Full Report - Day 2
Tuesday, July 31Day 2 – Clinic
The harbor cruise last night went well, as the fog lifted and were able to see many of the sights from Salem and Marblehead harbors, Misery Islands, the Children Islands and a few others. Low tide meant looking at beautiful breaking waves over deadly shoals in the middle of nowhere. Makes one very glad for GPS!
This morning started out much better: the sun was out and no hint of fog. The competitors were divided into groups of four again for the final clinic classroom setting. Lunches were made and boats were launched. The sun continued to bake and the breeze died as the afternoon went on. However, the on-the-water drills went well and the girls came in early….just in time to overlap with the hoards of Pleon junior sailors! One ramp; 100 boats!
Thank goodness for some brawny Pleon graduates (Eastern YC’s A Team of On-Shore dolly guys) we got the Pleon sailors out of the water and then made quick work of the JWS sailors. There is never a dull moment on the launching ramp, something I will miss. I get to chat with the girls and see how their day went or kid them about something funny that just happened. Plus, they are ALL grateful for help launching and hauling out, saying “thank you” every time.
After showers, we all headed over to Corinthian YC for a Mexican supper. The speaker for the night was Rich Wilson, who regaled the audience with tales from his TransAt race and, most chillingly, his rescue at sea near Cape Horn. I don’t know about the girls, but I was fascinated about his adventures on a trimiran, racing around the world, alone. Plus, he’s a teacher and made it a mission to put his adventures on the web for school kids to follow his adventures. Anyway, the chatter afterwards from the girls was that they didn’t think they could “do something like that!” I bet they can.
The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be light again.