🐔 What do Livestock and Sailing have in Common? 🐄

We've finally got the mirror dinghy sea worthy, so this week we've been having a bit of a go figuring out how to do it. I've never sailed before, so I was a bit nervous, and Jamie was basically refreshing his memory on sailing as a kid. If you missed how we ended up with a mirror dinghy, check out this post where I talk about his DIY project on an old dinghy we found on a trailer for basically the price of old rope.

The first trial was in our mate's huge dam that he got dug out as a deal with some people who built a big chocolate factory next door to his - i.e, if you're going to be building stuff with huge diggers and stuff for months, make my dam bigger and we'll call it even. It's been a bit of a playground for his boys (now grown) and they have a huge bit of scaffolding at one end so they can winch each other fast along the water with hydrofoils and the like.

So we took the boat off the trail, where Jamie started merrily doing up the rigging. The cows came over for a looksee, and one decided a particular bit of rope looking PARTICULARLY moreish, and ran off with it. Our mate Dean tried chasing her, but nope, that was her rope, and it was tasty and she was going to eat it.

The wind was super light and I was super uncomfortable and was wondering if I was going to have to pretend to Jamie for the rest of my life that I loved sailing whilst secretly making excuses why I couldn't come. That's the kind of stuff you do for the one you love, you know. I just couldn't figure out where to sit and it's a pretty small space. So I sat in and froze for a bit whilst Jamie sailed up and down the dam.

Today we took her out at Limeburner's Bay, which is a tiny harbour inlet across from Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, about 45 minutes from us. It's a very sheltered place for moorings, and it's where all the rich kids cut their sailing teeth - as well as budding sailors in the Geelong area.

As we were setting it up, a little bantam ran up to us like Road Runner to check out what we were doing. It was definitely a wierd spot for a chicken. The poor love was trying to eat seaweed and was drinking the saltwater pooling in the sand. It jumped into our van for a look and into the boat as well. Inquisitive little critter. When we went out for a sail, it retreated into the bushes and when we came back in, it raced back over to say hello.

@nateonsteemit, of #dailychicken fame here on Steemit, said it was perhaps the chicken from Moana. Perhaps it would have done this like Hei Hei if we took it out. Lucky we didn't, as we didn't have any coconut shells to shut it up. If you don't know what I mean, check out the youtube below which is entirely fitting. Couldn't find any animated cows eating rope though, sorry.

Q: Why did the chicken cross the ocean? A: To get to the other tide.

Sailing this time was much more fun. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and beautiful to watch big flocks of swans take off, their wings sounding like the flap of sails. I started to imagine longer boat trips down river estuaries watching the wildflife. I found a much more comfortable position in the boat and started to understand which ropes to pull and where to sit and what Jamie meant when he spoke mumbo jumbo words like halyard and gib and gunter. I told him to use his words though as I did NOT understand what he meant when he said put the rope around the thing. What rope? What thing? Aaaahhhhh we're going to capsize.....!!!

Maintaining the animal theme - you know, the ones that have nothing to do with boats - we have called the boat Blue Wren, and Dad's been mocking up a decal for it's side.

And the chicken? Well, when we came in it came racing up to us making chookie noises, so I grabbed it and gave it a cuddle, and it felt asleep in my arms. I threw it in a box with a towel over it and took it home where it is now happily hanging out with my girls, snuggled up between two of the big plymouth rocks which must be keeping him toasty warm. I wonder if it'll miss the seaside?