I sit on the side of my boat, my feet in the hiking straps and the wind blowing my hair around my face. I hold tight to my tiller and main sheet. The wind is growing in speed and is up to a steady 15 miles per hour.
I was a second year skipper and was still relatively small compared to the other kids who towered over me in my class, so the instructors put Hayley, one of the instructors, on my boat so my crew and I wouldn’t tip as easily.
I look at the lake and see white caps contrasting against the dark blue. Suddenly, a puff of wind hits my sail and I brace my feet against the center board to keep from falling out of the now vertical boat. Hayley and my crew were not as lucky. They are whipped from the edge and onto my sail lying against the water.
My heart pounds in my ears. I know what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to crawl over the edge and stand on the center board to keep from turtle-ing. But the boat is tilts perpendicular towards the water now. I’m not strong enough. My foot slips and I plummet backwards against the sail, shame burning my cheeks.
I bob in the water and watch as my boat turns completely upside down. I’m the first person to turtle in five years. And I had an instructor on my boat. How humiliating.