Reflections on Sailing

Reflections on Sailing

We are now back on dry land after an amazing 2 weeks on the yacht. We saw some wonderful places but for me it was also a very new experience living on a yacht and sailing around.

The yacht – for those who know and care about such things – was a 10 year old Bavaria 38. It had 3 cabins – one double at the back which Bob and I shared. The double bed was vaguely rectangular so our feet got quite friendly overnight. It was roomier than the canal boat but still cozy. Bob could not stand upright inside and the graze on his head from perpetually trying should now heal.

My vocabulary has improved enormously. Words such as

-       port, starboard, stern, bow, foot, luff, leach, jib, headsail, cleat, fairlead, winch, stays, bow thruster

do not all exactly fall from my tongue but I know what they are.

On one of the first days Peter asked me to put the rope around the winch in a slightly tight situation. I badly wanted to comply – if only I knew what the winch was He needed to say – wind it around that thing there and then secure it on the top (fairlead) and all would have been well. I learnt subsequently!

Something I fortunately was not asked to do was climb the mast on a bosun's chair as this guy did on a boat near us at Milnet. That I would not have done!

We had a variety of weather – mostly quite calm and some not enough wind to sail so we motored instead. Sometimes we put the sails up hopefully and the wind dropped almost on cue. We then did a combination of sailing and motoring.

Peter described most of it as “pussycat weather” but for me if anything that is not battoned down flies around the cabin and drawers not latched fly open that is a bit exciting. One day we were going across wind and went up and down forwards a lot with frequent side motions and that was a little challenging although still – “pussycat” Peter said.

However the night we were in Sucaraz the northerly wind came up with a vengeance. It was blowing us onto our mooring so was OK but the guys got up to check several times. The boat creaked and swayed a lot. The next day we were unsure if we could sail but were told that there was a few hours before an even stronger gale was expected so we took sail for the mainland – partly because we could and partly because we needed to get as near to our base in Split as possible in case we were laid up for a few days.

Then we had – in Peter’s words – “tomcat weather”. The waves were not so high but the wind it did blow – especially towards the end. We had gusts of over 70 kph and I’ll tell you I was not offering to steer the boat although Bob and Peter did a great job. The most exciting part was when the zip in the bimini (the tarpaulin over the back outside of the boat which provides welcome shade) came undone and started flapping around. Apart from not wanting to damage it we didn’t need the extra sail it provided! It took the four of us to hold it down and tie it off with rope. Meanwhile the yacht rocked a lot! Berthing in Makarska our port was exciting as the wind was increasing by the minute but as usual was done with aplomb by Peter. That night we had gusts up to 90 kph. I felt like a real sailor! So boys when I used to tell you that I was brave when I got into our swimming pool when it was a little cold I wasn't compared to sailing in high wind!

The next day it was much calmer and we set off again to the delightful town of Milnet for our last night.

With the aid of Avomine tablets once daily I have not felt seasick at all – just a bit off once. That to me, with my history (eh Melva?) is extraordinary. I was tempted to ditch the tablets but not brave enough until the last day and I still felt good  so I’m happy about that.

We all had long periods of steering and on the last day Ann and I put up the sails by ourselves with almost no coaching. Pretty impressive I think and something I would not have believed of myself 2 weeks ago. In some ways it’s good to be back on dry land but sailing has been a memorable experience for sure.