Why do you sail ?

[doglover444]

Why do you choose to go sailing ?

[treilley]

Why do people climb mountains?

I sail because it is relaxing, fun, exhilarating all at the same time.

[BarryL]

Hey,

As my wife said back in 2003, "We live on an island, we should own a boat."

I had done some sailing back in high school on friends boats and I had fond memories of it. So I did a little research and bought a Catalina 22. I sailed that boat for August, September, and October and was totally hooked on sailing.

To me, it's the feeling of freedom, self sufficiency, knowing you can harness the wind and go where you feel like. It's that feeling when you raise the sails, trim them, shut the engine off and then feel the boat heel and slide forward. With the only sound being the water gliding by the hull. It's a gentle breeze on a warm sunny day, with the boat moving slowly ahead, or the exhilaration of sailing on a breezy fall day, when there are very few boats out there and you see whitecaps on the water and the boat heels and tugs at the wheel but you move forward, faster and faster with spray shooting back. Or the feeling of arriving in a strange harbor, getting the boat tied up and secure, walking off the dock, looking back and seeing YOUR boat there, and knowing that you navigated there.

That's why I sail.

Barry

[wescarroll]

It's not a choice, it's something I have to do to live.

[bljones]

If I drank this much on land, I'd be considered an alcoholic. Sailing is better than going to meetings.

[bubb2]

I sail, because I can't walk on water.

[BubbleheadMd]

Because I spent 20 years in the Navy, crewing other people's boats. Now it's my fuggin' turn to be the skipper.

Because it's not my car, not my house, I'm not self-employed, but the boat represents 30 linear feet that is solely mine, and mine alone. It is a sovereign nation. My successes and failures are all mine.

Because I regularly need to disconnect from modern society. No cell phone, no engine, no power brakes, no power steering. No internet, no TV. The wind, an alcohol stove and an oil lamp. No hum of traffic, or air conditioning.

Because competition against other human beings (football, basketball, etc) is a pale and feeble undertaking. The power of nature can squash a human flat in the blink of an eye. Sailing, even racing against other sailors, is a competition against nature. To harness nature to do your bidding, and to survive the process, that is real competition.

The surge of acceleration when a puff hits, the building roar as the hull digs a hole in the water is exciting to me. Life looks completely different when viewed through the lens of sailing.

[flyingwelshman]

At risk of getting all Shirley McLean on your head: I sail because it's something I have to do; something I've done before.
I feel at home and at peace at the helm of my boat.

[w1651]

Because all the people with a house by the water (Especially the wives) say I have a home on the water. Which I respond how many feet LOA? And she says what do you mean. And the husband always says we have a boat at the dock out back.
So I say: Then you don't have a home on the water you have a home by the water. I have a home on the water 33 feet long.
And when I mention how much I paid in property taxes last year they get mad.

[jackdale]

In the late 70's I started co-driving rally cars. Another co-driver remarked that we had to have three characteristics:

• The ability to do cube roots in our head - to calculate fuel consumptions, times to the next checkpoint, etc..
  
• An absolute belief that your driver is god - you really have to trust someone when doing 135 mph on a logging road at night.
  
• An complete inability to throw up - motion seasickness is a serious issue.

When I was in grad school in Houston, a classmate who knew my history approached me and indicated that she understood I did not mind taking risks and did not get motion sick. After I affirmed that, she asked me if I was interested in joining the crew of a racing yacht. When I indicated that I did not know anything about yachts, she said that they would teach me. I went from grinder to chute flier.

Now I get paid to sail.