*Originally published in the September 2014 Freshwater News*
It couldn’t have been a more perfect day on the Columbia River. The sun was shining and the wind was picking up little tufts on the water’s surface. I was about to have my first ride on a large sailboat, a Hunter 28.5 to be exact. There was quite a bit of hustle and bustle as we set to work preparing this large vessel. Winches were winched, sails were raised, bumpers were pulled in, and we set our course to sail the Columbia. We were in fact only one sailboat of many out on the Columbia that day, just one part of a majestic flock. Once we had settled into a calm glide down the river it was easy to see the comfortable camaraderie between the sailors on board. You wouldn’t even know that the majority of sailors had only met each other that day. Each sailor had their own unique story behind how they discovered sailing. It seems that sailing, like many hobbies, attracts people from all walks of life.
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