Am I a sailor now?

The title of today’s post begs the question - what makes one a sailor?  In April 2009, I completed my ASA Basic Keelboat class*, so I have some credentials - am I a sailor now?  I think not.  If I owned a sailboat, would I then be a sailor?  I think not.  As soon as I completed the BKB course, I signed up for the next in the series of ASA classes – Basic Coastal Cruising and Bareboat Chartering - when I complete those will I be a sailor?  Hmmm....  Each of us will answer this question in different ways based on our backgrounds, experiences and bias.  For example, the term “sailor” can, and certainly does, apply to professional mariners, some military personnel as well as recreational sailors.  I am still searching for the answer for me.  Perhaps it is not even a valid question.  On the other hand, maybe a sailor can be defined as simply as "one who sails."  In that case, I am a sailor.  For the time, I am going to forget titles and go sailing.  I will have fun.  I will be safe.  I will endeavor to learn more each and every day that I am out on the water.  In the end, I know that a sailor is never complete as there is always much more to learn no matter your "credentials" or experience level.

* I learned a lot and had a great instructor, Capt. Debbie Graham at Island Fever Sailing School on Grand Lake, Oklahoma.  So, thanks Capt. Debbie!

Lessons Learned

My intent for this blog is to document, in a somewhat loose chronological order, my Quest To Sail; however, the present day Quest is more than a mere interest.  My family and I recently bareboat chartered a sailboat in the BVI's and here are my "top 3s" from the trip - all in order of importance:

Casualties:

1. Eric's Bitter End hat (lost at sea)

2. Eric's iPhone 4 (gonna go old school to break addiction)

3. Eric's D&G wallet (I now use a zip lock bag)

Lessons learned:

1. Water conservation - forced to conserve, in six days the four of us used only 80 gallons AND we all showered every day. The average American shower uses 3 to 4 gallons per minute (you do the math based on you and your family).

1. Energy conservation - again, we COULD have docked at marinas and hooked our boat to shore power, but we CHOSE to conserve.

1. The value of TIME - it took a couple of days, but by the end of the trip, we were waking just after sunrise (5:45am) and going to bed by 9pm. Our "down" time was when we were sailing or before breakfast. We read, wrote and sketched. During the rest of the day, we didn't waste a minute. We snorkeled, talked, and played cards. We took TIME to think. We took photographs - a lot. The boat had a tv (for 5 dvds we brought to watch) and it was only turned on one time (night #1) and then off before the movie was complete. We made the most of each and every minute of each and every day. We are still learning and this trip helped.

How do you scratch an itch you don’t know you have?

On an unseasonably warm and pleasant January 2009 morning, I was sitting on the deck of my in-laws' lake house on Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma.  Their deck faces east and is blessed with the most brilliantly colored sunrises of the deepest orange, purple and red ... if you wake in time.  On this day, I was enjoying my second cup of coffee with my wife, Suzi.  It wasn't early, but the kids were still in bed and we enjoyed the silence.  The lake was empty, as it normally is this time of year.  The breeze was out of the north and our lake neighbor's well worn American flag was waving at no one in particular.  I briefly thought to myself that this would be a perfect day to go for a boat ride in our 30 foot Chris Craft power boat, but it was in winterized hibernation.  I took another sip of coffee and looked out over the mouth of the cove, towards the main lake.  I was surprised to see a sailboat.  It was a good distance away and I could not make out how big she was, but I noticed two black masts that were flying two triangular sails that were a muted gold color.  I later learned this particular boat was a "ketch."  I continued to watch over the next 20 minutes as she slid effortlessly, and ever so slightly tilted, eastward across the lake.  Her peaceful movement did not disturb the silence of the morning ... it enhanced it.  Had I not looked up, I would not have known she was even there (a stark contrast to the LOUD go-fast boats of summer).  I grabbed my binoculars and secretly watched from the deck.  I was mesmerized.  I could make out two men and one woman in the cockpit.  They too appeared to be enjoying a morning cup of coffee.  I could see hints of white teethy smiles upon their faces.  Then, the boat turned.  The twin sails fluttered briefly, like our neighbor’s flag, just before becoming taught again, as the boat accelerated in a different direction.  I could no longer see the people as they were now hidden from my view by the amber sails.  I continued to watch until the boat silently disappeared around the point of the cove.

I now had an itch I did not previously know I had.  On the way home from the lake that weekend, we stopped by a book store near our house in Tulsa and I bought every single sailing magazine in the store ... and I began to scratch.

Passion

To live a joyous and fulfilling life, in my opinion, one must have a passion.  I tell my kids (a 14 year old daughter and a 9 year old son) this often.  Usually, I say something like “school and education are the most important things in your lives and where your focus should be, BUT find a passion – something in which you can “lose” and “apply” yourself.”  Actually, I am not so sure that having a passion isn’t the most important thing. 

For some, there is one - and only one - passion.  For example, I have a dear friend that golfs.  He golfs almost every day.  He joined a prestigious country-club so he could play on the nicest course in town.  He and his family schedule their vacations around his ability to play golf.  Then, when he goes on his “guy” trips – you guessed it, he goes golfing.  I am not criticizing – my friend derives much joy from his passion, and it is apparent from being around him that he is genuinely happy.  For others, work is their passion.  They work tirelessly to succeed at their vocation, to build a business, an empire.  For others (like me) there may be many and varied passions and they will vacillate from one to the next and then back. 

Looking back over my forty-something years, I have had many passions.  My slightly obsessive compulsive personality leads me to throw myself completely into my passions.  For a period of time, I was passionate about running.  It started small, with short runs around the neighborhood.  However, like with any true passion, it grew … and grew … and grew.  Before I knew it, my whole day, including work, was organized so that I could train.  I began tracking every mile, my pace and my heart-rate.  I entered and ran races of varying distances and finally a marathon.  Over time, this passion morphed to triathlons.  Then, I was running, swimming and biking my way through life, meeting new people and traveling to new places.  And, there have been many more: golf, tennis, surfing and Jeep Wranglers (I know, a Jeep is a weird passion to have, but I love them and if I had a 3 car garage I would own one today).  Passions are different than responsibilities and one must be careful to not let a passion become an obsession over which there is little or no control, and that ultimately interfere with responsibilities.  I sometimes have this tendency. 

To the point of this blog – in early 2009 I became interested in sailing.  While I grew up on the Texas Gulf coast, I had not been exposed to sailing – other than a few times on a friend’s sunfish and then our whole goal was to get up enough speed to capsize the boat.  Now, in my early 40s, living hundreds of miles from the closest ocean, I had a desire to really learn to sail … A YACHT!  I did not know it at the time, but my interest would soon become a passion … A Quest to Sail.