April Sailing

As I came off the water on Saturday I had a memory flash of trying to start a hand-cranked Dodge pick-up I owned when I was 19. My Laser seemed to be running like a twenty-first century boat, but my twentieth-century body was just sort of turning over with an occasional sputtering of power. It’s discouraging that Dacron and fiberglass are more resilient than muscle and bone.

 I use to start my sailing season impressed at how much I’d lost during the off season. Now I’m impressed that I haven’t lost more. I can sort of feel it just sitting there at the back of my awareness, sort of teasing me. “You can’t do that smoothly yet, but I may let you feel better before the first regatta.”

By the third time on the water I had a few of my moves back. The breeze was so squirrelly that I dumped the Laser twice, but I even kept my feet dry. That’s not a bad reaction for a body with slow reactions; and after only three hours on the water.

I am a little slow getting to the practice this spring and I’m aware of the limited time before the first regatta on May8th, so I am trying to make the best use of my time on the water. It’s important that I plan my practice session before I get out there or else I can easily end up just sailing back and forth enjoying the sensations and feeling righteous that I’m getting time on the water.

With a plan I start the warm up drill even as I clear the mooring area. This season I’m chasing the spring puffs all over the lake. Tacking or jibing for every increase in velocity and trying to hit them prepped for a shift. Only at the end of a full workout do I allow myself time to just play with the breeze; on Monday that meant planing up and back the lake. The water was cold off the bow, but the ride was satisfying.

Jay Livingston