Sailing

We drove North from the San Diego Coast (my wife and I and two daughters) and went sailing with my cousin and his wife. My cousin and I have been sailing since 1968 when he bought his first 22 foot sail boat.  He has a 25 foot Sail Boat now instead. Both can and could sleep up to about  4 to 6 people each below deck

It was a great experience for all of  us. By the time we got to the marina to set out the temperature had dropped to 66 in the sun which was okay as long as the wind didn't get up to 15 miles per hour or above (as far as being comfortable sailing) out in the open. So, luckily the winds stayed under about 10 miles per hour which pushed us from about 3.5 knots up to 5.5 knots depending upon the winds. This was enough forward progress to really enjoy this today without getting too cold from the winds sailing this time of year. We all wore jackets but even being relatively still on the boat we all stayed pretty toasty and warm until the sunset. Then the sunset was one of those 360 degree ones that you often see in Colorado or New Mexico or Arizona in the western states where the sunset is literally in every direction if there are any clouds there at all. Since the whole sky was full of cirrus ice crystal clouds you often see further north before it's going to snow we had a really amazing sunset in all directions to top of a really great day with my cousin and his wife.

Since my cousin and I are now both grandparents (his grandchildren are mostly age 16 down to about 8 or 10 now) and since I live in northern California now
we don't usually spend time at Christmas together like we once did when I was younger than 30 and both of us were parents by then. So, it was a treat to see them at all during the Christmas season for a good sail and having dinner together with my wife and daughters and my cousin and his wife.