Confessions of A Long Distance Sailor

June 17, 2007 12:11 PM

Confessions of A Long Distance Sailor - I had been sitting in dark rooms, punching computer keys, for years. I had always wanted to learn SCUBA diving, hike around in the tropics, so I booked a flight to Hawaii. But a month later I was in — are you ready? — a traffic jam on Maui. I understand now, from the moment I touched that sailboat's dock lines, I was doomed to sail.
posted by phrontist (12 comments total)

Damn you, phrontist, there goes the rest of my Sunday. After a few years' blessed reprieve, I've recently come to see myself once again losing it over a boat in the near future; all the signs are there: the stacks of sailing books from the library to be inhaled and then tossed aside in favor of the next fix, the nights spent slavering over boat porn listings, the frantic number crunching — what does a kidney go for on the black market, anyway? I've starting tying bowlines half-consciously in any convenient bit of cordage as a nervous habit. And damn it, you're not bloody helping.

Also obligatory: Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua Slocum, the first to do so.
posted by enn at 1:02 PM on June 17, 2007

Great read! Makes me all dreamy.

Unfortunately, I get sea sick just looking at water.
posted by flippant at 1:55 PM on June 17, 2007

I feel you, enn. I was supposed to crew a delivery in November, but we hit a rock within sight of the marina! (Hint: racing yachts that draw 15' shouldn't trust old charts in rocky harbors). That abortive coastal cruise reawakened my sailing bug, though - I've fallen hard for Alerion's new 33, now I just need a spare few hundred grand, and time to sail her.

Maybe we need to organize a MeFi charter week this winter...
posted by nicwolff at 2:06 PM on June 17, 2007

Nothing goes to weather like an L-1011.
See you in Bermuda on Tuesday for Dark and Stormies.
posted by MapGuy at 2:39 PM on June 17, 2007

Maybe we need to organize a MeFi charter week this winter...

Oh, PLEASE NO. I'm sorry, nic, I like the idea, I really do, but if the Israeli/Palestine, atheist/religious, meat/vegan and Mac/PC flameout threads are any indication, we'd likely have a U.S. Sailing Association vs. non-certified crew furor erupt faster than you can say Fleet Week.
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:49 PM on June 17, 2007

[NOT REGULATIONIST]
posted by Smart Dalek at 2:50 PM on June 17, 2007

I have loved this book since I found it on the web years ago. It still sits in my documents folder, sailbook.doc, and I open it every once in a while just to read bits and pieces over again. Thank you for reminding me of it again, phrontist.
posted by Inkoate at 3:51 PM on June 17, 2007

I grabbed "Sell Up & Sail" on a remainders table in Jimbocho, Tokyo. Talk about your pron!

My dream is to be exploring on a solar-hydrogen-cycle, lithium-battery balasted ketch in the next 10 years.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 5:23 PM on June 17, 2007

Thanks for the link. One of my own True Sailing Stories : Blue Water Virgin.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:08 PM on June 17, 2007

Ahh Sailing. Sailing certification. I used to teach some of those cruising courses. There was this beer store across the street from where I taught. When the weather sucked i'd convince my students to all chip in for a 24 and we'd get smashed and do "theory". Good times.

Don't Cruise with Booze. Or at the very least make sure someone competent is sober. Or drink canoe beer. Its hard enough to deal with shit happening sober.
posted by captaincrouton at 1:08 AM on June 18, 2007

This is fantastic. I cannot say that enough. Thanks for posting.
posted by wander at 3:02 PM on June 18, 2007

Just finished reading this book, thank you so much for posting it - great story, best of the web for certain.
posted by triv at 5:31 AM on June 25, 2007