My sailing trip to the Keys is easily the most memorable trip of my life. Most of the Venture Crew and I drove to the Key West and then spent a whole week on board a 65 foot schooner! We sailed and snorkeled on reefs every day. This trip was when I truly fell in love with the ocean...this trip changed my life. Please, go to my adventure section to read more about this awesome trip.

The first time I went sailing, I went with two other people who also didn't know what they were doing. We got out in the middle of the bayou and then couldn't get back! Some adults came out on a motor boat, and though we pleaded for them to tow us back in, they did not. Instead they briefly explained the principles of sailing, and we had to figure it out on our own. A good learning experience.

I went sailing once with one other guy in some bay in Alabama, I can't remember where. It was a cold, windy day, and no one wanted to even touch the water. After sailing for a while, we got going pretty fast, and the driver lost control of our small boat. In an instant, the boom was coming straight at my head! So I did the best thing I could think of at the time: I let go of everything and flew backwards into the cold water! I've always hated the cold, but I guess you have to get cold and wet sometimes. It was immensely fun, going really fast and flying off like that...I'll never forget that boom coming at my face!

I've been in one regatta before, with another guy. It was in New Orleans, on Lake Pontchartrain, in November! Once again, a very cold endeavor. The first day was awful. I was ill-prepared and extremely cold. There was very little wind, but the officials kept starting more and more races. At the end of the day, I was cursing sailing. The next day, however, there was more wind. Even though we didn't sail as well, it was a lot easier and I had a lot more fun. I'm glad it improved the second day, or I might have been left with a bad impression of sailing forever. And oh yeah, if memory serves, we placed 6th out of 20! Not bad considering I had only sailed that type of boat once before!

I don't remember very much about this, but Drew and I took a very spontaneous sailing trip once. It was about one o'clock in the morning...I don't even remember how we got a boat or whose we borrowed. We shoved off, went a little ways out and then stopped moving entirely. The wind was dead calm, and there we were stuck in the middle of the bayou in the middle of the night. It was a lot of fun. After a long time we eventually got turned around, and I can't really remember how we even got back. I think we used our hands to paddle a little ways and finally got back. I know I can't remember much but it's one of my fondest memories.

Probably my funniest sailing memory of all time. It had been a long time since we had sailed last, and to be quite honest I've never been good anyway. I shoved off by myself and very quickly fell behind my two friends in the other boat. We were trying to sail to a certain girl's house to pick up a few first-timers and take 'em sailing for a good time. Well I wasn't even sure of where to go, and my friends in the other boat were out of sight. After a long while, I finally found the little "finger" of the bayou I was supposed to go down. Drew was already coming out of it with one of our passengers. I remember saying "Hey, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this." Then within seconds of saying it I capsized. So I finally get into the little "cove" and the wind dies. I inch along as fast as I can, with the wake from the stupid wakeboarders stopping me every now and then. The wakeboarders wouldn't be so bad if they didn't look at me and laugh... Anyway, I start to worry because the sun is getting close to the horizon and I haven't taken any passengers sailing! So I slide into the cold water (this is March) and hold onto the small boat with one arm and start swimming with the other. I swam maybe a quarter mile with that boat, taking breaks as needed, until I came to a dead end! By this time I was just too damn tired, and I climbed in the boat and just sat there. After a while my buddy Derek came kayaking toward me. I told him my story, and he was kind enough to tie my boat to the kayak and tow me back to our destination. It turns out I had passed right by it without knowing! Ha ha! I really thought I was lost and wasn't going to make it anywhere before the sun set. What a great adventure!