The Basics of Sailing with Brother Chuck

A very dear friend of mine has written a comprehensive guide book for sailing entitled, "Sailboat Racing with Greg Fisher". Without a doubt, this has been a passion since his days in the Sea Scouts back in Missouri. While reading his book, it became painfully obvious to me that my brother and I should have read, at the very least, a limited guide to sail boating when we ventured out for the first time.

According to my recollection, I think our maiden voyage took place in August, the winds were light, but present. My brother had purchased a small sail boat; it looked like an Optimist, only for adults. He referred to it as an Ipswich sailer. Naturally, he was eager to test his skills, and it didn't take much convincing for me to join him in this new arena of "fun". So, we loaded up the boat and headed over to the local lake. The rigging "seemed" to go together easily, but remember, we were merely honing our sailing skills. We had seen a number of people do this before us, so what could be so difficult? Once we set the sails, I was sure that we'd only be moments away from becoming "Master and Commander" of this fine vessel. We hadn't even checked for the wind direction. Was that even important?

We "drifted" away from the shore while organizing our "lines". We weren't the least bit worried about our speed at this point; our focus was just having fun. After our first tack, we readied ourselves to come about, and we did so effortlessly. How difficult could this be? We were sailing, and nothing about it seemed overwhelming. However, that was the end of our short lived success. We simply couldn't seem to do much right from that point forward. After floundering around in the shallows along the shore, a woman, who evidently saw this hopeless skipper and first mate, came out from her home, and yelled to us, "Do you need some help?". We didn't want to acknowledge the painfully obvious, but we couldn't deny our ineptitude. She waded out into the lake, probably about waist deep, to personally review the "basics" of sailing. Immediately, she recognized a fundamental oversight, and said, "I see one of the problems. You haven't put down the centerboard.". There was no escaping this one. If she had been the ship's commander, I think she'd have had us walking the plank for insubordination. However, she delightfully gave us our "first" lesson in sailing and left us to our own devices thereafter.

My brother and I had a memorable experience that day; one, I am sure neither of us soon forgot. However, now that I have been mentored by a real sailor, I look back on that escapade as a reference point. When people are good at something, they certainly appear to make it look easy, so, experience does have its' benefits. But if you are a willing disciple, there are plenty of "captains" out there who would be enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge with you, and thanks to my sailing mentor, I have found that to be true. Ready about? Heartily, as in the case of two plebeian, yet adventuresome brothers, and more obviously, we "hard a-lee" had the skills of you seasoned sailors!