Sailing

“Even though there were only three of us on board, I was shouting the correct sailing terms like a pro – ‘ready about’, and ‘lee ho’ with each tack across the wind. After an hour of tacking into this horrific weather, my legs were soaking wet, my hands red raw and nearly frozen to the wheel of the boat, and my cheeks were in absolute, utter agony. Not from the cold or rain mind you, but from not being able to stop smiling. The others had kindly offered to take the helm and let me go down below to dry off. But I was not ready to relinquish the helm, not just yet. I was having way too much fun.”

“Being an English summer, it was of course a cold, wet, and windy day, despite being May. But that didn’t stop me. I figured that if I were going to see what sailing was like, no better time to do so than in bad weather. [...] The first thing I noticed, and what I love about sailing, is quiet. You can hear yourself think on a sailboat, and that is priceless. The boat also stopped its violent motion as we were no longer fighting the tide. We put on a pot of tea, dug out some sandwiches, and just enjoyed the afternoon sail.”

“Second day plenty of wind, swell that ROAM just fitted in perfectly to surf, getting us up to speeds of 21- 22 knots. Sailing downwind in 20- 30 knots of breeze. The warmth of the sun kissing our skin, dolphins struggling to keep up with us, we were cruising and having a lot of fun. A new feeling, the power of the wind in the new sails as we accelerate, the sound of the bows slicing through the water and the absence of engines running.”