More swimming

Inspired by Victoria's post, I will post a short account of my own swimming adventure. I was in Boston this past weekend, and was able to spend some quality time on the Charles. Not rowing, but sailing. For the first time! I went in a tech with two of my neighbors, both of whom are taking/have taken the sailing classes this summer, on Saturday, and it was lots of fun. Then, on Sunday, I got really lucky and got to tag along with my friend who is on the sailing team. We got to take out a much nicer boat than the techs, and it was pretty windy so we were moving really fast. I had to hike (hold your body out over the boat in order to balance it) a lot, so my quads and abs are really sore. And hiking was kind of scary at first because sometimes you have to get your body out really far and your head almost in the river. Also, the boat we took out is a 2-sail boat so I had to work the gib (no idea if that's how you spell it), so I have a few exciting new blisters on my hands from holding on to the rope. My friend had never taken out this particular boat before, so he warned me that since he hadn't taken this boat and since it was so windy and because I was a giant n00b that there was a good chance we would capsize. And he told me that if we did capsize I had to just let go because if I held onto the boat and made it turtle (when the mast gets stuck in the mud) he would never speak to me again. Well, we did capsize and I went swimming in the Charles for the first time (my friend, however, managed to dry roll, which is that thing they do when they climb over the side and stand on the centerboard so they don't get wet). Luckily the water was super warm and I was already soaked anyway. But when we capsized I let go of the boat and everything so it was all good and we got back in and kept sailing.
So basically sailing is really fun and can be a good workout for your core. I will definitely make fun of my friend on the sailing team less for doing a wimpy sport :) Although it's definitely not as hardcore as crew.
PS I also saw a bird eating a large dead fish and I was reminded of my high school days:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=30125354&op=3&o=global&view=global&subj=2212990855&id=49201966