I’ll probably do the entire season this year – yay!
Sails and Smiles – why I’ll be back
I’ve had a life long relationship with sailing, from class racing Mirror dinghies, Lazers and Hobbie cats in Vancouver’s English Bay to sailing a navy whaler into San Diego and the Hawaiian Islands, so I suppose that it’s not much of a surprise that I’d jump at the chance to become involved with sailing here in Trenton.
I had moved here from Victoria in July 2008 and was looking for something to keep me busy when Natalie read me an email sent to her at work about Quinte Sailability. Volunteers needed…. hmm.
We agreed to spend a week helping out – the week went by fast and for me, turned into something more like four weeks as I was hooked by the combination of sun, sailboats and smiles.
Especially the smiles.
There were smiles of pleasure, smiles powered by achievement and the smiles borne of the independence that the sailors experience as the lines are cast off and they take their boats out onto the Bay Of Quinte.
There was also the smile that was on my face as I watched the developing skills and confidence of the sailors, and the tired yet excited smiles on their faces as they return to the dock, clear away the sails and rudders and head home until the next time.
That’s a pretty darn good return for a bit of my time and I’ll return for another season, refresh my now rusty rigging skills and renew friendships made last year. I hope that you’ll consider volunteering some of your time and I look forward to seeing you on the docks.
By Carly Bickford
