I collected my Fiasco crew from the Delta terminal at SFO. The flight from Wisconsin this morning was slightly delayed via Minneapolis where it required de-icing. Amy arrived ready to learn from Madison, where it was twenty degrees. She brought her Ray-Bans and a new pair of Salomon waterproof hiking shoes with very sticky heels. This girl is ready to sail.
I took her to lunch at the Cliff House where I had requested a window seat: Her first sight of the Pacific Ocean. She pointed offshore and asked if we would be racing out there on Saturday. We watched as a rainstorm moved south.
I pointed toward Point Bonita. "No, but just around the corner."
She nodded seriously, still looking offshore. "I'll bet it's fun out there, though." Now that's the attitude.
After lunch, as we walked to the car she stopped and raised her face to the sun. "It's so warm!" She stood there for a several minutes.
We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, which she videotaped for posterity, then across the Richmond San Rafael Bridge, where I pointed out Red Rock, one of our marks for Saturday. She nodded seriously and asked how long I thought the course would take to finish. Ah, the trusting nature of Midwesterners. I said that it depended upon the wind.
A long discussion followed while we figured out how long it would take Dura Mater to sail the course if we enjoyed a solid wind and five knots of speed. There was a long pause in the car.
"Is there a time limit?" she asked. "Seven o'clock", I replied. She slapped her knee. A rodeo barrel racer, Amy declared, "Well, heck! We oughta be able to do that!"
I assured her that we were doing the race for fun, and would stop sailing and head home when she was no longer having fun.
We stopped off at the Berkeley Marina and walked down "O" dock toward Dura Mater where she boarded the first sailboat of her life. She asked if she could walk up to the bow. Of course she could. I cautioned her to use the handholds and grab the shrouds, not the lines. Amy stood on the foredeck, leaned back to look up at the moon, then across the spinnaker pole to where I was fiddling with the spinnaker shackle. "This is so cool! I love this boat! Now. Where's my bridal veil?"