle on them so they don't fall in.

Pregnant woman, not into diving off the dock, becomes designated wrangler