Back on the water

This morning, I officially got checked out to take boats out at my new sailing club. After two classroom sessions and a three outings on the water, I was able to convince them that I knew how to handle a boat, tie the necessary knots, follow all the club procedures, and perhaps most importantly, dock the boat under sail. Unlike my boat up in Seattle, these boats do not have engines or a roller-furling jib, which means I'll have to do a little more work. They're also designed for daysailing (as opposed to overnights), so I will need to learn how far I can sail and leave myself enough time to get back in daylight. Naturally, the prevailing winds will be pushing me away from the marina, making estimating a bit harder (going back and forth upwind can take twice as long, if not more). I look forward to getting back into it, needless to say.

After sailing, I was preparing to meet up with a new friend of mine and some of his friends to play softball. Prior to sailing, I gave him a call to make sure we were still on, and he warned me that they might have to cancel due to rain (yes, it does rain here occasionally). Seeing as it was only partly cloudy out, I figured the chances were good that we'd play. But sure enough, on my way back home after sailing, the skies opened up for a nice downpour, and softball was canceled. One of the things I failed to mention on my comparisons between Seattle and San Diego is that when it rains here, it rains. The wind kicks up, and it's a genuine storm that blows through (and is over very soon thereafter). In Seattle, when it rains, the wind often stops blowing, the rain is more of a drizzle that you stop noticing after living in the city for a few months. Occasionally a good storm will come through, but generally it's just "cloudy with a chance of showers". Made me forget what real rain feels like!

On that note, I'd like to note how drivers in virtually every city complain about other drivers who "don't know how to drive in the rain". In the few times it's rained here in San Diego, I've noticed that driving becomes much more difficult, if only because the storms are very localized and chances are, the sun is still shining on the horizon not too far off, creating a glare to add to the spray on the road and the relatively heavy precipitation. It also probably hasn't rained in a while, meaning there's a lot of excess oil built up on the roads, making things slippery. All these factors add up (as they should) to traffic slowing down and people driving more conservatively. Frankly, I've got no problem with that.