Water and Sky 1

I have tried some exciting things in the past week. One involves water, the other sky. And both are the things I love.

Last weekend, I took a class on small boat sailing. That has been my dream since teenager. I went to one class almost 20 years ago while I was still in HK. But an approaching typhoon forced the class to cancel (which I think is a good idea). Then I forgot about this for a long time until about 4-5 years ago. But every year, I failed to remember to register for a class until the summer was over, till this year.

The boat that I learned to sail is called a Sunfish, which is highly popular for 1-2 persons. It's very easy to set up and control. And it can bring you a lot of thrills when the wind is strong. The class lasted for 2 days over a weekend from 10 am to 5 pm. We had about 4-5 hrs of dry time learning everything from knot tying, aerodynamics, sailing techniques, safety and boat setup. We actually only touched on the very basics. In the sailing world, there are so many terminologies, skills and boat types that literally is another world. I feel I am back to the school: the more I know, the more I don't know. So it was confusing a little bit in the beginning, then became clear later when I sail by myself, but was back to confusion again when I was part of the crew sailing a bigger boat.

The learning curve was leveled a bit by an enthusiastic, positive and always smiling instructor, Doug. He won an award on teaching sailing. A great guy. The weather was perfect too: sunny, dry, temperature in the 80's (high 20's Celsius), with 5-10 mph wind speed - perfect for beginners. I managed to control the boat pretty well by myself, doing different turns and stuff. But the highlight was the capsize.

We are not require to capsize our boat, but the instructor highly recommended it since it will happen 1 day. Not wanting to get myself wet, I waited until almost the end of the 2nd day to do it. To be honest, fear was a big factor too, even though I had life jacket on and I can swim. I guess I was afraid that I couldn't turn the boat around or got up to the boat or something. So when the wind seemed to die down a bit, I thought I would be able to escape. But at the end, a sudden gust filled the sail, sped up the boat, and I decided to do it.

I hanged on to the sail, the sail became heavier because the wind is pushing it harder. At the same time, the boat started tilting...10 degrees, 20 degrees, 30, 45, as it went aster and faster. I don't know when but it must be around 50+ degree, I leaned forward, pushed the sail a little bit, and slided down into the water. Here I was, a big splash!

I didn't anticipate the boat went totally upside down (turtled up). So I pulled the daggerboard (in the middle of the boat) with quite a bit of strength (because of some resistance of the sail under the water). The boat turned 90 degree. Then I stepped on the daggerboard and pulled the side of the boat again and set it upright. After pulling myself up onto the boat, I was both relieved and proud - I did it!

But one thing amazes me, everything in the boat (not a whole lot), the oar, the bucket and sponge, remained in the original position. Non of them were tied to the boat, which I expected to swim around to retrieve them. I guess it's related to the design of the boat.

I want to sail a good size boat 1 day. And I hope to share the time with my family and teach my sons to do sail. One of the romantic evenings I dream of would be to bring Jeanie out on a good sail boat and sail out from the Bay of San Francisco. Lying down on the deck, sharing a meal together, and enjoy everything from the cool breeze, to the sunset, to the beautiful city skyline, and of course, our time together.

-RL-

Kids Say

Ethan starts to complain that he is very busy. He said:

"Sunday, I have to go to church.
Monday, I have piano lesson.
Tuesday, I have school and soccer practice.
Wednesday, I have AWANA.
Thursday, I go to school.
Friday, I have to go to school.
Saturday is my only day off! See!"

He actually spends most of his time playing lego!


What's the result of mixing Chinese and English? My answer is French!

We try to teach Evan Chinese, mixing with some English. He ended up saying things like,

"Zes" (= yes)

"Zauzae" (= sausage, name of our hampster)

-RL-

Proud Work of Master Evan

Didi's masterpiece:



Baba's remedy:

Happy New Year of Pig!!!

Wow, the whole winter did fly by. It's my first entry for both 2007 and Year of Pig!

A lot of "first's" have happened that made the long winter short. We have record snow fall in a day in Columbus (which I escaped). Ethan and I went to a OSU men's hockey game - it was his first. Monica and our family went to cross-country skiing in Canada last week - a first for all of us. And I have to mention the heart-breaking loss of OSU football in the championship game - a big letdown for many of the buckeyes. The office was so quiet the day after the game since everybody had a long face. I felt the same but I am glad that my life has more to look forward to other than football.

Oh, I almost forgot, I am starting a new job with DHL on 2/28. Finally, it is here after a long and winding road. It's a 8-month process (or wait). I should be excited right? To be honest, I had cold feet on the day I signed the offer letter. Jeanie "kindly" reminded me that it's really my habit of doing things. Her "gentle" words were effective.

The last few weeks have been very cold in Columbus. To be honest, I am not ready to let winter go yet. Since I haven't gone downhill ski this season. I looked at the forecast and it will be at least 40's starting on Tuesday (sad). Our family and Monica enjoyed the cross-country ski. I pulled Evan on a baby-glider which is pretty easy except going uphill. Mama and Monica got to experience the gentler slopes. Ethan worked hard and he started to get a hang of it. Our family is ready to take the challenge of downhill ski now! But looks like we may have to wait for next year.

-RL-