Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Although I consistently purchase books with titles like Death at Sea and Terror on the Waves as Christmas presents for my husband, each one only makes him more keen to try his hand at the tiller of something bigger than his 11-ft homemade skiff.
Time for a new tack, as the sailors say.
I booked us a blustery end-of-January weekend trip to downtown Chicago. The Strictly Sail Boat Show. Discount passes for early booking, cheap train ticket, discounted room a few snowy blocks away. If that didn't take the wind out of his sails...
But no. The city was fantastic, and so was the show. Why, there were seminars every 45 minutes on Sailing Basics, Cold Water Survival, Line Splicing, Keeping Your Eggs Fresh (I think that one was called The Essential Galley), Topless Sports Moms (that one was Sailing in Northern Italy), and my favourite, Two Royal Marines Sail the Northwest Passage and Run Out of Fresh Water. Boy, though, that last one did nothing to dissuade our man. The stars in his eyes shone bright. We may soon be living in the high arctic in this:
Must find a copy of The Franklin Expedition. For all the good it will do.

No comments: