New to the open sea

As recounted by Jim Ewing 1984 aboard Plover
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Although I have taken up the sport of sailing and even cruising quite extensively in the past three years, I was not always as experienced or seasoned to the ways of the sea.
As I now read the account of the 1984 race in which I was priveleged to enter with skipper Bill Phillips aboard Plover, a flood of memories comes back to that most uncomfortable day on the Northumberland Strait.
The wind was westerly, the Strait was tossed with waves and very choppy. Poor old Plover, was having a difficult job making headway in those contitions. It wasn't long before myself and Bill Oulton, another less experienced sailor, were feeling rather queezie. I thought I had better go below for a little rest. BIG mistake! I wasn't below 15 seconds before I quickly retreated to the cockpit where I curled up and prayed for land.
Bill Phillips even felt a wee bit on the soft side during that trip, but Peter Griesbauer, with the constitution of a seasoned sailor, was able to continue with lunch and the navigation, and all those other things that the rest of us had put aside for a better day. It took us 6 and a half hours to get from the starting line to just the other side of St Peter's Island, where we threw in the towel.
After fishing the towel out of the water we then turned tail and scooted back to Charlottetown, taking only 2 hours to make it back to the dock — thank heavens!
I do look forward to participating in the '97 race however.