I spent the morning trying to get caught up on some work at home, but I was determined to get outside for the afternoon, and after lunch, I decided to motor on down towards old Albuquerque and spend the afternoon at Tingley Beach.

Today, Tingley Beach is a strand of man-made pools where locals can go and hang out with a bunch of water fowl or fish, or, as James would have it, sail his boat.

Intrigued by this little craft in one of the ponds, I asked its owner about his boat, and his hobby. James said his boat was a relatively inexpensive plastic-hulled craft that had no power except the servo engines controlling sail and rudder alignments. He comes out to the model boat-friendly pond about once a month, when his wife gives him a pass, and though a relative newbie to sailing boats, he tries to show up when members of the Duke City Model Yacht Club come out and stage races, so he can talk with them and learn from them. He also enjoys driving around a motorized craft, but there’s something about learning how to move your boat by the changing wind.

I enjoyed talking to James for a good 20 minutes between a walk in the nearby bosque- and another walk in the nearby bosque.