Sailing

I had sailing lessons last weekend. Not by choice mind you. You see, back in October, I bought D a 2 day sailing package for his 34th birthday. I ordered it through an online company called Surprise In A Box. It was either that or a new wallet. His had a tear in the coin pocket and to be honest it had started to look very, very worn. I figured a Prada/Gucci one would be a nice pressy. But I knew in my heart that a man who has 20 dollar wallet he bought at an airport would much rather have the lessons considering he has plans to get a sailing boat once he becomes stinking rich. And hey, just in case he does become stinking rich (fingers crossed), I figured lessons would come in handy. I had visions of him at the helm with me sitting portside sipping a beer. I was quite happy providing website credit card details and wait for D to regale me with his sailing stories.

He had other ideas. He insisted I take the lessons with him and presented me with the news upon my touchdown in Sydney. So that is how I found myself at Clontarf Marina at 9am on Saturday morning, waiting for our Skipper Annie, and our other crew member Anthony. We were going to begin our Introductory lessons to be carried out over 2 days, with 7 hours logged every day. The classes are very small as it is important for certification that we learn everything from navigation, tying knots and boat maintenance. So the 3 of us were going to learn to sail Topcat, a luxury 32 Catalina sailboat. I was scared. I get horribly seasick and I had never set foot on a sailboat. Powerboats yes, sailboats no. I kept kicking myself for not going to the Prada online shop instead.

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My vision of sipping G&T on our future sailboat essentially got shot to hellandback after we met our skipper, introduced ourselves to each other and got on the tender which was to take us from the Marina to the moored Topcat. As we got on Topcat, my newfound respect for sailors which started with my having to get up at 7am to get ready and make sandwiches, began to grow. The barking of instructions started. Opening the washboard to gain access to the galley, testing the VHF radio, taking down he plastic bags rigged up to scare away the birds, taking the sail covers off...and the list goes on. We learned soon enough the sailing lingo used during instructions. The difference between tacking and jibing (jib had only been a 3 letter J scrabble word to me before the lessons began..I can now tell between a jib and a genoa (small and big headsails). We became very quickly acquainted with the necessity to read the wind as sails are only easily hoisted with us facing the wind in the no-go zone, and we had to instruct the helmsman as the wind tack moved from close reach to beam reach. We finally hoisted the sails after much effort and away we went.

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For as long as I can remember, I have always looked on with envy as sail boats float by, looking carefree and traveling with the wind. Taking its passengers wherever they wanted to go. I now know that it is damn hard work getting that boat to move. Well, it was for us. D and I found learning the crucial angling of the sails to make it move forward, the continuous easing and tightening of the sails to ensure optimal speed, and the constant attention to the location of the boom to ensure that we are not knocked senseless into the water rather far from our idea of relaxing sailing. We were continually tested on our ability to recognise danger markers in the water. We learned to read the charts. I still find it amazing the amount of information you can get from such plain looking charts. We even learned to make tea or rather put the kettle on a boat. We sailed in fantastic weather. We struggled as we tried in vain to reef in the sails as horrible winds built up. We watched with horror as other sailboats entered Sydney Harbour with torn sails. We had a memorable 2 days.

D and I started the course with a view of making sailing our new hobby. However, after the first day we were ready to admit that we did not find enough enjoyment in it to make it a passion. Upon learning more about the level of commitment needed, we find it hard to believe that it can only be a hobby. It takes passion to want to sail all the time. And heck of alot of suncreen.

D and I have decided that our hobby will be to find a hobby. We are thinking of horse riding lessons next.