Sailing, Research, and Writing

When I was in college, I was on the sailing team. I sailed on a small sailboat called a dinghy. I never actually skippered the boat. I was a crew member and I was quite adept at working the jib sheets and helping to maintain headway. I was happy being a crew member. Sailing was great fun. So, I have in my memory bank the experience of sailing, of the wind in my face, of the heeling of the boat, of hanging out over the water, called hiking, on the windward side as the boat sped along at what seemed like a hundred knots; of tacking and gybing; of following orders and the value of teamwork. Unfortunately, I never sailed again. But I have never forgotten it.



I mention this because I’m working on a story that involves sailing. I’m reading a lot about sailing and watching a lot of videos of people sailing and about how to do many of the skills involved. To say it’s complicated is an understatement. It’s almost baffling at first, but gradually I’ve begun to understand the skills. Does it mean that I’m now ready to go out and sail a yacht? Absolutely not. But, hopefully, I can write about it convincingly in my story.



Here are some of my favorite videos of people living aboard and sailing their boats.



 Adventures of an Old Seadog

Wind Hippie Sailing Holly Martin

Sailing Millennial Falcon

There are many others.

What about you? Do you sail? If you don't sail, watch these videos and you'll probably want to sail around the world.