Thursday, March 10, 2011

April Come She Will

I didn't sign up for Laser frostbiting this winter. So, apart from my trip in December to the BVI, I've been a typical northern temperate zone sailor this winter, with no sailing between the New England Laser Masters in late September and...

And when?

When will I feel that it's warm enough to venture out on local waters for some solo sailing on my Laser again?

March is deceptive around here. There are some sunny days when you feel that spring has arrived. Then it changes back to some raw, rainy, windy weather for a few days, perhaps even some gloppy snow. Yesterday (what I hope will be) the last patch of snow melted from my yard. The bay looked enticing. But the water temperature is still in the 30s. Is winter really over?


April come she will
ripe and swelled with rain.


April! Yes, April come she will. Realistically, April is the earliest I usually feel like venturing out on my own on the local bays in my Laser. But even then I feel like a freak. Nobody else much around here is out boating in April as I wrote in So Where The Bloody Hell Are You? But April does bring some genuinely warm days such as the day last year I went Sailing Bristol Harbor.


May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.


May! Yes, May she will stay. May is when the local sailing season really wakes up. There's the Wickford Regatta that I enjoyed so much last year and where I overcame The Curse of the White Towel. Chances are there will be informal Tuesday night racing in Bristol starting some time in May too: Laser Sailing is Fun. And rumor has it that some canoe club in Brooklyn even has a Laser regatta in May.

Spring really is coming. I can smell it. Spring, when an old man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of... Laser sailing.

Bring it on.

9 comments:

PeconicPuffin said...

Just remember that First Week of April Blizzards are not uncommon.

Sail while you can...soon we'll all be dead.

(my optimistic look towards Spring. Actually I'm very excited about Spring...I've been standing over my crocuses-to-be every day rooting them on. When I wasn't sailing. But look who I'm talking to...c'mon...cheat the nursing home!)

Tillerman said...

April Blizzards? Geeze, Puffin, thanks for cheering me up.

No, wait. You're so crazy you probably look forward to windsurfing in those April Blizzards.

Doc Häagen-Dazs said...

@PeconicPuffin: I call this thoughtful wishing -- wishing for what is ours, here and now, to have, do, and be.

O Docker said...

April is the craftiest month, coaxing Lasers out of the shed, mixing memories and desire to sail again, stirring dull limbs with warm spring rays.

Oh geeze, what song is that from? I can't remember anything anymore.

Is wisdom catching up with you in your old age? Is old age catching up to your wisdom?

Or are you just getting lazy, like me?

Sail when you want to, sleep when you want to, blog when you want to.

Why am I typing in riddles today?

SoxSail said...

Come up to Marion for some informal laser racing on Sunday Mornings. Bonuses include brunch afterward, we don't race if the weather's really nasty, and you'll probably beat us big boat guys racing lasers because we can't find crew in March.

Tillerman said...

I might just do that SoxSail. But I thought you lived in LA?

Tillerman said...

Doc and O Doc, I totally agree. I really don't beat myself up any more for things I didn't do.

Some years I do frostbite racing. Some years I don't.

Some years I go to the Masters Worlds. Some years I don't.

Some years I ran marathons. Other years I didn't.

Whatever. It's all good. If the mood takes me I do it. If not, I don't.

That's why I hate that Mark Twain quote about how you will regret all the things you didn't do. The number of things you didn't do is infinite. If you let yourself regret not doing all of them you will go insane.

BlueVark said...

Sailing here in good old England despite the weather. Already completed the "Brass Monkey" series now into the Spring handicap. Still ***** cold though!

PeconicPuffin said...

@ Doc H: I like that. Also what happened to Vanilla Fudge?

@ ODock: I like that even more...April is the craftiest month!

@ Lord T "I really don't beat myself up any more for things I didn't do."

That's what I'm for.

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