I spent this weekend in a sailing course and after 12 hours on the water, the room is still rolling up and down. Other than one or two times years ago, this is really the most I have ever spent on the water. (The Staten Island Ferry does not count.)
The first thing we did was nearly sink. One of the drain tubes was cracked and we took on about 3 feet of water by the time we limped back to the dock pumping out water frantically along the way. After that it was easier and we cruised back and forth on the Potomac across from National Airport.
There must have been an airshow somewhere because several giant military helicopters flew overhead, as well as an Osprey tiltrotor. It is a controversial aircraft but pretty cool to see in flight. The Marine One fleet also kept flying overhead as well, making us bob all around in the wake.
Being out on the water definitely gave me a better perspective of the geography of Washington DC. From one vantage point you could see the Capitol, the Washington Monument, Bolling Air Force Base, L’Enfant Plaza, Nationals Ballpark, National Airport, and Alexandria.
Plus we sailed past the National War College at Fort McNair, which I never knew about. It is the oldest active Army Post and was originally designed to protect Washington from river invasions.
Hopefully by the end of next weekend I will have learned enough about sailing and how to tie enough knots to get a basic keelboat certificate. For those of you keeping score, with all of my certificates I will be able to decorate cakes, provide financial planning services for individuals, and sail up and down rivers. And why would I do them all at once?
Because I can.
One Response to “Ahoy!”
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Thanks for the link to the Osprey. I saw it and two military helicopters do a 180 right over Ft. Myer — something you don’t see every day — and assumed they had landed there as they descended out of my view. I had pulled the camera out to try and catch them taking off, but either missed them or they never landed there to begin with and I just lost them as they flew over Arlington Cemetery.