January 21st was the day Glen had been anticipating since first learning the AMSMIC conference would be held in Sint Maarten and we'd have a chance to sail on an America's Cup racing vessel.
The Dennis Connor's America Cup Experience -- the St. Maarten 12 Meter Challenge, began days earlier when we signed up to be 'crew members' on one of three boats. I was leery of sailing since I had never done so. Yes, I grew up on boats so knew what port and starboard were and that a rope was called a line, but I'd never 'come about' or been on a vessel tilting at an angle. I shouldn't have worried as this tour was designed for those who had never been on a boat before. Children must be over twelve to sail or be under parental care if between 7 and 11.
Our intrepid guide, Sheilah, provided us with seasick pills that morning. She assured us that while sailing, we wouldn't need them but in the harbour, we'd be rocking and even she, who never gets seasick, found it upset her stomach. I popped the Bonine pill an hour before we left and was fine. Bonus, this medication doesn't make you drowsy.
At the dock, we were assigned our boats and lo and behold, Glen and I became crew members of Canada II. We donned our crew T-shirts and boarded 'Daisy' which took us out to the sailing vessel. Here we signed up for our duties. We could either take an active or semi-active role. No one wanted the 'passenger' status.
Our captain, Tom, assigned Glen to be the port winch grinder while I became the reserve primary grinder. We had no idea what this entailed until we boarded the yacht. Two crew young members explained our duties and assigned us to our positions. Beer flowed freely as we left the harbour and did our first tack. We would race against our friends in the Stars & Stripes (USA) and True North (Canada).
Basically our role was to loosen or tighten the lines as the boat moved through the water. As we tacked, crew members or the captain would shout orders to grind the winches to manipulate the lines to the sails. Glen worked those controlling the main sail while I helped control the jib. Two main grinders controlled the boom. We even had a bartender who served beer when we sailed with the wind.
We began the race in second place and then Stars & Stripes (in third) cut across our stern (back of the boat) which affected the wind so we lost a bit of our advantage. Tom sent us toward shore to pick up some breezes that often swirled there. We came very close to the rocks before tacking away with great effort from our crew. The tactic worked and we grabbed first place from True North. But her captain was full of tricks and forced us to do an evasive maneuver which cost us time.
It was very exciting as the boats were slicing through the water at incredible speeds and coming within meters of colliding. Each captain was set on winning, there was no doubt about that. As the race ended, our captain unhappily told us we were dead last but then he yelled out commands, we dug into our roles, and lo and behold, we came in second. I'm still not sure how that worked out but it involved grabbing the wind from Stars & Stripes.
During the trip, there were many times when I had to brace myself to stay on board the titling vessel and Glen cut himself when his winch handle flew off but the exhilaration of pounding through the waves under wind power made these problems minor.
Glen has always wanted to buy a sailing boat but I've never been keen. As we returned to the dock, he asked me if I'd like to sail again and I replied, "Hell, yeah!" It was an incredible experience and I'd recommend it to sailors and landlubbers alike. Never did I feel afraid and the sensation of slicing through the blue-green Caribbean waters can't be beat.
We had two hours to wait for the bus to take us back to the resort so as others wandered off to shop in downtown Philipsburg, Glen and I joined some of our crew mates for a beer on the wharf.
We made plans to meet the Canadian contingent at Chesterfields for supper where I enjoyed the grilled grouper and Glen had seafood fettucini. We called a cab and a panel van took us all back to the hotel for $6/person. It had been a fantastic afternoon.
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