Rushing home from a busy day at work. A lump of stress in my chest.Simultanious-capasity-challenge: Eating dinner while remote controlling nine year old sailing princess packing drysuit, lifejacket, gloves, towel, extra clothes and other gear. Off to dinghy training.
Rigging the Optimist, checking sail, airbags, block, boom lift and kicker. Helping sailing princess force her head through the tiny hole in the neck seal (makes a child birth look easy and painless).
Daddy is lucky-guy today: Following the sailors with go-cartish RIB. Adrenalin. Lots of wind and salty seawater in my face, racing, surfing and jumping the waves (and looking after the sailing kids, of course...).
Suddenly, an unexpected jibe forces sailing princess in to a total capsize. Dad speeding over to give comfort and advice for the turning-drill. Daughter swimming around, obviously looking for something in the water. Comfort not needed.
With fascination, she had been following the movements of a misplaced spider wandering around on one of the airbags. This had led to a moment´s lack of concentration, resulting in the jibe and capsize. In the water, she had noticed the continuous presence of the sailing spider, now on top of the turned hull. In a glimpse of scientific curiosity she had, with her fingers, ejected the spider off the boat and into the sea, gathering empirical data regarding a spider´s ability to swim.
Conclusion: Spiders are lousy swimmers.
She rights the boat and continues sailing.
Afterwards: Waffles, coffee, chatting and laughing while the sun sets.
Working day-feeling of stress completely vanished.
2 kommentarer:
That's so funny. I have had some amusing incidents with female Optimist sailors and spiders too. I had one student who was so freaked out when she saw a spider in her boat that she screamed and abandoned ship.
A great incitament for a capsizing/righting-drill, placing spiders in the boats...
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