When I was a kid, fishing on Lake Champlain with my grandfather in his 15 foot, closed hull, outboard we paid serious attention to the weather forecast, especially the wind speeds. All afternoon each Friday I listened to my pocket transistor radio for the weather. “Small craft warnings” and “waves over a foot” smashed my fishing plans for Saturday. So imagine my adjustment when last weekend Jill and I were invited sailing because there would be “really good wind, with waves 1-2 feet!” Neither of us has been sailing more than twice and never on a 32 foot craft or with 2 foot waves, but we decided, “Why not?” and had a great time. I handled the wheel and learned a bit about tack and jib. The real sailors, our hosts, noticed I was clenching most of my muscles and advised that I relax, which I found easier said than done. Eventually I unclenched but never became “one with the boat!” (The photos prove the angle of the boat with the horizon in the background.)

I guess the point here is that we didn’t say, “No thank you,” but rather went for it despite our trepidation, and it proved really cool. Last year it was a hot air balloon ride one mile high. This summer was sailing when my grandfather would have headed for shore. I’m finding that often saying, “Yes” is more fun than, “No.”