Sailpast

Teri & I At The NYC (National Yacht Club) In Toronto

This Saturday was Sailpast at the yacht club I joined this summer. I have started to attend classes twice a week but so far they have all been in a classroom. This was the first real event I tried to attend. I didn't get to go out on boat to truly experience Sailpast, which is a hilariously formal tradition and I am told the only time the club buys into the occasionally pretentious aspects of sailing.

The Sailpast tradition began at the first Yacht Club which was formed at Cowes in England nearly 200 years ago. The membership was primarily aristocratic and many were familiar with social graces, naval practice and tradition.

The actual “review of the fleet” was introduced as a continuation of the naval habit of having Admirals (and/or Royalty) review the fleet on special occasions. Protocol demanded that a flagship be anchored with the Admiral and staff on the quarterdeck to receive and return the salute. Vessels sailed past, dipping their colours in salute, and with their captain also saluting with the ship’s company standing at attention.

The National Yacht Club tradition is almost identical, except that the salute is received by the Commodore instead of the Admiral. Tradition dictates that all club members participate in the Sailpast, on their own or on another member’s yacht. Participants are to dress formally in white and navy, though men can wear beige pants. Good manners require that a member unable to participate will send his/her regrets to the Commodore.

A few weeks ago I had received a formal invitation in the mail inviting me to the event, which actually did say at the bottom that if I couldn't attend I should inform the Commodore. (Yes, the club has a Commodore and a number of Vice-Commodores.) I decided I should attend, it sounded very fun and even if I wasn't going to be on a boat it would be nice to visit. I brought Teri along and we had a drink and walked along the docks. If you closely at the picture above my tongue does appear to be sticking out, I have no idea why, but this one was better than the other we took where I was talking. Looking forward to lots of sailing this summer!!

Found It

Item Lost: House keys
Time Lost: A few days ago
Last Place I Remember: On the coffee table
Place Found: In the back seat of the car, found by the guy cleaning (detailing) it

Learn To Swim

This is a precursor to my Life Jacket Rant that I will be posting soon.

I feel very strongly about water safety and I don't take time spent on, in, or near water lightly. I believe that it is a parent's responsibility to ensure that their children can swim. They need to do everything they can to prepare children for the water and help them become as strong a swimmer as possible - this means putting them in swimming lessons. If for some reason they can't afford swimming lessons or they aren't available, then parents should work extremely hard themselves to teach their children to swim.

Teaching children to swim and be comfortable in the water is up there with reading for me. (In Canada it is nice if parents spend a bit of time trying to teach children to skate but I feel like this is not a responsibility or duty since skating is not an essential skill, however reading and swimming are.) Canada is surrounded by 3 oceans, the exact number of lakes in Canada is unknown but there are tons, lots of people have swimming pools, communities have public pools, and many family trips involve water of some kind. Water is a part of our culture and it is dangerous.

A friend posted the article below on facebook and I couldn't believe how much I didn't know about drowning. It is a much more serious problem, in terms of number of deaths, than I had thought and I had no idea what it 'looked like.'

Read: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
by Mario Vittone

Oh Bolton

I have been watching this movie constantly for the past few weeks, like multiple times daily. I showed it to JennB on our road trip and she loved it and joined me with the multiple viewings. However, I also showed it to my mom who was bored before it was half over, so I guess it isn't to everyone's taste. (Though Micheal Bolton is surprisingly good looking for someone who is almost 60.)

27

I had my birthday yesterday. I am not 27. (Feeling very old!!) Steph put up a picture of me and wrote a very nice message over on her blog. See it HERE. Last night I spent the evening with Kristen, who took me out for dinner at Red Lobster. All of my friends contacted me through phone, or text, or facebook; I felt very loved. Which led to me saying repeatedly: Why can't every day be my birthday?

Out Of It

Sorry that the posts have become a little sparse. According to Google Analytics I'm still getting some visitors, and usually I pride myself in getting posts up pretty regularly. A combination of school ending, trips to the US, time at the cottage, and being majorly depressed have all contributed to less posts on Always Standing. However, I have some planned.

So, stay tuned for:
-a summery of my amazing trip to America with JennB
-pictures of the 100 year old book that I wrote my last paper on
-my final marks from this semester
-updates on sailing as I prepare for the racing season
-a music video that I have been playing multiple times daily
-general summer awesomeness!

Counting

To pay tribute to my childhood road trips, JennB and I are counting things as we drive around the US. It actually just sort of happened, since we were noticing things and then decided to count them. JennB is counting signs for 'Adult' stores, the prevalence of which is very dependent on which state we are in. I am counting religion related signs and billboards. Right now I'm winning - Religion over Sex!

The best religious based sign so far was the huge black billboard that had large white letters saying, "IF YOU DIED TODAY, WHERE WOULD YOU SPEND ETERNITY?" The 'E' of eternity was filled in with red. We were a little surprised at this sign and started to talk about how the red ''E" must symbolise hell. Then a few miles down the highway, an obviously connected billboard (it was designed the same way) appeared which read "HELL IS REAL." The "H" this time was filled in with red. There was stunned silence in the car for a little while - just at the complete lack of subtly.

Only In The USA

Just a quick word from my road trip with JennB in The States. While driving yesterday, we saw a normal van which had a large bumper sticker on the back that said, Cation: Alpaca Aboard. Then as we drove past it, there was literally an Alpaca in the back. It was like a family style van!