frigid sailing.

It is officially winter in Florida. Considering the plight of our Michigan brethren suffering from single-digit temperatures, I really should be thankful for anything above 32, but today's chilly 55 degrees had me in a nasty mood. Yesterday's ominous forecast turned out to be sunny t-shirt weather once again, so everyone figured that today would be the same. Instead, today was overcast, windy, and depressingly cold. Our morning session on the water had all of us shivering, and by the time we docked for lunch, I could no longer bend my fingers and had to resort to beating the mainsail down with my frozen hands.

Lunchtime allowed us a quick trip back to the hotel to supplement our layers, and mine totaled six shirts and jackets, three pairs of pants, and three pairs of socks (has my blood really thinned that much in the span of ten days?). Sacrificing agility for warmth (I couldn't really bend my arms, but I could feel them--much more important), I finally felt adequately ready to face the weather once again. The wind continued, and because of it we had a spectacular day of sailing with our warmer vestments to ward off the cold. As helmsperson, I did my best to channel the sailing spirit by sounding remarkably stern every once and awhile, and attempted to bellow instructions at my crew ("TRIM THAT JIB" or "CENTER THAT TRAVELER") with some hearty "arrrr"s at the end, but everyone just stared at me skeptically and lightly adjusted whatever I had suggested. I'm still mastering the whole intimidation thing.

Andrew, Rachelle, and Professor Ubels

Capt. Richard--in the yellow--and the Catalina (and as a sensible English major, I cannot handle its name)

Arguing about where to have dinner (quite heated).

At the end of the day, Professor Vander Linde remarked that today's escapades resembled a typical day of sailing on Lake Michigan. With that, I think the majority of our class swore off sailing in Lake Michigan in their lifetimes. Here's hoping for warmth and thawed appendages by tomorrow.