Detroit and Sailing

Despite how the title of this post sounds, I did not go sailing in Detroit. Instead, I learned alot about coaching techniques and financial stuffs while at a training in Detroit.

Can't say I am a big fan of the Motor City. Well, to be fair, I'm not really a fan of cities in general (Savannah, of course, being more of a large small town). The flight was uneventful (aside from really interesting conversation with a guy who works in Iraq), the food ranged from excellent vegetarian meatloaf to utterly disgusting pad thai, and the hotel was adequate (except that the large screen TVs distorted regular television so everyone looked like really stocky linebackers). The coolest part of the hotel were the huge murals flanking the elevator bank.

As it should be, the highlights of the trip were the training sessions. I really like the concept of coaching (as opposed to counseling, which I am not qualified to perform) and the basic agreement of personal responsibility on the part of the client.

After Detroit, I got to spend a wonderfully long weekend hanging out with Dad and Joy. Besides seeing family, the highlight was our sailing trip from St. Mary's to Fernandina Beach. We had a great wind and it was really relaxing to be out on the water.

We even got to see a fast attack submarine leaving the St. Mary's River. I'm sure it would have been more exciting if I hadn't lived most of my life near a sub base and seen things like this on a near monthly basis.

Another sight I'm starting to get used to are BABs (short for Big Ass Boats). The come in and out of Savannah on a pretty regular basis, but are still really overwhelming to see up close. This BAB isn't anywhere near as big as some of the container ships that come into port.

Joy snapped a picture of me doing the only bit of crew-work the captain would allow: preparing the bow lines to docking. At least she didn't catch a pic of my snoozing on deck...

Many people have asked how I'm dealing with the heat. It has been in the upper 90s for the past few weeks, with the heat index going over 100. Really, it's not as bad as I feared, though certainly not pleasant. It's actually much hotter at Dad's than in Savannah and I can't help whining when I go to visit. It will be much more bearable after July 23 when I get air conditioning installed in my car! And I'm sure I won't be complaining in January when I'm just wearing a long sleeved Tshirt for my afternoon walks in the park...