SUMMER... August, sailing (Part 87d)

In spite of her seeming displeasure with having to be ready at 7am, Bobbi was waiting when I pulled into her yard. Unfortunately, it was too early for any activity on the wash line. As was my practice, I parked the car on the mainland and we walked on to the ferry and then to the sailing club. My goal was to be among the first at the hoist so that we could get right in the water and have some practice time under sail. Because I was among the last to arrive at the sailing club with my boat I ended up in an out of the way parking place. It was out along the boxwood hedge that separated the club property and a neighbor. We put the sails on and were just about to move the boat and trailer to the hoist line when I remembered Elle’s sailing shorts. I gave them to Bobbi and told her to run over to the clubhouse to change into them. She stood there for a few seconds and then turned and went between the hedge and the boat. It took me a few more seconds to realize that she was going to change right there. I’d like to say that I got a real good look but I didn’t. All I saw was that her panties appeared to be a pale yellow.

Elle’s shorts were actually a little tight around Bobbi’s hips but looser around her waist. It took me a while to reconcile that but then remembered that Elle had given birth to two kids. I remember hoping that the loose waist would lead to some good DP’s during the day. Walking to the hoist I could see two types of VPL’s... the crotch line and leg bands. These leg bands were definitely the type found on cotton panties so my thoughts went immediately to them being Lollipop panties.

The wind was light so we didn’t really get much practice in before the races started. There were a few new faces as well as some of the people from other clubs that I knew. Among the few people from my sailing club was Cat. With the light wind I knew that she’d be tough to beat. However, she hadn’t been able to sail on Friday so we were starting out dead even. Among the new sailors there was one that seemed to know me but I didn’t really recognize him.

It was a perfect wind for Bobbi’s first race... mostly light with a few stronger puffs. I had to use all my “local knowledge” to stay near the front of the fleet. As we approached the finish line the new sailor who seemed to know me was leading with Cat second and me third. Playing the tides and eddys I was able to finish second with Cat winning. I had mixed emotions about that. I was still upset that my old sails were outperforming my new sails but I was happy for Cat.

On our way back to the clubhouse for lunch I was able to concentrate on Bobbi and the possibility of a decent DP. She was sitting inside the cockpit, facing forward with her knees pulled up to her chest. In that position I had a very nice and long DP view. It wasn’t like the night before but with the loose waist I was still able to get a nice peek. Included was a close up on the waist elastic and I was able to confirm that they were Lollipop panties.

Peggy, Bobbi’s mother, had packed sandwiches and a thermos of homemade lemonade for our lunch. We joined with Cat and a few others from our home sailing club to eat and while we did, the competitor who seemed to recognize me out on the course came up to us. He introduced himself as Herb and even with that it didn’t register with me. Seeing the blank look on my face he said that he’d been a member of the sailing club some ten or more years prior and remembered me at sailing lessons. He threw out some other names and I did recognize some, but not all of them. One thing the conversation did was to bring back some fond memories. He went on that he had been a part of the group of sailors that started giving lessons at the club and that for some reason he remembered me. Then he introduced his son, Geoff, a boy of about 13 or 14, who was crewing for him. I, in turn, introduced him to Bobbi, hoping that the two of them would find something in common to talk about. Bobbi had been clearly bored since there was no one even close to her in age in our group. It certainly didn’t happen right away.

As we prepared to go back out for the afternoon race I could see that the wind, as usual, was picking up. I made a special effort to have Bobbi practice getting her ankles wrapped around the hiking strap before the start. That was something she had to do on her own and something that, under racing conditions, was very critical. All the other things she had to do as a crew could be done by instruction as they were being executed. She didn’t have a major problem with the process but I could see that she was still uncomfortable... and that made me uncomfortable.

The wind, although stronger than in the morning race, was still something that I felt the two of us could handle. I got a good, clear start and was leading at the first two course markers. At the next bouy we had to do a maneuver called a jibe. I won’t bore you with the nuances of it but just believe me when I say it’s fairly difficult for even experienced skippers and crews. I won’t fault Bobbi because it was my fault that she wasn’t fully prepared. It got very “hairy”, with the boat almost tipping over. When we recovered we were behind a few boats. Luckily, Cat was still behind me but Herb was the boat right ahead of us. I asked Bobbi if she was OK and the look on her face told me that the experience had shaken her up a bit. However, she was continuing to do as she was instructed.

It didn’t look good as we headed for the finish line. The only thing I had going was my knowledge of the tides, currents and back eddys. We had to pretty much sail right into the outgoing tide. Desperate, I had to try something different. I won’t bore you with the details but it worked to the extent that we ended up second. After the near disaster we’d experienced it felt like a win to me.

To be continued...