Sailing

Growing up near Lake Michigan, I sailed every summer. Sailing has been the source of some of my greatest and scariest memories.

Dubbed 'Black Thursday' by the sailing team, 20 boats were caught in a storm offshore without enough coach boats to get every member off the water. Winds were gusting up to 50mph as capsized boats were picked up out of the water and flipped over in the air like paper in the wind. It's here where I can say I've come the closet to moving on. I was shoved about 15ft under the water when a centerboard caught the neck of my lifejacket as the boat flipped in a gust. I managed to swim to the surface, and was eventually scooped up by a coach boat as we drifted closer to the rocks lining the shoreline. Fortunately, everyone was okay at the end of the day, but 4 boats were smashed to pieces against the rocks. Although a fun story to tell now, this was a wake up call about the dangers of the lake!