My first time Sailing...ever!!!

Okay, so to start it is 7:03pm here on Thursday evening. A quick update on yesterday: I got a slow start but ended up going to the suburb of Mount Eden. It was extremely nice wandering around the cute shops, cafes and the beautiful homes in the area. I seriously wandered around and got lost for awhile, but didn't really care. I came back early because I had bought some food at a supermarket in Mt. Eden and needed to get it in the fridge. I had been texting this girl, Suzie, I had met through Lindsey and was awaiting her directions on going out, but ended up watching 300 on one of the German girls' computer instead! For anyone who hasn't seen 300...do it!!! But, I have to admit it was way better in the theatre on the big screen.

I got up this morning and decided to do a little laundry before I went sailing this afternoon. After putting the money in for the second round of the dryer (no matter how high the heat is or how many clothes you have in the load, you have to dry almost everything twice) I decided to take a walk down the nearby hill since it was absolutely beautiful and almost warm outside! Suzie had told me that if I went down the hill I would eventually get to a walkway right on the shore of the water. Well, I never did get to that but I did see some of the most amazing houses ever! I just love how there isn't one house that is the same here because even in the nicest of neighborhoods in the US, it's still suburbia with at least 1/4 of the houses looking alike. Yuck. Here they have beautiful gardens, odd windows, old-looking, brand new modern-looking, etc.

Finally after folding laundry and getting everything together I took off early for sailing. I went to Victoria Market, which I basically turned around and left because I think it would be much better on a weekend or in the summer. Then I decided to go to the marina area and find some lunch before walking out to where I was supposed to meet Tony. I remembered this great Pub that I passed on my last trip to the Marina called "Swashbucklers" (or something like that) and decided to go back there for lunch. Okay so the worst meal I've had yet in Auckland--actually this is the only one that's been bad except for my own cooking of eggs in the morning--and the priciest meal! I'm not even going to tell you what I paid for fried scallops with a side of fries. I hate fried fish/seafood...I should have known better than to order this, but it was one of the cheapest things on the menu! I only learn from these dumb mistakes I guess.

Finally I changed into my "windsweats" and layers and met Tony right outside pier H. He showed me the access code and told me to go to Peter who was getting the boat ready. Tony is bald and maybe in his late 40s, while Peter was maybe late 30s or early 40s, used to own a sailboat and had a ponytail. Besides Peter, Tony and I there were 3 other crew members: Greta (woman in her 50s that was really flakey/funny), Neil (he gave me a ride to the bus stop when we were finished, in his 40s, large nose, very nice), and I'm drawing a blank on the other gal's name...something like Pippola or something that started with a P. She was probably mid 30s with short black hair and apparently a newborn baby. Definitely an interesting group! Peter started showing me some things about the boat and I learned so much new vocabulary I probably won't remember any of it tomorrow.

We finally took off and I really have no idea what time it was...2:45 or close to 3 maybe. Luckily the sun was out without too many clouds and it was kind of warm. Oh, I've completely forgot to mention one important thing: we are going to race! Seriously, we were going out because of a race--a rum race to be precise! Yes, we were actually racing for a bottle of rum! Peter told me before we left that Tony is a very competitive racer and is very good! He's had this sailboat for 25 years! My main job is to wait for the words "____"(Haha, I totally can't remember...something like "aboard" or I don't even know) and then slide lowly, as to not hit my head on the mast/sail, across the boat to the other side and sit on the edge with my legs hanging off to balance the boat. (It's very important actually!) So as we're getting ready and sailing close to the marina and the bridge, there's a point where everyone's miscommunicating and all of a sudden I'm sliding and I hear "Lisar (for with their accent, my name has an r at the end)! Other side!" I start climbing to the other side and I'm holding on to the wood beam on the top of the boat and am completely upright! The boat is totally on it's side and I'm just hanging on for dear life while they try and get it back in it's upright position. Haha, so finally they do and I get to the other side and there are many apologies as everyone checks to see how I'm doing...like I had anything to do with getting us back up! But since I was new to this, they were all sweetly concerned. My heart was definitely pounding and my stomach in knots, but I was totally having the time of my life!

Okay, so I don't want to drag this on forever. The breeze was really good and pretty strong so I didn't have to scramble from side to side very often. They told me I'd have plenty of bruises on my shins after today from going back and forth and I can already tell I'm sore in a couple of spots. The whole race took about an hour and a half and we had three different buoys/markers to go around. I spent most of the time with my legs hanging off the boat trying to lean in the opposite direction of the boat. My feet got wet with some of the waves crasing and it was just such an amazing experience to see the harbour that close! We ended up coming in 3rd out of maybe 20 or 25 yachts, so that was pretty good! I helped fold up the sails and put everything in the cabin when we were finished. Then we all (except for Peter because he had to leave) sat down for a little bit and had some rum and coke! We didn't win the bottle, but Tony brought some anyway. The other two girls left and then Tony poured himself another and insisted I have another (this is the first time I've had hard alcohol since I left the U.S.! For probably a month!!! I know you're all completely shocked :) . We sat and chatted for awhile and then Neil drove me to the bus stop in Ponsonby so I could catch it back to the hostel. I'm so excited to go back tomorrow!!! Seriously, this was such a fabulous experience I can't wait to do it again. There's a lot to learn though about every little position and all the ropes and sails and how to go fast/slow. I definitely recommend sailing for anyone that's get a chance! Maybe I just liked it so much because I love the wind...

Anyway, I'm sure I'll sleep great tonight (especially now that Edward the guy from HongKong is gone...he was kind of driving me crazy) and I'm excited to go back for another race tomorrow! I'm sorry I don't have any pictures...they asked me when I first got there if I could swim because it's easy to fall off! I'll try and take one of the yacht tomorrow though!

-Lisa