Monday, March 19, 2012

Queer Sailing in NYC - First time on the water in 2012!

Yesterday, my sisterwife Daisy Shaver and I hopped the PATH train, met Static, our Captain, at the Newport Marina, and took our first sail of the season.  When we arrived at the marina there was still a bit of fog, so we worked on getting the ship in shape and hoisted the jib sail into position.  In the pic above you can see Static teaching me a new knot, the bowline, a skill I know I'll use quite often!  Finally the fog lifted mid-afternoon and we gave the jib a shakedown run in the harbor.  The Sonadora was the only sailboat in sight and one of the few vessels on the water, which was really serene and special! 

I lived all my life in my home state of Kansas until I moved to NYC in 2004.  Naturally, I knew almost nothing about boats and had hardly been on them, until sailing with Static last Summer caused a whole new area of geeky enthusiasm to bloom in my heart!  I've already learned a ton, including that sailing is mostly the domain of middle class white people, and even the gay sailors in NYC are pretty damn straight-laced and staid.  They don't know quite what to think of our crew, but that's okay, because honestly I wouldn't feel like myself if I wasn't scandalizing somebody.  I'm so looking forward to another year of learning more knots, racing around the harbor, and rocking the boat with our crew of radical faeries!  Sometimes I think I'm the luckiest boy in NYC.

After the break, a pic of Daisy with the growing Freedom Tower in the background, along with a snap of yours truly attempting to strike a pose, even in boring, early-Spring sailing clothes.  Stay tuned for more...






2 comments:

  1. Ahoi sailor!

    That does make one want to become a pirate !

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  2. I am also going to start Sailing NYC and I am sure this will be a great experience of my life.

    ReplyDelete