Every summer I always look forward to sailing. I even start a countdown about 6 weeks before the season opens. I’ve done this ever since I caught the sailing bug about 7 years ago. This year was no different, except I was hoping and anticipating that I would get to sail the Martin 16. John and Fletch were hoping that last summer I would get a chance to try out the Martin but unfortunately the controls (very similar to the ones I use when I sail the red Access Liberty) had not come in before the season ended. So I was a little more excited when this year came around. For the first couple of weeks I sailed the red Liberty as usual. Then came the day Alex said, “We have a surprise for you” and as soon as he said that, I knew I was gonna be in the Martin but I decided to play along with Alex and said “Really? cool, I like surprises”. A few minutes after that, I was getting ready and settled into the boat. Claire came with me as my crew and she was really excited too, it was our first time sailing together. After showing me how the controls worked, we set off to the race course for that day. On the way out, we ended up drifting and got caught on the break water. Alex came and got us free and gave a little bit of a tow toward where the course was. So Claire and I worked together and made our way around the course. It was great. I loved it. I think Claire did too. By the end of the day I was smiling ear to ear and I couldn’t wait until the next time I would sail the Martin again.
