Rock-tober 30, 2015

I used to be a member of a sail club back in the 90's. The club guru was this grizzled mountain of a man who dispensed some of the most profound Zen wisdom I'd ever heard. He once told us about the time he was accosted at the dock by a power boater.

"You sailboat guys just don't get it. I can cast off from the dock, gun it, and get to the Solomons and back before you even enter the channel." The sailing guru just shook his head. "No, son. You don't get it. Once we leave the dock, we're already there."

Indoctrination into the sail club required several days of lecture on rules of the road, water safety, and the mechanics of sailing. It also required several weekends of qualifying sails on the water. On one of these outings, the skies were overcast and the water was a little squirrely, but we decided to go for it. After an hour or so of basic maneuvering and handling drills, the wind picked up. A lot.

I had the helm when we were hit with a howling gust. Several things happened in very short order. All lines went taut, the sail popped explosively as it filled with wind, our speed dramatically increased, and the entire boat started to heel, or lean over. Our instructor yelled for me to keep a hold of the main sheet and hold our course steady. He then grabbed my sail partner and dove for the upwind side of the boat. We were on a very hard lean and just a whisker away from capsizing. Our instructor throwing his and my partner's weight to the windward rail gave us just enough ballast to stay upright. We sailed through that and several more squalls before making it safely back to the dock.

Later, at a debrief, the sail guru said, "You know, if that happens again, you can let go of the main sheet and the boat will stabilize itself."
"Yes, sir."
"But if you do that, you won't be taking the boat and yourself to the edge of your 'design limits'."
"No, sir."
"Finding yourself on the edge like that will tell you two things. It'll tell you where the edge is, and probably more importantly, it will tell you if you like being there."

I'm pondering the second half of his statement like Caine in Kung Fu. The sudden acceleration, the deck shifting beneath me, the howl of the wind, and the blasting sea spray all combined to make a very pucker worthy moment.

He saw what I was debating mentally and he said, "It's easy to figure out. Were you smiling?"

"Yes, sir."