I was NOT born to be a sailor

Every quarter our resort has a manager's outing for all department managers. We've done some pretty fun stuff in the past, like going to Newport/Balboa for scavenger hunts, and playing team building activities by the beach. Today we went sailing on a tall ship in Dana Point Harbor.

Here we are heading on to the boat.

They had all of us help raise the sails. Here I am getting ready to "Heave!" and pull the roap. We had to yell "Ready Aye!" every time we were asked if we were ready. We felt silly yelling, but we soon got into it.

Here are all the ropes tied up. Be careful not to get your foot stuck in one or trip over them!

Below are the big sails we helped raise. There were 4 total on the boat.

Say hello to the shore in the background! Away we go...

Once we got out we saw a bunch of other sail boats. It was a beautiful sight. I took a lot of pictures, but here are my 2 favorites of the sail boats. Pretty huh?


We were then lucky enough to see some dolphins! I wish I had better shots than these, they didn't really jump up too high. And they were sure hard to catch on camera! It was fun. There were about 4 of them that we could see jumping at the same time.


We also had a seal come right up to the side of the boat. He surfaced 3 times to say hello to us. He rolled on his back, did some back strokes for us, and played around for a little bit. It was so cute! I was sad when he went down and never came back up again. It was the highlight of the trip for me.

After all these fun sights, is about the time I started getting sick. Well, I'm sure it was coming on way before the animal life festivities, but I was distracted enough to not let it bother me. I get really sick on airplanes, sail boats, even in the car sometimes. So the rocky water out at sea definitely not my best friend! A co-worker gave me some dramamine and also these bracelets to wear. They were supposed to push on my pressure points and help the motion sickness. I spent the rest of the trip staring at the horizon and concentrating on not throwing up the cheese and crackers I just ate. How embarassing would that be to do with all my co-workers around? I'm so glad I kept everything in.

Jim, our general manager walked by to ask how I was feeling. He then asked if I wanted a picture taken with my camera. I said sure. So here I am putting on a smile for the camera, despite my dizzy head.

Rene is our director of HR and came dressed for the occasion. Our captain on the boat let Rene turn the wheel a few times. (It's probably not called a wheel. Oh well.)

Here is the name of our beautiful boat. The Spirit. I like this picture.

We turned back and headed back to the Harbor. Welcome back!

Time to take the sails down!

This boat was sitting in the harbor when we left. It didn't look like it was very safe to sail on and the name "Windward" was spray painted on the side. But I bet this guy is living the life...sailing all day on his paint chipping boat, getting a good tan, maybe catching fish for food every morning...or maybe his motor wouldn't start and he was stuck.

And here is our beautiful boat one last time! Though it made me sick, it was still fun to take a trip out to sea. But one thing is for sure, I know I was definitely not born to be a sailor. I would need a whole lot of dramamine.