Happy at Sea

LONG_KEELER said:
Who was it that said we are all living lives of quiet desperation ?
Click to expand...

Quotation-Henry-David-Thoreau-Most-men-lead-lives-of-quiet-desperation-and-go-to-34-58-53.jpg
 
Most stressy moment - a moment before casting off in a marina, but much less stressy leaving an anchorage.
Least stressy? - been a little while but usually about 5 days to a week out solo it all gets very blissful, past and future cease to matter and you just get on with what needs getting on with in the present moment :)
 
It depends on circumstances! On the boat and on passage in good conditions with sea room or in waters I know, I'm quite relaxed. When making a tricky passage that I'm less familiar with, I get tense! And an unfamiliar passage where I know that getting it wrong is dangerous (e.g. the Deben bar) is very buttock clenching, especially when I can sea the waves breaking in the sand not far from the channel!
 
I have yet to be caught out in weather so severe to put me in fear of losing the boat or myself and long may that remain the case but for me the anxiety & stress is more around being time limited, i.e. got to be here by this day or that time to be back at work or WHY than anything else. Take off & landing can be stressful at times, especially with marinas, anchoring is so much better in lots of ways. I long for the day when I can just take off with no such constraints & see where the wind takes me...
 
There is nothing I like better than that moment where the last speck of land slips below the horizon. It's a moment of absolute zen for me. Complete disconnect. Now it's just me and nature and even if she doesn't play nicely my boat will look after me.
Yes of course she's a Twister ;-)
 
Sort of starts as we wander the supermarket aisles stocking up.
Then every twitch of the wind convinces me that a gales is coming.
I am constantly looking at my pocket barometer. Yes I've got one and the trend is keenly observed.

Then I start working out what my fall back plan is going to be.

The nearer departure time the worse I get. Then we start the engine and cast off.

The sails come out the course is set. Otto goes on and we switch the silence on.
Then everything is OK and we are sailing.

I am going to miss it.
 
I packed up motorbike racing when I stopped getting the butterflies in my tummy and the sense of apprehension that affects racers on the starting grid.

Without that, IMHO, you should not be there as your are not taking it seriously enough or are bored with it. I had been at it 45 years non stop, so I think perhaps a touch of the latter.

Both First mate and I get a little apprehensive before a passage and during the early stages. Once secured for sea and away this slowly dissapears and we get more relaxed. We are comfortable with night passages and being out of the sight of land.

We NEVER get complacent though - I have seen what the sea can do to small vessels!
 
I'm looking forward to the next season with some trepidation. Milady is a very reluctant sailor, though she likes being on the boat, whether it be at anchor or on a pontoon and her stress under sail communicates itself to me and back to her in a nasty feedback loop. This, coupled to moving house then a serious illness meant we used the boat little over the last four years. Last year we went out a few times, but the sails only went up once. This year, my intention is to head out on my own and see if I still love the act of sailing. If not, either we'll sell the boat - for a fraction of the investment we've put in, even discounting the purchase price, but that's the market at the moment, or we'll treat her as a motorboat and go here and there under power. If I do, then I think it'll be a fair bit of solo sailing, with Milady joining me by car. from time to time.

Whatever happened to my plan to sail round the UK when I retired??
 
Stemar said:
I'm looking forward to the next season with some trepidation. Milady is a very reluctant sailor, though she likes being on the boat, whether it be at anchor or on a pontoon and her stress under sail communicates itself to me and back to her in a nasty feedback loop. This, coupled to moving house then a serious illness meant we used the boat little over the last four years. Last year we went out a few times, but the sails only went up once. This year, my intention is to head out on my own and see if I still love the act of sailing. If not, either we'll sell the boat - for a fraction of the investment we've put in, even discounting the purchase price, but that's the market at the moment, or we'll treat her as a motorboat and go here and there under power. If I do, then I think it'll be a fair bit of solo sailing, with Milady joining me by car. from time to time.

Whatever happened to my plan to sail round the UK when I retired??
Click to expand...
My wife is similar. Sailing with her means that I am always sailing "for her" & that is sometimes not the best thing to be doing. We soon realised that we had more fun if she flew to a destination & joined me for a couple of weeks for holiday at that place. Ostend & st Peter Port are 2 favourites.

You have to agree with each other that you have different aspirations that do not necessarily have to involve the other.

Over the years we have adjusted our lives that we do not live in each others pockets. She enjoys golf twice a week & has a number of golf holidays each year. She has been very active in our sailing club especially when our offspring were learning to sail. She ran one of the safety boat for 10 years & served in the bar. She just does not like actual sailing in a cruising boat.
I go single handed sailing for 5-6 weeks at a time & I have been round UK twice. We both feel free & enjoy life to the full. We have been married 50 years & can count the number of arguments on one hand.
I did say when I married her- "But if you marry me, you marry my boat"- she agreed.
 
I do get a feeling of mild anxiety when sailing at night these days. There is so much junk in the water, such as lobster pot markers, and floating debris that you just cannot see until it is too late.
I would rate night sailing these days as a form of Russian Roullette.
 
I just love sailing. Not worried about the destination or winning races but feeling the surge of your boat through the helm is wonderful. Having suffered the stress thing for while I have recently had some time off and some help and it has been amazing. (If you need some help go and get some, there are people out there who can help fix you). And now when the weekend is here actually have a knot of excitement about getting on the water. I assume football fans feel the same when going to the 'game'. Guess we should all have something that is simply fulfilling just in its own right and put work in its place (easy solution to get lost in work me thinks, poor sods)!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top