Ships are the nearest thing to dreams that hands have ever made...

I'm in love with sailboats. I don't know where this is coming from -- but I came across a link to Charleston Harborfest, and I fell in love all over again with sailing. Unfortunately, this event has been postponed until 2011...but i'll be there next year! http://www.charlestonharborfest.org/

I have fond memories of going down to the docks in Hawaii to watch my dad sail. We would stay out until sunset watching the boats race, until one by one they all came in. A couple years later my dad bought a catamaran sailboat. We lived on the water in Hawaii, and we would take it out for hours at a time...each of the kids had a part in make the boat sail. This boat traveled with us overseas to Turkey as well, where we would take it out over vacation weeks. That boat carries a lot of memories.

There is something about a boat that requires nothing but wind and sails to make it go. And I love that.

When I was a teenager, my dad had my older brother and I take sailing lessons after school for several weeks straight. I remember spending hours practicing my knots (which, by the way, i've never been good at.) We had to learn what to do if our boat tipped over...which happened ALL the time. It was so scary at first, but then after awhile you could sort of feel when a big tip was coming, and you learned how to react. My biggest fear wasn't losing the boat, or drowning...it was always the fear of being eaten by shark. Still my biggest fear to this day. How pathetic is that? No number of sailing lessons can get me to overcome that fear :)

Maybe one day I'll buy a sailboat. Until then, I can dream...