Making Way...finally!

It’s been a month since we have owned this floating house and we have finally had her out sailing. Thanks to Dustin, (experienced sailor, delivery captain, diver and rescue boat operator) and Cade (dude-ranch owner/operator, techie, American Sailing School instructor, and summertime ketch sailor) who took us out for a lesson in the bay. We spent a day learning the ropes…or more accurately, the lines, or would that be sheets? So much to learn!

It was a valuable lesson not only in sailing essentials but also pointers covering a little bit of everything - from checking our batteries and tying proper knots to basic navigation rules and boat maintenance tips that make sailing easier and safer. Thanks to their instruction, we felt confident enough to leave the dock for our first mini solo sail this weekend.

Well, Chris felt confident. He’s much more comfortable with the ‘learning by doing’ approach. I like to know I can do something well before I actually attempt it, therefore I tend to learn by watching ‘experts’, waiting for that level of comfort to come, which sometimes leaves me stuck where I am at; under way, but not making way. Are you familiar with these terms? I wasn’t before our lesson on Friday, and D explained them to me.

‘Underway’ means a vessel is not tethered in any way, it is free and clear to move but isn’t going anywhere under any kind of power (although it may be adrift), while ‘making way’ means the vessel is being purposefully moved through the water.

I think I let my anxieties too often keep me adrift; not making any headway in many areas of my life. It’s often a dangerous place to be, just drifting. It can leave you shipwrecked in feelings of insignificance and purposelessness. At least, that has been my experience.

But I don’t want to be stuck here at the dock making endless preparations and never going anywhere out of fear. So, I made the choice to put my anxiety aside, placing my faith in God for our safety and trusting that my husband’s skill matched his confidence and we began getting our boat ready to make way.

Because I find comfort in knowing the gameplan ahead of time and understanding what is going to be expected of me, we first spent some time going over our roles. Also, I insisted we make a checklist; I am really big on lists for everything! The first thing on our list of course was PRAY! We sat in the cockpit and prayed together for wisdom and safety and gave God thanks for this beautiful creation of His and the opportunity He has given us to explore it in a new way, meeting people whose paths we would have never crossed otherwise.

Then we did it! We practiced pulling out and backing into the slip, motoring through the channel to the bay, raising and lowering the main sail and keeping course without relying on the auto pilot. Not earth-shattering achievements but satisfying enough for our first time out by ourselves. All in all, it was a very good day, and I can’t wait to get out there again and learn just how much we don’t know about sailing!

All I Want for Christmas is a Clean, Dry Bilge