
At the docks we ran into Todd Frye of the Bonneville Sailing School. He is planning a group charter to the San Juan Islands in October that I'd like ke to attend if possible.
I've been thinking about moving up to a larger boat lately, so we imposed on Todd for a tour of his Catalina 27. I have sailed a Catalina 270, which has the perfect layout for the day sailing/occasional overnighting I do, but they are out of my budget so I thought I should look into one of the older 27s.

It took us about ten minutes to hose off the boat, due to a large accumulation of bugs the last few weeks. The scupper vents were covered with dearly-departed mayflies, and a few entrepreneurial spiders had built an aft sail from spiderwebs. The dock hose and deck brush restored bristol order to things without much effort.

Zack did all the sailing tonight. He wants to be able to captain the boat on his own, and he's well on his way. We sailed several miles west, crossing between several other sailboats on the way.
We thoroughly enjoyed the steady 8-9 knot winds. Utah Lake can be whipped into 5 or 6 foot waves when winds reach the mid teens. Although exciting, all the rolling is tiring in a 6,000 lbs boat. But 8-9 knots is just right.

But after several misses (followed by several not so near misses) he realizes he doesn't know any where near as much as he thought. Although the still-floating empty life jacket eludes him, the newfound humility does not.
Sailing is quick to teach the humility lesson as soon as the sailor forgets his place. The cycle of pride and humility is the familiar rubric of old salts everywhere. No need to write it down, when you forget your place, the sea will remind you.
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