Smooth Sailing

July 15, 2018

July 15, 2018

I bolted out of bed at six o'clock in the morning, unable to sleep. My cousins were still asleep in the basement, and I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't. I was too worried about the regatta. For a moment, I wondered if Véro was having the same thoughts that I was. I wondered if she was playing out every possible scenario in her head, calculating how we could beat the odds and win this race.

Eventually, I gave up on trying to sleep and reached for my phone. I checked the weather and saw that there wouldn't be any storms until tonight, so the race definitely wouldn't be canceled. The wind was just heavy enough that I would never be able to sail this race by myself, but it would still be an exciting race. Any hope that I might have had that the race would be rescheduled and Véro and I would get another week to prepare were gone now. Today was the day.

At around seven, I rolled out of bed, went into the kitchen, and made myself breakfast. Chase was up now, even though the rest of the family was still asleep, and as he entered the kitchen, he said, "Hi, Sylvie. Why are you up so early?"

"I need to get ready for my race," I said. "What about you?"

"I just couldn't sleep," Chase said. "Scott was snoring too much."

"That's too bad," I said.

"Yeah, but I'll get my own room again when we go home," Chase said. "Good luck on your race."

"Thanks, Chase," I said.

"Do you want some cereal?" I asked as I dug through the pantry.

"Do you have any Lucky Charms?" Chase asked.

"I think so," I said as I pulled out a box of Lucky Charms. I poured Chase a bowl of cereal and then handed it to him. "I'm sure my parents will make you better breakfast later though."

"I'd rather have this," Chase said as he devoured his breakfast. "Mom and Dad never let me get sugary cereal."

I rolled my eyes. Chase clearly didn't understand what constituted a good breakfast, but then again, neither did I when I was eleven. I ate my own bowl of cereal and then left the house. Chase wished me good luck again, but I knew that none of my cousins would come to watch me. They were only here for another day, and they had better things to do. Grandma, on the other hand, was probably already in the judge's boat, and Grandpa wouldn't be far behind. Mom and Dad were still asleep, but once the race got going, they would probably come to watch too.

When I got to the pier, Véro was already there. "Hi Sylvie," she said. "Are you ready to race?"

"Of course I am," I said. I quickly kissed her, hoping that Grandma wouldn't somehow notice us from the other end of the lake.

"Me too," Véro said, climbing into the boat. She had already set up the boat for us, and she took the sheet line, letting me steer towards the starting line.

At the starting line, I spotted tons of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Nearly every member of the Clearwater Lake Junior League was sailing in the regatta, and there were tons of people from out of town as well. Judging by the stickers attached to their boat, one pair of sailors had come all the way from North Dakota to sail in the Clearwater Lake regatta. I didn't realize that there were people out there that were that dedicated to sailing in a junior regatta in a tiny lake in northern Wisconsin.

I waved to Grandma as I sailed past her boat, but before long, her flags told us that we had only five minutes left before the race would start. Véro panicked, but I stayed calm, navigating the boat as close to the starting line as possible without going past it. When the race began, I shifted the tiller so that I could cross the starting line and head towards the first buoy. We were the first boat to get past the starting line, and for a while, we were in the lead.