Sailing!

On Sunday, November 3rd 2010 Stein took us sailing. I was rather nervous about sailing as I'm not a huge fan of large bodies of water. Plus, the two student who went on the excursion last week talked about how the sailboat would "tip" and move and make you feel like you were going to fall out. They may have been exaggerating a bit! Nevertheless I bundled up and headed to Uskedal, Norway where Stein keeps his boat. Below is a picture of Stein getting the boat ready! 

We eventually took off for our adventure! But not before Stein put me in charge of throwing ropes off the boat and onto the dock. He warned me not to get them in the water. All I could think was, "Great!" Fortunately I was successful and even made it back to the other side of the boat while it was moving! That's quite a feat for me! Here is a view from the beginning of the trip! 

We even ran into a troll on our way to sea.

For some reason Stein thinks that because I'm in the Army that I'm smart and can sail. I double checked to make sure that he know the Navy was the branch with the boats! He trusted my helmsman skills when I didn't. But guess what? I actually didn't do to bad. He even had me steer pretty much the entire way back once we turned around. I was freaking out a bit inside...but I remained calm on the outside. Below is a picture Hannah took of me!

Once someone else took over steering I tried taking a picture of Stein. At first he turned away. Then, he decided to turn back and give me this look while I took his picture. I don't think he was very excited! By the way I've considered stealing his stocking cap when he isn't looking. I really really like it!

After awhile Stein made us coffee and tea and gave us the brownies his wife, Elke, made us! Oh everything was soooooo good! Here we are enjoying our sailing snack! Don't mind the mouth full of brownie look I had going on!

Below is a picture I tried getting with my phone. It's zoomed in so not the clearest but Rosendal, the town we live in, is located under that waterfall! We live right on the shore of the fjord over there. Pretty cool!

A little while after this Stein had us turn around. Sadly, we lost the wind. Literally, no wind! That's not good for a sailboat! We fought and fought...excuse me....Stein fought and fought to find it again but it was completely still. After waiting around Stein decided to start the motor. Well, it wouldn't start...for a very long time. I thought we were going to be sleeping on the sailboat that evening. Fortunately he got it to start and we headed back to shore. Stein was telling me that he has had this boat for about 30 years! It's gone on many many sailing excursions! Here is a picture of the bay as we "pulled" in.

And another!

I had such a great time with Stein! I just love talking to him and enjoy all of the adventures he takes us on! I may have been nervous before getting on the sailboat but seeing his confidence, passion, and ability to sail was so stress relieving! I never once thought I was going to tip over or die! :) He was even confident enough to let me steer and do a bunch of other crazy tasks on the sailboat! It was a blast! I'd love to go sailing with him again someday! Maybe when I bring Micah back to visit Norway!