Our Sailing Adventure

For Father's Day this year I surprised Nick with a sailing lesson.

He is constantly asking me, "Wouldn't you like to go sailing sometime?"

So I picked up on his subtle hint and delivered.

I bought a 2 for 1 from Groupon.

We were able to redeem it last weekend, and had quite the adventure.

It was the perfect evening for a sail: warm, slightly breezy, and clear.

The sun was setting, and made for some great photos.

Despite Utah Lake's shallow murky waters, it can be quite breathtaking.

Especially when you got this handsome fella at the helm :)

We sailed around for over an hour, threw around some sailing jargon, tied some ropes, and laughed about the movie "All is Lost."

And then the sun set...

And things got real crazy.

First the motor on the boat broke.

Not a huge deal since we had our sails up.

But when it time to go through the harbor things got a little complicated.

Since the motor wasn't working, and the wind was no longer on our side, we tried to use paddles to get into the harbor.  No luck. We got stuck in the mud.

Things were still going ok - but then the gnats came out.

I don't mean a few annoying gnats...

I'm talking about swarms and swarms of gnats.

Gnats so thick they left left bloody footprints on the boat when you stepped anywhere.

Gnats everywhere.

They covered the sails and the ropes and were in every nook and cranny on the boat.

Luckily I was able to go down in to the cabin to escape most of them.

Thankfully, and by answer to our silent prayers, the motor started up just in time to push into the harbor.

We were even able to take home some (unwanted) souvenirs smashed onto our clothes.

Overall, it was a great and enjoyable experience.

We can now cross sailing with gnats off the list!