Georgetown, week One

We’re closing in on the end of a week in Georgetown. Although the activities, places, and faces are largely the same, it doesn’t “feel” quite the same. The economic disaster wrought upon the world by G.W. Bush and his cronies has stretched its long tentacles into the cruiser community. Some of last year’s longtime cruisers were forced to sell their boats and get jobs. Others simply stayed home. The clan of adventuresome young Canadians who came down either in pairs or with young children has vanished. The die-hards remain – those who sold their homes long ago for big, comfy boats and the Georgetown lifestyle. Folks whose wealth was so massive and secure that they have withstood the shitstorm are also here. That leaves a few of us ragged cruisers in little boats who were really pretty marginal to begin with and have remained so. The anchorage has a bit more of a right-wing feel to it. This is nicely counterbalanced, however, by the continued presence of the older French Canadians en masse. They were adventuresome youngsters themselves once, and remain buoyant and raucous. (Read: they are still liberal party animals.)

Wayne is the Chairman of this year’s Regulation Volleyball Tournament for the upcoming Cruising Regatta. He has been playing every afternoon at the four-on-four, bump, set, spike courts where the level of competition is high. I’ve been inserting myself into more and more of the “fun” volleyball games where any idiot can walk on the court and make a fool out of her/himself. Well, I guess I’m getting slightly better at it, but it’s still just a diversion and nothing I can claim I can really do.

Beach Bridge is still fun when I can put a game together. My partner from last year has already left for further south and I haven’t put together a solid partnership with anyone else yet. No matter, pickup games are almost always possible. My pilates classes are picking up in terms of attendance, and people never cease to ask me to become involved in various skits and activities during Regatta week. You have to be a good sport about this kind of thing, it really is fun if you just relax and get involved.

Wayne has been taking a class in a swimming technique called “Total Immersion”. He has been coming home significantly water-logged and has had dripping sinuses ever since, but has stuck with it. It’s a technique designed for long-distance swimmers and triathletes in which the glide phase of the crawl stroke is elongated and exaggerated and the body literally corkscrews through the water. Today is the last class, so I’m interested to join them and see if Ican’t learn a thing or two as well. After that; practice, practice, practice. According to the instructor it takes 5000 strokes to really get the technique. The class is held in a lovely mini-bay with a mini-beach where the water is less choppy and there is no dinghy traffic. To be sure, it’s a gorgeous setting and the weather has been superb. There are worse places to go and get your work done.