YMCA (not the song)

I e-mailed the Y, and I could possibly start Beginning Adult Sailing classes the first Tuesday night in June. 5 weeks. Supposedly 80% is hands on and 20% classroom. $150.

Hmmm. This is really enticing, because although I can get away with fudging the sailing in this novel a bit (it's not very central), I won't always be able to do so. And I suspect, somehow, that sailing is a thing one can't really learn from a book.

(I've been reading the books, and I feel strongly that I'm missing something.)

Potential Problems:
1) It's $150, so someone needs to buy a story from me...

2) Have I mentioned that I'm almost phobic about getting into natural bodies of water? I hate flying over them. I think they smell bad, and things live in them (and die in them, and perform all manner of bodily functions in them). Ew! The squick factor is pretty high.

Have I taken classes in Horsemanship, Rappelling, Mountaineering, Archery, Fencing? Have I learned to ride and care for camels? Yes.

Do any of those involve getting into natural bodies of water? No.

Yes, the squick factor could definitely be a problem.

( 22 comments — Leave a comment )

kara_gnome

2010-05-05 10:32 pm (UTC)

Lol, I feel your pain! It's going to be great, though, you'll have a blast :D

j_cheney

2010-05-05 10:35 pm (UTC)

We'll see. I'm not decided yet....just leaning that way.

displacedtexan

2010-05-06 12:19 am (UTC)

Can't help you with the "squick" factor - interesting word, btw. But, the $150 is no problem. You know that.

2010-05-06 02:33 am (UTC)

Well, it would be a problem if I squicked out at the last moment and can't go on the water....

elizabethcbunce

2010-05-06 01:15 am (UTC)

Oh, do it!! You shouldn't actually have to get *in* the water. Isn't the point to stay in the boat?

Where did you find an archery class? I've been looking, but they all seem to be focused on hunting, and I'm more interested in target/historical.

sandy_williams

2010-05-06 02:20 am (UTC)

Yeah, I agree. Unless you're REALLY bad at sailing (LOL), I'd assume you would stay dry.

But way to make sacrifices for your writing!

2010-05-06 02:34 am (UTC)

Hey, I have the potential to end up on America's Funniest Home Videos here. But in all honesty, I'd expect to fall in at least once...

2010-05-06 02:32 am (UTC)

Yes, I'm hoping I might manage to stay dry. No icky bacteria or other fauna swimming up my nose and into my brain!

Actually, I learned at the Y in El Paso. But in Oklahoma there are archery places everywhere, hunting or otherwise....there's even an indoor archery range not 3 miles from my house.

bogwitch64

2010-05-06 02:22 am (UTC)

This made me chuckle. I've never known anyone that felt that squicky about natural bodies of water before.

I, on the other hand, cannot stand the thought of a pool or a hot tub. Human stew. Squicks me to no end!

2010-05-06 02:39 am (UTC)

My brother (a doctor) always said that he had an OOL--there's no P in his pool. Those things are chemical stew, BTW, so much so that I've had the greenish hair at one point many moons ago.

I was being honest when I said 'nearly phobic' about this. I was on swim team when I was a kid, so it's not the water that bugs me. It's the stuff engendered by all those other critters in the water that grosses me out. And fish? EW! Major EW!

(And yes, I had as many as 7 fish tanks at once, and cleaning those means one eventually ingests fish poop at one point or another, so I have experience with that as well.)

isleburroughs

2010-05-06 03:05 am (UTC)

I like swimming but I may wear nose plugs this year. Beware of warm water, where those bacteria dwell. If it's cold less to worry. Wear googles, I mean goggles. Your eyes won't get as red and it's fun to see the fish clearly, instead of all blurry. Fish like to hang for a minute, then run away, I mean swim away. We are one with the fish doo doo obi-wan kenobi.

I think you describe being on a sailing vessel pretty well already. Your piece, A Hand For Each, in Shimmer transported me right onto the deck.

BTW, YMCA, the song, has been running through my head all night. *sigh*

2010-05-06 12:33 pm (UTC)

Sorry about the song. ;o) Yeah, poop is everywhere.

xjenavivex

2010-05-06 05:16 pm (UTC)

I read the squicks. One many levels I agree. Still, I am excited that you are thinking about doing this.

2010-05-06 05:27 pm (UTC)

We'll see whether I manage it ;o)

catephoenix

2010-05-06 05:44 pm (UTC)

Having a love for water, it sounds fun. Mountaineering not so much - I try not to do muddy and strenuous.

2010-05-06 05:55 pm (UTC)

In the desert, mountaineering is rocky and dry...so no mud...at least, not often ;o)

jjschwabach

2010-05-07 01:11 am (UTC)

I could teach you sailing....

It's not hard.

And. Er. I know the definition of phobias is that they are not logical, but things live in the air, too :-P.

2010-05-07 02:18 am (UTC)

Yes, but you aren't in Oklahoma... ;o)

I've breathed in my share of flies, thanks.

ckastens

2010-05-09 10:08 pm (UTC)

Let me know how the sailing class goes. I've got some pirate writing coming up in my future and need to know just how much I need to know...

2010-05-10 05:37 pm (UTC)

I'll give you this caveat: I'm learning to sail small boats...which is not at all the same as big three and four masters...

For writing my Pirate Story, I studies Richard Dana's Two Years Before the Mast</b>...

2010-05-10 07:39 pm (UTC)

Thanks for the tip, I'll pick it up! Any other suggestions are welcome.

I'll be working mostly with primary sources, but those don't deal with the technical details involved.

2010-05-10 09:46 pm (UTC)

TYBtM deals mostly with the life of a midshipman 1900ish. I wanted to get the flow of the language from that...what kind of things sailors thought about and talked about...so it's not really a technical source. There's lots of info on-line and in books for that sort of thing, so you've got plenty of choice...

j_cheney

In the Void

YMCA (not the song)