This past Saturday, my family was invited by a dear friend to spend Saturday afternoon sailing on a local lake. He had rented a temporary slip at the lake's marina, allowing him to sail for multiple days on this holiday weekend without having to launch and trailer the boat multiple times. As our time to join him approached, I could tell that it would not be a great day for sailing, as the wind was much calmer than forecast. What should have been a day of sailing at or near the boat's hull speed was replaced with much floating and barely enough steerageway to control the boat.
However, I was struck by how enjoyable the day was, even though the wind let us down. For someone such as myself, who is head over heels in love with the ancient craft of sailing, I had anticipated that I would spend the afternoon being greatly frustrated. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the other aspects of the day were sufficient in of themselves, resulting in a wonderful afternoon.
What aspects? I was out on a lake with my precious family, and a very good friend. I was not at work, nor at any of my other myriad responsibilities. The sun was shining, but it was not overbearingly hot. Even with the motor being used, the ride was enjoyable: pleasant and relaxing. I took advantage of the lack of need for trimming sails or any of the other work involved in sailing, and stretched my legs out and fell into a delightful stupor of relaxation. I reveled in watching the joy of my boys as they floated along in our 'wake' while hanging onto a floating fender.
All in all, I was extremely relaxed and pleasantly tired by the day's end. The kind of tired that one gets from a good day spent outdoors. The moral of this little story? I guess it's that a day, whether a normal day or a holiday, is what you make of it. It's an old fisherman's cliche that "the worst day fishing is better than the best day working".... and it applies to sailors as well!
(Full disclosure: I had the idea for this post *before* we decided to pay our friend for another night of the slip so that we could come back on Monday. But Monday was much better sailing- 9.5 knots and much heeling)
However, I was struck by how enjoyable the day was, even though the wind let us down. For someone such as myself, who is head over heels in love with the ancient craft of sailing, I had anticipated that I would spend the afternoon being greatly frustrated. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the other aspects of the day were sufficient in of themselves, resulting in a wonderful afternoon.
What aspects? I was out on a lake with my precious family, and a very good friend. I was not at work, nor at any of my other myriad responsibilities. The sun was shining, but it was not overbearingly hot. Even with the motor being used, the ride was enjoyable: pleasant and relaxing. I took advantage of the lack of need for trimming sails or any of the other work involved in sailing, and stretched my legs out and fell into a delightful stupor of relaxation. I reveled in watching the joy of my boys as they floated along in our 'wake' while hanging onto a floating fender.
All in all, I was extremely relaxed and pleasantly tired by the day's end. The kind of tired that one gets from a good day spent outdoors. The moral of this little story? I guess it's that a day, whether a normal day or a holiday, is what you make of it. It's an old fisherman's cliche that "the worst day fishing is better than the best day working".... and it applies to sailors as well!
(Full disclosure: I had the idea for this post *before* we decided to pay our friend for another night of the slip so that we could come back on Monday. But Monday was much better sailing- 9.5 knots and much heeling)
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