By Rob Cattertton
Well maybe not, but this is the closest feeling I could find to describe my first time sailing. To a sailor with more years and nautical miles under their belt, perhaps this feeling has diminished or has been a little obscured by time. For those of you, perhaps this will at least bring up old memories, but for me this is a new adventure filled with both lure and unknowing. And with my 40th birthday soon approaching I feel that dreams like this need to be undertaken and achieved if possible.
After over 12 years of saying “someday” I finally did it. Not alone, but rather with a little push from my wife. I logged on to the ASA. website and found a Sailing School (Flagship Sailing School) close by. I called and inquired about the schedule and locked in my dates after first clearing with my boss that I could take the vacation days needed in order to attend. Basic Keelboat 101 and Coastal Cruising 103 were the classes I signed up for and they were available in a combined format that would take three days. I also learned that I was the only student that was signed up at the time for this session and that it might be a one on one class with just the instructor and myself.
The anticipation was killing me. I had no sooner gotten off the phone making the reservation that I started sending e-mails to family and friends explaining what I was about to undertake. The replies ranged from “are you crazy” to “good for you,” but I wasn’t going to be swayed no matter the response. The only issue for me was that these classes were three weeks away.
With this in mind, that evening I went to the one place, the place that I had been visiting regularly over the past few years,
www.sailnet.com. I have been reading almost every article and how to that has come along for so long that I almost had myself convinced that I was out there sailing, seeing the sights, and visiting distant lands. People like Sue and Larry, Don Casey, and others there have always let me into their sailing life without question and I knew that this type of bond was what I was craving with my chance just over a three-week away horizon.
My class was to start on Monday July 7 at 9:00am and by the Sunday night before I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. The anticipation was so high that I could barely sleep. I kept tossing and turning, my mind just racing with thoughts of what tomorrow might bring. The fact that my stomach was in knots didn’t allow for me to eat much dinner, which probably played a small part in the not sleeping.
Morning came and Monday was finally here. I was at the marina bright and early. There was no way I was going to be late. My instructor, Gardner Lloyd, met me by the dock and we were off to see a short video prior to heading out on the water. Once the video was over we discussed the things that we would be doing throughout the rest of the day as well as my previous boating experience. Once finished we headed toward the boat!
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For my first sail we were taking out a Capri 22. She was barely one month old and she was beautiful. Gardner gave me an orientation on the boat, we removed the sail covers, and then we were ready to leave. After having explained to him that I have lived on the West Coast of Florida for almost all of my life, and that boats, powerboats that is (my apologies to the purists out there, but I am a convert now, remember?), were second nature to me he must have decided that I would be able to take the controls right away. I fired up the small outboard, Gardner untied us, and I began backing us out of our slip without issue.
We motored around the channel heading out of Clearwater Pass into the Gulf of Mexico. The water was as smooth as I had ever seen it. Usually the Gulf has a little kick to it but not that day when the water, the wind at about five to 10 knots, and the Capri 22 were determined to show me a good time on my first sail and I was eagerly waiting.
Soon we were out of the pass and had made the turn to parallel the coastline. Gardner asked me to turn her into the wind so that he could raise the mainsail. He went on deck, removed the sail ties, and came back into the cockpit. The sail went up and I turned off the outboard and waited for further instruction.
I trimmed in the mainsheet and the sail slowly filled. As I brought her close hauled Gardner turned to me and said “How does it feel to be sailing?” I couldn’t believe that after all this time someone was actually asking me this question. I was absolutely speechless. I couldn’t have uttered a word at the moment for love or money but I knew one thing. I was hooked! I finally looked up at him and with a grin as wide as Texas said “It feels great!”
I have found that it isn’t often that a dream when fulfilled ever-quite lives up to what you expected. In the back of my mind this was how I figured sailing would be. To my astonishment it was just the opposite. It was more than I ever dreamed!
I now hold both certifications and have joined Flagship’s sailing club. This will permit me to charter at a discount rate and enjoy the camaraderie of others with the same passion. Now I just hope the checkbook can take it.
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