Let me start by saying that I when I woke up this morning, I did not think of today as "Opening Day". Really, in the past month or so, there have been about a half dozen more significant days of spiritual awakening, contentment in our preparation, and readiness for a fair-weather season. Layla has been ready for weeks, and already fairly well tested.
Today does not represent any situational change, or celebration. Your correspondents will be working rigorously for at least another month, earning money for the coming Summer. I have not been sailing in over a week, and the weather is only mild. More personal preparations are needed.
Still, the first of May is the club's opening day, and even without attending I was able to enjoy the festivities. What better way to satisfy an appetite than a Win's burger and milkshake on the boat? The sun found its way down through the puffy alto-cumulus clouds, so I kicked off my shoes and shirt and watched the decorated ships parade over and back, single file from the port. The trailing vessel shot arcs of water soaring athwartships a hundred feet into the air, showering down into the bay.
Zodiac's masts were at rest in the terminal, gleaming and magnificent as ever.
So I turned up Tom Waits' Heartattack and Vine album, ate and felt free, relieved to be on the water after claustrophobic excitement visiting Redden during their successful barbeque/sale extravaganza, and driving back through Farmer's Market crowds to Fairhaven.
After a full week of work at a new job, it is invigorating to know that I am so close to my own adventure; after so long learning about boats I can really appreciate the work that goes into each of the parade's vessels. Each has a story, just as important to its crew as Layla's is to me.
I found myself on deck without a camera, so there are no visual aids to this first, perilous post. We have been wanting to find a way to share our experiences as we go, and this is how the story starts.
~e.w.
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