Did you know you can learn a lot about life while sailing?

This past week, I had the pleasure of joining a friend on his sailboat. I must admit, it was not the first time I had sailed. I did indeed notice that our perception of sailing in our twenties is very different than in our forties. I distinctly recall having a carefree attitude in my twenties and oblivious to the sailing nuances. I wasn't sensitive to the importance of changing winds, traffic on the lake, but was more concerned about gaining speed, while taking the sun.

This time around, I found myself heavily aware of my surroundings, sensitive to the blowing wind and the reaction of the boat, in some cases too late (like when I poorly steered the boat toward the dock while my friend was lifting the sails-Yup it was a big scratch!)....But then again, you live and learn, meaning second time around, we both learned to take the boat to the center of the lake and then begin the set-up process.

This last little journey gave me many moments to reflect and observe the parallels between sailing and life skills. In a macro sailing moment, you quickly learn the importance of facing challenges on the water, thinking quickly on your feet, learning the virtue of patience, acknowledging that though you may be a control freak, sometimes in life nature has other things in store for you. You also learn that you have good times where the boat sails to perfection while you smile blissfully at the sun, while other times, you lose the wind in your sail and find yourself sitting patiently, reflecting and awaiting the next gust of wind. Mind you, in our case, the wind never came and so we gently drifted and perhaps even picked up momentum at barely two knots.

Another eye-opening experience is that one learns a lot about one's sailing partner under challenging situations. In my case, I bravely decided to take a moment to lead the boat back to the marina. I quickly learned that good sailors make it look easy.
I asked my friend if he could guide me and show me the whys behind certain actions. I must admit just because I am a great teacher with twenty years under my belt, does not make every TOM,Dick and Harry a great one too. His methods of teaching include gentle yelling, sarcasm, laughter (as in making fun of moi)...not necessarily the right ingredients for a special needs student like myself! Truth be told, I was most impressed with how he allowed me freedom to try and to fail, and then to try again. So in essence, he has the right ingredients to coach. May I make a suggestion, dear friend, coddle a wee bit more and then you have MAGIC!

It must have taken me well over an hour to learn, through osmosis and perhaps the nudging of my friend, that getting from point A to point B isn't always a straight course, especially if the straight course takes you directly into the wind. Planning a route that gets you to your destination in the shortest possible time is accomplished through a maneuver called tacking, in which the boat is steered in a zigzag, upwind direction.
Mind you, by the time I figured that out, the wind stopped blowing and we began the drifting process back to shore.