At 10 in the morning my dueno and his wife picked me up. I really like his car (oh, I know that sounds silly). The car reminds me of the one I owned 4 months ago. It's small and has a hatchback. This may also may sound silly, but I really like car rides. It's something we do on a daily basis in the states, but here, not so much.
On our way to their club, where they dock their boat, he drove through beautiful neighborhoods pointing out houses, restaurants, stores and he told about some history of the area too. He seemed just as excited to tell me about the area as I was to listen and see. I also have not been out of the city in 4 months (well, just for one weekend at the beach). Not that I'm complaining, I love the city and don't have a strong desire to escape, but to see a quiet suburb was a nice sight.
Some of the neighborhoods we drove through were close to the river. The houses and streets reminded me of Europe.
Around 11 we arrived at their club after passing many other yacht clubs. We pulled into the gated community where there was just one straight road inside. Along the side of the road members parked their cars. The rest of the area there were small passageways were sailboats were kept and tall old trees lined the banks.
To get to their sailboat a water taxi of sorts had to take us to it via motor boat. Once we got to the their boat the work, or their work started. I wanted to help but I know nothing about boats and even less about sailboats...even though I went sailing in D.C., but I don't remember anything besides being scared.
When they first asked me to go sailing I thought we'd be on tiny boat like the one in D.C. To my surprise there was a whole inside to the boat with a bed, two sofas and storage space. While I watched, they did the preparations. Once we were ready they navigated through the narrow passage way where others stored their boats. For this part they used the motor to get us out to the river. Once we were out of the club, they cut the motor and put the sails up. It was so quiet and peaceful.
Once we were out far enough I pointed to the distance noticing the skyline of Buenos Aires. Wow, the city is huge from this distance.... I can't believe I live there.
Luckily I think this trip got me over my fear. Driving to the club I didn't want the car ride to be over. It was safe, and pretty, and safe. Luckily I felt the same on the boat. It wasn't windy, the boat didn't abruptly tip and the view was amazing. It was also very sunny and hot (shorts and a tank top weather).
Some things I learned.... The boat has a depth measuring device. Most of the time we were at 1.5 meters deep. I asked them how many meters I would be, they estimated 1.63 meters. Since the river was so shallow there was a 'highway' of sorts where the river was dredged to allow heavier boats to pass through. Further out in the river there was an even deeper area that was dredged to allow large tankers to go up and down the river.
If someone would have told me one year ago that I'd be sailing in Buenos Aires I would not have believed it. It was just a little over a year ago that I started to dream about making this move. I wanted it so badly but I couldn't imagine it really happening. Well....Here I am. (*big smiles*)
After our day of sailing we brought the boat in around 5. I tried to help fold the sails and cover them with a tarp. My captains said I did a good job, but I think they were being polite.
Afterward they showed me around the club's property; we left around 7. On the way home they drove through some more wealthy neighborhoods. Again, I really enjoyed the car ride. Once we got close to the city, we drove through a park that is connected by a bridge to the Rose Gardens (one of my favorite parks). I had no Idea the rest of the park was so big, and beautiful. I'll have to rent a bike and try to find the bridge one day.
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