Life Happens

It was suppose to be a hardcore weekend of sailing at this years VRC summer regatta but on Friday night fate had other plans.

I had just gotten home from dinner with Curt-ASS when I got the call that my brother had been in a motorcycle accident and was being airlifted to Royal Columbia Hospital. We hopped in the car and took off to New West. When we got there they ushered us into the "bad news" room away from the other emergency waiting area.

We got there before the helicopter and we sat there waiting. I knew very little about his condition other than they were trying to stabilize him and he had a serious head injury as Cheryl and I waited there. We had heard from his distraught wife that he had been working on his dirt bike and taken it out for a ride around the block to see if it was running well. Of course he hadn't worn his helmet and no sooner did he get around the corner than he was clipped by car that left the seen. Let's face it they don't give you a helicopter ride to the Trauma Centre for BC if your doing well.

Nothing could have prepared me for when they brought him in. 5 tubes were jammed down his throat and his face was covered in blood, and one eye was so swollen black it looked unbelievable. All his visible body was covered in road rash and there was a ton of expensive kit plugged into him.

We were held back as they worked on him. As they worked on him they were prepping him for a head CT scan so they invited us in to take a look. No one else had arrived and as my parents were out of cell range camping it was just Cheryl and I. He was a mess. Hands and feet discoloured. Machines pumping fluid into him and others sucking it out. Pretty rough stuff. Cheryl looked at me and said the machines were breathing for him. The nurse came by and handed me his wedding ring because he was going in for the emergency CT.

I pulled it out of the little paper envelope. This is when I lost it. It was bent and scratched up and covered in blood. The last time I had held it was at his wedding when I was his best man. I really thought I could be the last one to see him alive.

The next two days were a blurr but in slow motion if that makes any sense. Sleeping in hospital chairs, getting brief updates. Trying to get a hold of parents. By Sunday good news had come in and he was improving dramatically. Just a skull with lots of fractures and he should be okay.

I would like to Thank Curt-ASS for letting the crew know that we couldn't be there with such short notice. I know you all cancelled plans to do the race. Also I would like to thank Fatty and his girl for taking care of Kingsley the Terrible Terrier.

Thanks,

T.

Umm..Is it summer yet?

An anchoured vacant boat off kits beach starts to lose its sails.

Yesterday English Bay was pouneded with cold winds from the North West. This is not totally uncommon for the winter but this is July!?!

The winds in English Bay throughout the day reached 30 knots and the seas rolled in with one-two meter chop. By race time at 6:00pm the wind was in the twenties and the seas were really rough easily one - two meters. We were a bit dubious as we headed out especailly when we passed other shell shocked boats heading in. This was also going to be the first time out sailing for Curtis's friend Mike who had never been sailing before.

We decieded to go with a conservative sail plan and hoisted a reefed jib (90%) and a double reefed main. With some sheeting in issues with the jib we were not able to point as well as I would have liked but by the end of the race it was sorted out.

Our start was decent and we got away about middle of the pack. The first up wind leg was good but our pointing put us in 5th rounding the freighter out of six. All of the other boats went on broad reeches jibing in to the leeward mark. We took a risk and went dead down wind. We weren't prepared to hoist the kite in that weather so we flew down wing on wing and we made up alot of ground. We were the 3rd boat rounding the leeward mark on the heels of PEGASUS who was in second.

Th next time round we had sorted out the sheeting in issue on the jib about half way up and lost ground rounding the mark 5th again. We followed our same tactic for the downwind leg. I was surprised to see that noone copied us and again we made up ground probably 3rd or 4th crossing the line. By this point the wind finally subsided and we had a lazy sail back to the marina.

In the end it was a great and challenging race. Our sail plan was probably a bit too conservative but I feel that we could have done alot better had we been able to sheet in the reefed jib better.

A big hand too the crew: D-Hog, CurtASS, and the Rookie.

Summer Time and the Living is Easy

For all of you out there who share in the joys and pains of sailing with me on the SEA WEASEL I thought I would post a rough calendar for the rest of the summer.

July 19th-20th: VRC Summer Regatta. This is a two day race in English Bay hosted by the Vancouver rowing club. This race counts for our Div 7 VARC standing. http://www.vancouverrowingclub.ca/EN/summer_regatta/

July 23rd, 26th, 30th, August 2nd: HSBC Celebration of Light. This year Canada, the USA, and China compete in the annual fireworks festival. Unlike last year SEA WEASEL will be going out for all nights. This will likely be a simple motor out and anchour. We will leave the dock around 6:30pm and stay out until 11:30pm. Please email me to register your interest. http://www.celebration-of-light.com/

August 16th: TCYC English Bay Scramble. The best yacht race of the year! http://www.englishbayscramble.com/

Other Events:

July ~TBD~ and September ~TBD~: Guy Cruise 2008. A semi annual event this is a chance for the boys to get out and force "Fatty" against his will no less to partake in some unsavory behaviour. This years goal: no dead mammals on the boat. The dates will be determined and posted soon.

July ~TBD~: G.I. Cruise Two. Cheryl and I will be heading off with Kingsly to cruise the Gulf Islands. We will post a schedule and encourage friends to come meet us enroute.

Thursday Nights: Every Thursday night this summer and fall we will be out racing. We are looking for crew! We leave the docks around 5:15pm and return around 8:00pm. BYOBFB.