Mom, you'd better skip this one...

Before I got on the sailboat, Rick said, "Please, please, please, please be careful today. We go on vacation tomorrow and you can't break anything today."

This series of races requires a woman at the helm. Not a problem for us, Bonnie always steers. But there were less boats racing and we had a very experienced crew member from another boat crewing with us today. He has some 50 years of sailing experience and helped us to raise our spinnaker and fly it successfully (something we don't usually do on our own since we don't know how). The racing itself was not bad--there were a few moments of doubt, but we ended up tying for second (of three).

We had some troubles with our head sail unfurling, and as we were coming into the harbor, the crew was saying they were sending me up the mast. I joked back and said I had forgotten my climbing shoes. The only thing was, they weren't joking.

I was the lightest, so I was nominated to be hoisted in the little chair/diaper thing up the mast to see what the problem in the foreguy. Doug told me whatever I did not to drop anything since it could kill someone or put a hole in the deck from that height. How high? 50 feet over the water, so 40-45 feet over the deck.
Yup, that's me. Getting up there was a little hard; I kept flying around the mast and once got wedged in the cables on the way up. I did have 3 strong guys that I trusted pulling the line, so that put me at ease. I made sure they wedged me at the top and although I didn't have my legs wrapped around the mast, I did have them against it, so I felt like I was pretty secure. I had problems with the rope; it was frayed and twisted and stuck in some metal and I decided I wouldn't be able to get it undone. I was afraid to use any tools because I thought I would drop them. I didn't think about it until later, but at least 2 of the guys were now on the dock sitting and shouting up orders--was the rope cleated? Scary!

Anyway, they told me to cut the rope, but that made me really nervous (somehow any rope now connected me to the top, plus I'd have to use a tool) so I tried harder and somehow got enough slack and leverage to jimmy it loose by hand. I did have to remove this clip thing though, and I dropped it but luckily caught it between my legs--almost had a heart attack. Anyway, I tied the frayed rope to my cool seat and the guys let me down slowly.

When I was up there, I was pretty comfortable since I was jammed, though at one point Rhian got off the boat and it swayed back and forth (which I am thinking is more noticeable on the top than the deck). But it still amazes me that I agreed to go up there. Rick showed up at the docks just after I got unharnessed. I showed him the picture and he turned white. Just like my mom will. Don't worry, Mom, there was a safety rope as well...