Confessions of a Reluctant Sailor

Confessions of a Reluctant Sailor

It is time to write my synopsis of this sailing experience. To ensure that I wouldn’t change my mind about how I feel, I have thought the experience over very carefully.
No one, I am sure, is more surprised, at how I feel about sailing, than I am. The emotion that best describes the trip is elation. Yes, I had some very bad times (mainly caused by fear of the unknown), but they were so minor compared to all the beautiful moments that we experienced.
During the 2- month sail, we had about 18 hours of real discomfort, when we were hit by the gale. The other times that I was very anxious I had no cause to be so upset, except of course I didn’t know anything about sailing…. again fear of the unknown.
During the whole trip I was never seasick which was such a surprise. I did take Dramamine when we were going on an overnight sail or if the seas looked rough, but most of the time I was fine without it. Certainly during the high winds and big seas my stomach was uncomfortable, but I was able to convince myself that being sick was just not a good option. Where and how do you execute vomiting when the boat is pitching and rolling? I just couldn’t imagine the logistics of being sick. Poor Patches came close to being sick (lots of licking on his part usually indicates that he will vomit) but he didn’t. Perhaps he thought the same way as I did.
Another surprise…I miss the excitement and the boredom of sailing. The days that we headed off to a new place were always a thrill, but after hours of looking at water I was ready to be THERE, wherever there was.
Come November I will be back in Mazatlan making MY changes that should enhance our enjoyment of cruising, and Bob will as usual be checking and updating who knows what.
Then in early January we will be off again doing much the same trip as this season. We have our favourite places and we will stay in those places for a longer time. Now that we have been to Zihuatanejo we will not likely go there until we head further south which we are planning to do in 2013…. if all goes well. I suggested to Bob that I would like to go as far as El Salvador, and Bob was so surprised that he was speechless for some moments.
There is much more for me to learn about sailing. I doubt if I will ever be seen climbing the mast, reefing the sails,or climbing in what I call the 'Hell Hole' (that is where are the pumps. etc are to be found) but most other duties are within my spectrum.
This seems to be the time to thank Bob for 'shoving me' into sailing. If not for Bob's encouragement/manipulation/or whatever, I would never have left the dock. At times I felt obligated to join him in this venture. (That did not make me happy.) Now I must say "Thank you Bob" for the adventure that I have just experienced. It has been truly life-changing for me as it has shown me that I can still brave the unknown and come out feeling better than I did before the experience. That knowledge is very powerful and affects my life in general. So watch outfolks!!
I will keep posting but from now until November these posts will have little to do with sailing so if you are only interested in sailing news revisit me in November.