Sailing teaches us the joy of merging with nature
Issue 59 : Mar/Apr 2008
When sailors are asked what it is about sailing that attracts and holds them, they are likely to talk about freedom, about the vastness of a world that has distant horizons, about travel, and about the joy of being afloat on the interface of sky and sea.
They seldom say that sailing is an outdoor experience, pure and simple, and they are more content when spending time out of doors. That basic view helps explain my enjoyment as a sailor.
When you spend time outdoors, you’re tuned-in to the elements around you in a way that you never will be if you’re chained to a desk or spend your time traveling by car. In fact, there may be no other outdoor activity that causes the participant to be as aware of the weather around him quite as much as sailing does. People who go aloft in airplanes and hot-air balloons are certainly tuned-in to the weather. But sailors spend more time directly in the elements, sometimes weeks or months at a time.
Aware of the weather
When you’re out there and moving along at 5 knots, you can’t help but be alert for clues about the weather that will be upon you in an hour, or in a day. You know where the wind is coming from at any moment and are aware of whether it’s increasing or decreasing in velocity. You’re watching the cloud patterns and cloud cover. You’re aware of every riffle of the water, each of which has meaning to any boat with sails up. And your brain is processing all this input, hoping to discern a trend. Is it time to put a reef in or shake one out? . . . get out the foul-weather gear or shorts? . . . head out for the next leg of a journey or sit tight?
In the early days of our sailing adventures, Jerry hoped I would become his “weather witch.” He was hoping I’d read up on weather and somehow become clairvoyant. I studied and tried to meet this challenge. But I fell short of the goal. There are too many variables: temperature and humidity, jet-stream effect, surface heating, and more. I’m not a meteorologist. With all their training and computer modeling, they can’t always predict the next day’s weather. Neither can I.
All I can say with certainty after a great deal of time spent in an open cockpit in all kinds of conditions is that if you spend your days outdoors, sometimes you will glory in the beauty of it all . . . and sometimes you’ll remember why mankind built shelters in the first place. You have to accept both kinds of conditions and, because you do, you’ll be ever so much more appreciative when conditions are perfect and all’s well in the world.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
