Hooked on sailing

My dear fiancee and I took a little sailing trip this last Monday evening. Valerie, desiring me to have some practical seamanship experience before I start school, contacted the Puget Sound Sailing Institute and booked one of their 3 hour introduction to sailing trips. We arrived at the Pier 66 marina in downtown Seattle at 5pm, and met our guide Mike, who introduced us to the 22 foot boat we'd be taking out. With very little ceremony Mike had the small outboard running adn was motoring us out of the marina. Once out onto Elliot Bay he handed the tiller over to me with even less ceremony and began raising the sails. Once the sails were up and trimmed he reached back and said "we won't need this anymore" as he hit the kill switch on the motor. All of a sudden our boat was being compelled forward by the invisible wind. Mike gave me some basic directions at keeping the wind at the right point and the sails drawing and we were soon flying across Elliot Bay, heeled over (to Valerie's slight distress) and casting a fine bow wave. For the next three hours we sailed around the bay, tacking back and forth when necessary while I got as much instruction as I could from Mike.
The word sublime is under-used these days, and the old habit of granting it a capital "S" has sadly died away, but sublime is the best description for my first sailing experience. The feeling of being propelled by the wind, actually pulled by the wind in some cases was excellent in a way that even the most powerful motor-boat could not equal. Every motor boat I've been in, alays feels as though it is struggling against the water. Even when the wind was abeam and our progress was slow, the pace always seem natural. The ever-practical Valerie was pleased to hear from Mike that one could fish from a sail boat. In any case, a sailboat (preferrably wooden) is now high on my list of things to own. Once we move across the water, I even hope to make it a semi-regular form of transportation if possible.