Spray bottle washin' and Barbie Yachts

Dang, we haven't magicked the spar & gear racks up yet, but I did solve a problem. Our club's rules tell us to clean the boats off after every sail. We can tell by the state the club boats are in when we take them out that not everyone adheres to this rule, but we try to be club members on this rule. If only to make up for our mistakes. Like crashing the boats into a dock.

But we didn't rinse Blue boat after her last sail, because it was dark out, and Woody came back from a 40-minute ride on the road, so I figured they were both dusty. Although I am a Total N00b, I do realize hosing them off in the basement, especially a basement without a noticeable drain, ain't the route to go.

So, I filled a squirt bottle with diluted car soap and another with water and spent the evening getting to know the deck of AMFlite Woody and the hull of Sunfish Old Blue. Yeah, I think the boats are stuck with those names.

It turned out to be a pretty good idea, if I do say so myself. Granted, I still need to flip each boat over (with the help of Hubby), but it's a little-to-no-spill way to clean a boat. Blue's white hull has some beach scuffs that didn't quite come out, and it looks like some stuff stained Woody, but overall, they are shining and clean. After we put ports in, we'll just have to dust them off and then take to the polish. It really just gave me something to do and get to know them until we can get some racks up.

I think Woody might be in better shape. I found some areas in Blue that have my newbiness concerned, but we know she can move nicely in light wind, so I'm going to stay relaxed about this. I'm bonding with both boats, but also remembering that we started out with older, cheaper boats so we don't fly into a panic when we break them.

Not a Sunfish

But today I had a dream about our daughter playing Barbies on the boats. Like, whoa. We aren't trying to have kids (though trying to figure out a timeline for that), and I had this very vivid vision of being out on the lake with our young daughter, and she's got her Barbies and Kens out on the Sunfish pretending it's a mega yacht. Which is both awesome and scary.

And I told her to make sure that they were "safe" on the boat and wouldn't drown. An ordinary girl would have Barbie life jackets, right? I assume they make those for a ridiculous price?

No. Emily's little girl secured the Barbie's to the Sunfish's mast.

By the neck.

I blame my brothers. They used to kidnap my dolls and hang them by the light string and give them a big swing until their heads came off or my screams brought mom up the stairs. I hope to bring our daughter or son a different sailing experience.