I told y'all in my last post that we decided to give sailing a try. I don't know how he does it, but my husband - the researcher - finds some interesting things and some great deals on the internet. During his quest to compare and contrast sail power vs motor power he came across this school:
He had sent me the link while I was at work. (You should know that I have limited time at work to "research." I am a sign language interpreter, and I primarily work as a video relay interpreter. I am basically on the phone and staring at TV for 85-90% of my time at work. I can give things a quick look on my 10 min breaks or during the few seconds I have in between calls, but I generally don't get to go very in depth.) So I gave his email a quick glance and clicked through to the Dauntless Sailing School site and did a gave it a once-over. I could see that it was a sailing school and the overall feel of the site was professional and friendly - it was also late in the season for sailing and the classes were being offered at a discount.
I emailed back to my husband and said something to the effect of:
"Looks great." And then added in my special sarcastic font:"So where is it... Chicago? Ft. Lauderdale? or what?"
His almost instant reply was: "Oh, it's about 5 minutes from our house."
WHAT?? Turns out that our particular brand of Suburgatory houses a very popular location for SAILING. Geist Reservior - Who knew!?! We obviously didn't. So on the way home from work I gave them call, and spoke to the owner of the school, Todd Bracken. It turned out that he was indeed discounting his sailing lessons for a limited time, but all of his classes were full. He would be willing to create a new class for us on Saturdays if we could rustle up at least 2 more folks. In the meantime, he would keep us on his waiting list for the spring.
We talked to a few folks, but though interested, Saturdays during football season weren't a good fit. So we chalked it up to slim chances and prepared ourselves for the 6 month wait until spring. Then a couple of weeks later I get a call from Todd!
Todd: "Hey, Debra! Todd Bracken here from Dauntless Sailing School. I was wondering if you and your spouse were still interested in sailing lessons."
Me: "We are, in fact, but since we weren't able to rustle up anymore folks...."
Todd: "Well, I have another interested party. I typically only create a new class with a minimum of four people, but I've decided to make an exception in this case and will do it with three. We'll be meeting on Saturdays at 1pm."
Me: "Fantastic! We will be there!"
Now let me introduce s/v Dauntless!!
She is a C&C 27, and we had a TON of fun sailing her! In addition to fishing and teaching, Todd also likes to race her, and he has done a few extended cruising trips.
He's got some stories, and he's a pretty funny dude. If you have the chance to meet him you should. Better yet, do one of his Evenings of Sail - a nice, romantic, relaxing evening (read:booze cruise) here on Geist Reservoir! We took my parents out one evening after a sailing lesson when they just happened to be in town visiting and had a great time!
We brought chicken, cheese & crackers, fruit, a couple of bottles of wine and of course my dad had his staple - Lone Star Beer - carried with him all the way from Texas because you can't buy it here in Indiana.
So now we've sailed. And we liked it. But we still have a few years before we can cut the lines, and there's not much room here for a large catamaran. What ever will we do?? We are searching to buy a smaller sailing vessel, that's what! We've decided that for the next few years we will fart around here on Geist and improve upon the skills Captain Todd bestowed and have a new activity for us and the kids, too!