The Adventure
It was an adventure I'll never forget and it changed me forever. It was the summer between my junior and senior year. I had made an outrageous decision to relinquish my employment and pursue my sailing dreams. I had sailed on a catamaran, a sailboat whose frame is set on two parallel hulls, for nearly five years but only recently had begun to compete at regattas. This was to be my last summer as an innocent child and I looked forward to all the great adventures to come. CatFight II was to be the largest and the farthest catamaran race I was to attend that summer.
I planned all summer and spent hours getting the boat and trailer in perfect condition. My friend, Joel, was to accompany me to the regatta. It was held in Muskegon, Michigan, and it would take over eight hours to drive there. We would leave Thursday night and drive through the night. I was very excited because all the sailors had said that CatFight would be, if nothing else, a great learning experience. Thursday I spent all day getting gear packed and preparing for the eight-hour drive. We left a little later than planned, around eleven, but at least we were on the road. We planned to drive in shift although I feared Joel's driving ability, especially with a twenty-foot boat attached to the car, so I did my best to stay alert. Cleveland was our first detour. We seemed to have gotten off the freeway a little earlier than expected and took a scenic tour of southeast Cleveland. The view was a bit frightening, though there were many businesses, but most were gun-stores and liquor stores. Eventually we wandered back to I-90 and then off to the toll road for a quick journey to Toledo. The drive between Toledo and Cleveland was boring but I was too excited to feel fatigued.
It was an adventure I'll never forget and it changed me forever. It was the summer between my junior and senior year. I had made an outrageous decision to relinquish my employment and pursue my sailing dreams. I had sailed on a catamaran, a sailboat whose frame is set on two parallel hulls, for nearly five years but only recently had begun to compete at regattas. This was to be my last summer as an innocent child and I looked forward to all the great adventures to come. CatFight II was to be the largest and the farthest catamaran race I was to attend that summer.
I planned all summer and spent hours getting the boat and trailer in perfect condition. My friend, Joel, was to accompany me to the regatta. It was held in Muskegon, Michigan, and it would take over eight hours to drive there. We would leave Thursday night and drive through the night. I was very excited because all the sailors had said that CatFight would be, if nothing else, a great learning experience. Thursday I spent all day getting gear packed and preparing for the eight-hour drive. We left a little later than planned, around eleven, but at least we were on the road. We planned to drive in shift although I feared Joel's driving ability, especially with a twenty-foot boat attached to the car, so I did my best to stay alert. Cleveland was our first detour. We seemed to have gotten off the freeway a little earlier than expected and took a scenic tour of southeast Cleveland. The view was a bit frightening, though there were many businesses, but most were gun-stores and liquor stores. Eventually we wandered back to I-90 and then off to the toll road for a quick journey to Toledo. The drive between Toledo and Cleveland was boring but I was too excited to feel fatigued.
