Shake-Down Cruise!

The sailing season has begun! Just a week ago, and it was one of those sparkling spring weekends you just feel so good to be alive. Trees covered in pale green fuzz of leaves bursting out, pollen filling the air, sky a crisp blue criss-crossed with contrails of jets passing high over Nashville. Time to go sailing again!

Friends from long ago have recently found me and renewed contact. Nancie had offered to help clean up the boat, but hey, this is too pretty a day to simply work, so I called her up to go on a shake-down cruise. Let’s make sure the Wanderin’ Star can still sail!

Mr. Honda starts up with just a little coaxing, and we cast off from the dock, weaving our way through the boats at anchor in the cove. Hard to imagine why more sailors from the yacht club are not out there doing the same.

We clear the marker buoys and once out in the main channel, hoist the main.

The sail billows excitedly, ready to GO! We hook on the jib to hoist it too, but nothing! The halyard – that combination of half rope and half stainless steel cable that hoists the foresail – is stuck. Won’t budge. Obviously jammed right up where it passes through the pulley at the very top of the mast. Of course! Nothing I try will dislodge it. Damn! Only two choices. Sail with just one sail – or climb the mast and free the halyard.

It only takes me a moment to make that decision. On a beautiful day like this, just too incredible to sail with only one sail. While newly appointed helmsman Ronnie holds us steady, I drop the main and Nancie gathers up the sail and straps it to the boom. We have a good team already. I begin my climb up the mast, legs wrapped around it like a monkey. Ronnie has grabbed the camera to record the event on film. I reach the halfway point, hauling myself up on the spreader bars, where I take a welcome break. Wow, I am really out of condition. Haven’t been working out for a couple of months, and I can tell. Ok, time to go the rest of the way. The mast towers almost 30 feet above the deck, the boat rolls a little in the breeze.

I take a deep breath, wrap my legs around the mast and start hauling. It gets harder with every foot. Nothing to hang on to except the pole. Concentrate. Hands grab higher, grunt, pull upward. Finally I am almost at the top, and reach high above my head to hang on to one of the stainless steel cables (main stays) for a little extra support. I have to hoist higher yet to pull on the stuck cable. It still won’t budge. Hoist myself up higher yet, and tug that thing upwards. It finally breaks loose. I am jubilant! Pull the two sides of the halyard with both hands to make sure it’s free and clear, hanging on with my feet. It slides easily through the pulley. We did it! Yay! Now we can really go sailing!

I slide down the mast in seconds and land on the deck –exhilarated. Nancie is open-mouthed in admiration. “I never saw anyone climb a mast before!” she exclaims. “Every cruise is a new adventure!” I explain with a grin. That’s the magic of sailing.

We sail for several hours, tacking this way and that, not trying to go anywhere in particular, simply enjoying cutting through the water and watching the sails billow in the wind. This is living in the moment.

Nancie is an experienced sailor, having spent time in the coastal waters of the Carolinas, and she’s eager to get current again after years away from the water. Her husband has given her permission to buy a boat this year, so she’s a perfect crew for me. Anyone who offers to spend time cleaning up a boat before ever getting the rewards of sailing, truly understands what sailing is all about. Half of the fun is simply messing about on boats.

Before the sun sets, we turn for home, and Nancie & Ronnie offer me back the helm. For all our years operating Wanderin’ Star Yacht Charters, Bill and I had the scenario pretty well organized. He manned the tiller, I did the sails. The forward deck hand, as I always acknowledged my position. Bill was the Captain. Of course, we actually shared everything, and that’s what made sailing so much fun. On all our boat charters, we always trained our new crew to steer the boat and run the sails.

If we ever had an emergency, they would be able to help handle the boat; they had fun, learnt new skills, and we’d joke that we could sit back and relax. Bill was such a natural teacher.

Truth be told, as much as we enjoyed teaching people how to sail, and sharing the joys of every adventure, the sweetest reward of many a cruise was when we dropped off our customers at Drake’s Creek, and sailed the Wanderin’ Star back to Harbor Island – just the two of us. Those special times alone together. We had shared a wonderful experience, given them a gift, and now we could simply enjoy those treasured moments together.

As I pointed for Harbor Island on a downwind run, I positioned the sails wing on wing – on opposite sides of the boat to catch the wind behind us. It was a fun balancing act, keeping the boat perfectly positioned, sails billowing.

The stereo had a beginning season malfunction, so no Jimmy Buffet music – Bill would have been crushed, as no cruise was complete without Jimmy Buffett! But as we passed a fishing boat, music drifted across the water, dancing in the late afternoon sunlight. Standing astride the helm, while the Wanderin’ Star cut through the gurgling water, sails full, I was caught by surprise by a flash of the deep happiness I always felt with Bill on so many, many similar occasions. I didn’t know such happiness was still so close at hand.

Maybe, when you celebrate the moments in life, love and joy and happiness are always just a breath away.