Hot Sailing awith Deb and Nathan

Let me start off by saying my cousin Debbie and her husband Nathan are a hot couple.  And I also know that hey have a couple of hot kids (Maryanne and Brian).  How do I know this??

Because they came sailing with me today and the heat index was somewhere north of 105 degrees!

Perhaps this wasn't my smartest moment.  We're having one of THOSE heat waves... a bunch of days with heat indices in the triple digits... where the temps are in the high 90s with high humidity and you break a sweat just looking outside.  Because you know that once you open the door, your skin temperature in the 90s is cooler than anything around and that humidity just condenses on you like a cold glass of water on most other days.

Oh, I also have a crick in my knee, but that didn't stop me either.

You see a couple of weeks ago at a family reunion, Debbie and the clan were wildly enthusiastic when I said they should come sailing sometime.  They're teachers and their summer is rapidly drawing to a close, so we grabbed a day with perfect weather (except for the heat).

When we arrived at Seas The Day, the heat was unbearable... I rushed through the preparations and got the Bimini up so we had a little protection from the sun.  It was clear that there was no wind, so we motored out to the Great Beds Lighthouse.

After the requisite photo opps..., we could tell the young 'uns were getting tired and hot (sense a theme here?) and I cut the corner back to Keyport.

As we approached Keyport, we could see that they were starting the Fleet Captains Race.  This is kind of a fun race for both racers and non-racers with a cool party afterward.  I had thought about briefly joining this. We even smelled the ribs cooking while we were preparing to go out, but with everyone on the verge of heat exhaustion, there was no way we were going to wait for the party.

I did manage to get some nice "under sail" photos of some friend's boats...

This boat is the Miller's!

As we got closer to Keyport, the kids seemed to get a 2nd wind and for a brief second, I thought about pulling out the sails.  But then I remembered being a parent and how these reprieves can be followed by big crashes.  For all the heat, the kids had not kept up with drinking (water... not all sailors drink...) and I figured prudence is the best path.  

That turned out to be a good guess... by the time we got Seas The Day buttoned up and hopped on the launch, I was cooked (the kids were too).  It was a nice time if brief time on the water.  The ice cream afterward was especially welcomed.