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sierciaIt's been two summers since I got to go sailing, almost to the weekend. I'd fogotten how much I loved it.
Part of my love for it is simply because I love the ocean. I love any excuse to be outside, to smell the salt air, and to be able to just sit and relax amidst it all. When we went on our honeymoon cruise, I loved the sense of being in the middle of nowhere. You don't get quite that feeling on Buzzard's Bay, but it still feels blessedly solitary.
So, with all of that, I should love power boating as well, right? Maybe, but I certainly don't.
First, there is the sheer quiet of sailing. When you're going under sail, there is no whirring (or roaring) motor to intrude on the peace of being out in the middle of water. Just the noise of the boat riding up and down through the waves, the wind rustling and flapping the sails, and that's really about it. Similarly, sailing is a much more gentle motion through the water. While the boat is still very much affected by the waves, it isn't generally fighting against them the same way a powerboat does. (When one tries to go very fast in a powerboat, it bounces along the water with a very steady and jarring thwapthwapthwap. Perhaps powerboating at a slower speed would be more pleasant). It dips and swells with the waves, and the gusts of wind and it's very soothing. (Granted I've never been in a sailboat in very choppy seas. But the times I've ridden in a powerboat it wasn't choppy either).
Sailing also apeals to the side of me that lies taking what the earth gives us and making use of it with as little waste as we can. There's no gasoline needed on a day with good wind. You just harness the world's most renewable energy source and it carries you where you need to go. I like that it's unpredictablle in that you're somewhat at the mercy of nature and that you move at a slower pace than normal.
I also like that you have to work harder to get what you want and (this probably shows my intellectually snobby side) that you need to know more to be able to handle a sailboat than a power boat. It's much more complicated; from having to know how to tie knots, to keeping all the sails straight, to knowing which sail to use in which wind, and how to rig it (because every sail seems a little bit different), to knowing all the other details of piloting a boat such as how to control its movement and momentum, and the basics of boating safety and behavior. I like things that not everyone knows how to do. I like listening to other people teach me about the details of something I know nothing about, because I like learning new things, and knowing that there's an endless rabbithole of things to learn on a subject just to become competent at it, never mind accomplished. (This is where sailing with Bill and Linda is especially wonderful. Bill is a very accomplished sailor and he is incredibly enthusiastic about it and loves to teach other people about what he knows. He's a fantastic teacher.) Granted, I'm rather much dead weight on the sailboat still. That's partly because my balance is poor so I can't always move as quickly as I need to. Hopefully as my weight goes down, that will get better.
Lastly, my favorite thing to do while sailing is climb along the side deck of the boat and sit with my feet dangling over the edge, held in by the grab wires. You can lean back against the cabin wall and just soak in the sun and the sea. If you're in the right spot, you get to dip your feet in the water when the boat rocks in the right direction. I think doing that is one of my most favorite things in the world.
I don't think I have the writing skills to convey through words the profound sense of relaxation and peace I feel when I'm sitting on the deck of a sailboat zipping along in front of a good breeze. I'm not sure if the right words exist. I am certain that there's almost no other feeling like it in the entire world.
Part of my love for it is simply because I love the ocean. I love any excuse to be outside, to smell the salt air, and to be able to just sit and relax amidst it all. When we went on our honeymoon cruise, I loved the sense of being in the middle of nowhere. You don't get quite that feeling on Buzzard's Bay, but it still feels blessedly solitary.
So, with all of that, I should love power boating as well, right? Maybe, but I certainly don't.
First, there is the sheer quiet of sailing. When you're going under sail, there is no whirring (or roaring) motor to intrude on the peace of being out in the middle of water. Just the noise of the boat riding up and down through the waves, the wind rustling and flapping the sails, and that's really about it. Similarly, sailing is a much more gentle motion through the water. While the boat is still very much affected by the waves, it isn't generally fighting against them the same way a powerboat does. (When one tries to go very fast in a powerboat, it bounces along the water with a very steady and jarring thwapthwapthwap. Perhaps powerboating at a slower speed would be more pleasant). It dips and swells with the waves, and the gusts of wind and it's very soothing. (Granted I've never been in a sailboat in very choppy seas. But the times I've ridden in a powerboat it wasn't choppy either).
Sailing also apeals to the side of me that lies taking what the earth gives us and making use of it with as little waste as we can. There's no gasoline needed on a day with good wind. You just harness the world's most renewable energy source and it carries you where you need to go. I like that it's unpredictablle in that you're somewhat at the mercy of nature and that you move at a slower pace than normal.
I also like that you have to work harder to get what you want and (this probably shows my intellectually snobby side) that you need to know more to be able to handle a sailboat than a power boat. It's much more complicated; from having to know how to tie knots, to keeping all the sails straight, to knowing which sail to use in which wind, and how to rig it (because every sail seems a little bit different), to knowing all the other details of piloting a boat such as how to control its movement and momentum, and the basics of boating safety and behavior. I like things that not everyone knows how to do. I like listening to other people teach me about the details of something I know nothing about, because I like learning new things, and knowing that there's an endless rabbithole of things to learn on a subject just to become competent at it, never mind accomplished. (This is where sailing with Bill and Linda is especially wonderful. Bill is a very accomplished sailor and he is incredibly enthusiastic about it and loves to teach other people about what he knows. He's a fantastic teacher.) Granted, I'm rather much dead weight on the sailboat still. That's partly because my balance is poor so I can't always move as quickly as I need to. Hopefully as my weight goes down, that will get better.
Lastly, my favorite thing to do while sailing is climb along the side deck of the boat and sit with my feet dangling over the edge, held in by the grab wires. You can lean back against the cabin wall and just soak in the sun and the sea. If you're in the right spot, you get to dip your feet in the water when the boat rocks in the right direction. I think doing that is one of my most favorite things in the world.
I don't think I have the writing skills to convey through words the profound sense of relaxation and peace I feel when I'm sitting on the deck of a sailboat zipping along in front of a good breeze. I'm not sure if the right words exist. I am certain that there's almost no other feeling like it in the entire world.
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sailing
Date: 2002-08-07 08:41 am (UTC)