Saturday, November 29, 2008

Breaking up is hard to do...

My sailing career is nearly at an end. Almost every Saturday since the beginning of August, Eric and I have raced out on Sydney Harbour. 20 December is the last race of the Spring Series, and our captains anticipated that we would continue racing in the Summer Series through the end of April. But I just can't take it any longer -- I lack the thirst for blood required for serious racing, and I'm too sensitive to bear the constant screaming. I start dreading each week's race on Friday afternoon and wake up miserable each Saturday. Further, there's something about a compulsory activity every Saturday that just makes it feel like a 6-day work week. Eric and I have just arrived in Australia, and we have a big country to explore, which is tough to do with only one day off per week.

Despite all of that, it's tough to say goodbye. Our captains are really disappointed, and they're such nice people before we start the race and as soon as we cross the finish line. I really wish it had worked out better. I feel so sad letting them down and admitting that this just isn't for me. They blame their high crew turnover on the youth of the people they're able to pull from the online sign-up, but I don't think the realise that there are other contributing issues. If I loved racing, maybe I'd be excited to hit the water every Saturday. I hope that some day I can think of sailing without feeling anxious again, but for now, I guess I can just be grateful that I've had another interesting experience.

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