Regatta Report 3: It's the Fleet

From the minute we arrived in the parking lot at the Corinthian Yacht Club and the big guy with the ruddy sunburn introduced himself to us, I was delighted with the Marblehead locals. They were friendly and helpful and laughing. I said, "You guys are locals -- what do we need to know," and he said, "Watch out for the mixed drinks at Maddie's." (It turned out to be a warning I didn't heed quite well enough). They were gentle with the weigh-in when we arrived, not sure whether we would make the weight limit. ("You know, this scale needs to be adjusted. Here, how's that?") Some guys from Canada loaned us their gin pole; some guys from New York speculated with us about the tide. A guy from Rhode Island remembered me from a regatta we hosted a couple of years ago. A Marblehead guy bought dinner for all the Maine boats on Thursday night and told us all about the politics of the international Etchells governance. A Vermont guy invited the Maine sailors to come ski at his place this winter. The midwinter champ sat down and talked to me about my mast for a long time. A guy from New York promised to send me a picture of his boom vang set up.

Once upon a time I used to be shy and somewhat self-conscious at these kind of regattas. I was super aware of who the good sailors were and felt kind of awed or intimidated by them. I noticed people's gear and wished I had gear liked that, noticed the ways they acted and the jokes they made and the regattas they talked about and felt like an outsider studying the insiders. I don't know when it happened but in the intervening years, sometime after college, I stopped caring about all of that and instead I now just see a roomful of new friends, with a love for the same things I love and lots and lots to teach me. Somehow now instead of being the watcher noticing who's hanging out with whom, I wave people over to my table, whether I've met them or not, and assume they will come when I beckon. And they do, they come right on over, glad to be called.

My housemate has a name for this part of me -- Rock Star Charisma Barbie. In some social situations the afterburners kind of kick in and I am alive and feel like I have this power to create warmth and fun wherever I go, and it's kind of a magical high. It comes out at cocktail parties and conferences and with sailboat racers, especially in situations like this where there are some familiar faces and lots of new ones. Rock Star Charisma Barbie showed up on Friday night, aided a bit by the potent mixed drinks at Maddie's. I don't want to live as Rock Star Charisma Barbie all the time, but there's an afterglow from the friend-making and the laughter and the flirtation that leaves me simultaneously socially exhausted and stimulated.

I became an ambassador for the Maine fleet, and invited all the boats from away to come up to our regatta next fall, promising everyone a lobster dinner and a great party. I schmoozed with the race committee and begged for advice and help making our regattas better. I corralled the Maine sailors and schemed about when our next party would be, and whether we could get anything together to go to a winter regatta in Miami this year. I talked to the away boats about the big events they were doing, and learned about the Annapolis regatta and the one in Oriental, North Carolina, and the circuit down in Miami, and Marblehead Race Week, and Newport, and Montreal. For the weekend I forgot that I'm jobless with a beat-up boat and no truck and blown out sails and a bendy mast and imagined putting together a program to do all these regattas.

Comments

[Charlsie]

I know what you mean about having an alter ego that comes out in social situations. My friends and I have a saying about such a magical high and the reason why it is so fun; "I can't turn it off" or when appropriate, "You can't turn it off." We think it is appropriate because when the magical high hits, you just have to ride it out, because you can't turn it off (not that you want to). It is also the appropriate answer to all questions, such as, "Why did you stay out so late last night? Why are you happy all the time? How is your life? Where do you get such random thoughts?". I'm telling you, it is the perfect catch phrase, and once you start using it, you can't turn it off.