For a dream to come true, it has to become a goal. And for a goal to be reached, there needs to be steps taken in that direction... I have dreamed all my life of sailing a big sailboat on the ocean. Kind of a funny dream living in Utah and all. But...
The ad in the paper was simple. The Great Salt Lake Yacht Club was having an event and one of the events for Saturday was free trips on a sailboat! I had 3 of my kids for the Father's Day weekend, so they agreed it sounded like fun and we waited our turn to go... Somehow we ended up being one of the very last groups to go out, but that worked out quite well in the end. I expected we would get on a boat, it would cruise around the harbor and then we were going to get off. I was excited for that! But then we heard the rides were an hour to an hour and 15 minutes... Cool!
Our skipper was late, and the kids (ok, me too) were getting impatient. Finally he was there and we boarded our assigned vessel. It was so sweet getting in and feeling the gentle swaying. It was a Catalina 27 I think. Skipper Mike used the motor to guide us out of the harbor. As he moved aside to let other boats through, we got stuck on the bottom! He ordered us to the bow and he was able to get us unstuck. Yeah, Captain Mike!! On we went out into the pretty, Great Salt Lake.
What a thrill to pull the line that made the main sail go up the mast! And the wind caught us and away we went. This was a hands on trip and we helped in many ways. Erin, Matthew and I helped steer, and learned to watch the sails to read what the wind was doing. We didn't have a clue what to do with what we saw, but it was a blast! Jeffrey helped a lot with the main sail line, tightening and loosening at the skipper's commands. I think we made a pretty good crew!
Oh my goodness, the peace was amazing... The lake was calm and soft and the boat just cruised along, and the day soaked away with the gentle sounds of water on the bow marking the speed of time... I had never felt this peaceful about moving, traveling, enjoying time... The bubbles behind us were proof that we were moving because the scenery changed so slowly, it could not be trusted to be a sign. Somewhere around when i was lost in the joy and peace, we turned around and headed home. Matthew steered us home, including through the buoys almost into the harbor. He did great. It was exciting yet tough to get off the boat onto the dock. I didn't want it to end, yet I also knew I could never have another trip otherwise... We were all fried from the beautiful sun. Some were tired as this had turned out to be a 3 hour tour. A 3 hour tour. (Sorry, couldn't help it!)
Some adventures happen and you walk away with a memory to last a lifetime. I hope this adventure is just beginning.
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