Some people step onto a boat and are straight at home. For them the challenge, the mechanics, the simple joy of sailing all combine to make the sport less of a pastime and more of a necessity.
These people ? let's call them fanatics ? come alive on board a boat, forgetting the pressures of work and home in the sheer exhilaration of surfing down a wave on a tight reach, or coaxing the yacht upwind in a gusty force five.
I am married to one of these fanatics. He is trying to teach me to sail.
It is a difficult task, I admit, as I have absolutely no desire to set foot on the boat unless the wind (force 1 ? 2), the weather (sunny) and the sea (calm) are just right. But, being a man of considerable determination and luck, he finally succeeded in giving me my first few lessons last month.
I learned a lot.
Sailing is, when you come down to it, incredibly simple ? a matter of pointing the boat where you want to go, feeling for the wind, and adjusting the sails accordingly. Yet it is also incredibly complicated.
I used to race dinghies, sitting in the pointy end, pulling in the sails, but even so I learned a fair bit about lifts and headers, cunninghams and kickers. It all came flooding back to me as I helmed the yacht last month, dodging the ferries between Largs and Cumbrae.
For the first time I really began to understand the relationship between boat, sail and wind. I could feel the yacht responding to the helm; feel it spin in the water; surge down the waves, slow in the chop. I could see what was happening as the gusts hit and the sails either flapped in the header or the boat tipped over in the lift.
And that was my problem. The boat tipped over. I guess that I will get used to it eventually, but I just cannot be comfortable sitting at a 25 ° angle, staring down into black waves that look perilously close to my feet.
Dinghies don't tip over, or at least if they do they are not too hard to bring back upright again. Yachts are different. They are supposed to tip over, and you are not supposed to swear blindly and gibber at the helm when they do.
And the noise! I thought sailing was supposed to be quiet! What with the wind on the sails and the boat slooshing through the water and the depth gauge beeping every two minutes, it was hardly peaceful at all.
So I learned a lot: I learned that there was a lot I didn't know.
And my husband learned a few things too - most particularly, that there some things you just do not say to reluctant sailors who have consented to come on board:
Helen MacKenzie is a freelance writer. She contributes to the web site at http://www.sea-dreamer.com The Sea Dreamer web site has articles, guides and news on sailing and cruising on the West Coast of Scotland.
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
article_text... Read More
Hawaiian Cruises are everyone's dream cruise to the Hawaiian Islands on an exquisite ocean liner... Read More
Exploring Europe can be such a unique experience with a River Cruise... Read More
Family Cruise: Happy Times you will not forgetA family cruise is a perfect getaway with loads of fun and excitement for everybody... Read More
Asia Cruises: Lasting Impressions of Culture and TraditionAn Asia cruise is a voyage of discovery, an experience of cultural extravaganza of Asian civilizations... Read More
I spend almost all my summers sailing around the Greek islands... Read More
Sea and rich people: where else to find a better combination than in Monaco! A real Monaco yachts parade can be admired throughout the year in the Hercule Port, beside the local yearly yachting events... Read More
Gorgeous, acrobatic, and lit-up, Sailfish rank as the # 1 sporty catch of south Florida... Read More