I used to Sail….

Walking a sunfish over a sandbar in salt run the summer a taught youth sailing.

In the past my days were filled with salt air and sunshine, sails billowed overhead, and waves rustled past below, I sailed a lot, at any given opportunity to be exact. Then I bought a boat and well…. I can probably count the number of times I’ve actually been out sailing in the past year on my fingertips. It seems, at times, that boats are all work and no play. I feel my self-growing weary of this, and I know a day off shore in the big old blue is just what I need to revive my soul. But I’m a full days trip from the ocean, so I’ll have to settle for a bit of river sailing next weekend. Which will still be fun especially since I should be shaking out my new mainsail – fingers crossed it arrives in time. I had a skipper ask me to crew in a woman’s race this weekend and regrettably had to turn her down since I’ll already be out of town – lately they only ever ask when I’m not here, how do they know! I’ll be high and dry this weekend, rabbling up on the Suwannee River, listening to some fine musicians and in the company of great friends, can’t complain about that. Except on top of having to turn down a J-race I’ll also be missing out on a local marina flea market that only happens once a year…. I need 3 of me.

So much to do, so little time to squeeze it all in over the next 12 weeks before my departure. It gets stressful at moments, so I close my eyes, I see the sails up there, hear the water down there, feel the sun on my face – it’s my past and my future as long as I keep it together here in the present.

Here’s a little collection of photos from my sailing days past. They are quite literally the wind in my sails, keeping my heart in balance through all these waves of change, little reminders of why I do the things I do.