Beth tries to sail (and succeeds, sort of)

Had sailing lessons this weekend and actually did some sailing on my own this time, rather than observing from the instructor's boat. It was challenging and fun, but mostly fun. I had a laser, a small boat about 14 ft in length. I was not the only middle-aged female adventurer learning to sail last weekend; Angela also took the lesson. Angela had taken the course the previous session and had done very well on the theory end but failed the practical test out on the water. Given that she had been a former phys ed teacher, she found it both comical and embarrassing that she'd failed beginner's sailing. By all accounts though, the wind was pretty fierce on her testing day.

Thankfully, the winds were quite forgiving for us. But before getting on the water, we had to learn how to rig the boat: putting the sail on the mast, putting together the mast and the boom, attaching the mainsheet to the boom, tieing down the various parts (just in case), hooking up the rudder, etc.  "Is that a figure eight knot you used?" (Yes) "Which way does the rudder point when you're tacking?" (It doesn't matter. Just push the tiller away from you.) "Why are some sails bigger than others?" (Bigger sails can give you more power.) "Can we use that little green sail?" (OK). It turns out that there's a YouTube video of a guy rigging a laser in 6 minutes. It took us about 45.

On the first day, Angela and I took turns in a single laser, sitting in the small rubber motor boat with Eric, the instructor, when it wasn't our turn. I felt like I was learning to drive a manual transmission car all over again, figuring out how to coordinate the clutch, brake, and gear shift while looking ahead and not running into anything. In the case of the laser, it was coordinating the tiller, tiller extension, the mainsheet (rope), switching from sitting on one side of the boat to the other, changing the hand I'm holding the tiller with, looking ahead, not running into anything, not capsizing, and not getting my feet tangled in the ropes. I've been operating motor boats since my age was in single digits, but this was completely different. I'd also windsurfed a bit as a teenager but never quite understood the wind nor this tacking/jibing business so was towed back to shore more than once (thanks dad).

I think I'm getting it though. Angela and I took turns tacking and jibing to do figure eights around markers in the Estuary, sometimes more elegantly than others. Meanwhile, Eric would shout from the rubber boat: "Don't let go of the tiller!", "You're a mile from the marker!" "Move your bum up closer to the bow!" "Tack! Not jibe!" Apparently patience is also a virtue when you're teaching beginner's sailing.

Fortunately for me and Angela, the sun was shining and the wind was kind. And while there were several close calls like when I let go of the tiller doing a tack and the boat ended up going north, south, east then west, I managed to stay rightside up the whole afternoon. So did Angela. We felt exhilarated at the end of our session.

On Sunday, we decided to take the plunge, so-to-speak, and each have our own laser to sail. Tony was our instructor this time, a really nice 68 year old former mechanical engineer who didn't mind volunteering his time to teach sailing. Tony was helpful, cheerful and encouraging. He was also full of useful tidbits of nautical wisdom. When sailing upwind, hold the sail in and work the tiller to keep going in the right direction. When going downwind, let the sail out, and work the sail to keep moving (disclaimer: Tony is not responsible for any errors of fact or interpretation.)

A loud horn went off as we were heading out on the water; laser races to start in 10 minutes! Oh dear. A flotilla of lasers made their way out onto the water. What if we get in the way of the other boats??? What if we hit one of them??? What if they don't see us???? Don't worry, said Tony, with your small bright green sail, everyone will know you're a beginner and stay clear. I guess we were sorta the equivalent of someone riding a racing bike with training wheels and wearing a bright orange vest. Whatever.

Our second day ended as successfully as our first. No capsizing although I had one near-event which reminded me that I still have a lot to learn. Sadly, there is only one more weekend of sailing this season then the club is closed until spring in September.

I wonder what new activity I can work on acquiring over winter. Ideas anyone????