Every spring in our stake, the youth hold a gala to raise money for their summer camps. The Ortons, a totally awesome family in our stake, not only have a sailboat, but are also certified captains! They auctioned off a trip to Fire Island from Long Island, captained by themselves! Our friends, the Polls, won this item at the gala, as well as a spot for another couple and they generously invited us to come along at the last minute! Man, this was one of those really cool memories that was so awesome and so very different from any other experience we've ever had- a bucket list item that we didn't even know existed.
We stopped and grabbed a bite to eat and some snacks for the ride. It was a gorgeous day...until it wasn't (more on that later).
The Ortons are some of the most interesting people ever- they sailed all over with their 5 kids for 6 months on one little boat and homeschooled them! Impressive stuff. They were so kind and generous and interesting to talk to! It was so inspiring to hear their stories from their months at sea as a family.
Hiccup #1- we accidentally sailed onto a sand bar! We thought we could get off, but after getting out and pushing, we didn't budge. Thank goodness there was a police boat right there that attached us to his rope and pulled us off the bank.
The Ortons taught us all a little sailing vocabulary and let us handle the ropes for a few minutes at a time.
Hiccup #2...out of nowhere came this crazy squall that pretty much dumped rain and chopped up the water really bad. It was super windy, and even though we were headed back at the time, it was really hard to get our boat to do what we wanted it to. We had to maneuver it for a good while, and finally when the wind calmed a bit, we made it safely back to our slip.
Love learning new things and meeting new people...thank you, Polls, for letting us tag along!