A few posts back I mentioned how knuckleheaded I was when I spent the day sailing with Uncle Alex and forgot my camera. Well, he was kind enough to send me a few pictures so I can share the experience with you. Now let me preface this by saying that Alex is an icon of the Ziegler family. He’s a self-made man who raised his children in Belgium where, among other things, he dabbled in race car driving! While in Belgium, he purchased Menbihan, his steel hulled sailing yacht which is literally one of a kind. He bought it from the man who had it designed and built. It is a super rugged little ship that took Alex and his wife Gina on many voyages throughout the Mediterranean. Here’s a picture of Menbihan underway:
As we exited the harbor, I had the enviable position at the helm, holding Menbihan dead into the wind as Alex and his two crew, Maude and Ben, raised the sails. Once raised, I turned to port, the sails filled and I could feel the little ship strain and accelerate under the force of the wind – we’re sailing! Not long after, we were visited by a pelican who happened to land on Ben’s back much to his and everyone’s surprise! It was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen as this wild pelican was completely at home right next to us as you can see from this picture:
Maude and Alex weren’t quite sure what to do with our friend but eventually they coaxed him on his way, maybe to visit another unsuspecting group of sailors. It was a great day of sailing in the blue Pacific!
239 Beans 
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