25 November 2011
Ok, so I am still trying to get over the shock of my first yacht sailing ocean experience. On
Wednesday Sash thought it would be a good idea to do a sail from Simonstown to
Hout Bay, so that I could get a taste of what to expect. Our bad luck we had the windiest day and very big swell. Dressed for success in our not so sexy sailing get up and kit, we headed out early in the morning and did what yachties / sailors call “beating” for 7 hours. (Beating is sailing into a head wind) It is hard sailing. After 7 hours of this beating we thought to carry on to Hout Bay would be an uncalculated risk given that to arrive at night in an unfamiliar harbour may not be such a good idea. We decided to head back to Simonstown. With the swell and the wind behind us, the experience heading back was just so different. We had such an awesome 2 hour sail back to Simonstown. We were even greeted along the way by “Dusky’s” (Dolphins). Heading out, both Sash and I were seasick and at one time I had a moment of doubt and thought “what am I letting myself into?”... I had to go into the cabin to use the bathroom at one stage and the cabin was very unbalanced (you sail at about a 40 degree angle) and hot, It smelt badly of diesel I had a fleeting thought as to whether I could handle to live in this little space for 60 days!!! Sure am gonna find out! :) We slept on the yacht in the harbour that night and then headed out again for a sail the next day.
Ok, so I am still trying to get over the shock of my first yacht sailing ocean experience. On
Wednesday Sash thought it would be a good idea to do a sail from Simonstown to
Hout Bay, so that I could get a taste of what to expect. Our bad luck we had the windiest day and very big swell. Dressed for success in our not so sexy sailing get up and kit, we headed out early in the morning and did what yachties / sailors call “beating” for 7 hours. (Beating is sailing into a head wind) It is hard sailing. After 7 hours of this beating we thought to carry on to Hout Bay would be an uncalculated risk given that to arrive at night in an unfamiliar harbour may not be such a good idea. We decided to head back to Simonstown. With the swell and the wind behind us, the experience heading back was just so different. We had such an awesome 2 hour sail back to Simonstown. We were even greeted along the way by “Dusky’s” (Dolphins). Heading out, both Sash and I were seasick and at one time I had a moment of doubt and thought “what am I letting myself into?”... I had to go into the cabin to use the bathroom at one stage and the cabin was very unbalanced (you sail at about a 40 degree angle) and hot, It smelt badly of diesel I had a fleeting thought as to whether I could handle to live in this little space for 60 days!!! Sure am gonna find out! :) We slept on the yacht in the harbour that night and then headed out again for a sail the next day.
We were accompanied by an experienced yachtsman to give us pointers and advice on the yachts’ handling. To my horror, I discovered that my skipper - Sasha - too was as yet not “one with the
boat”, more doubt and fear set in... Sash has never claimed to be a super experienced yachtie, but I got a bit of a fright. A good thing was that neither of us got sea sick this time.
Getting back from this sail, Sash decided to equip the boat to be able to solo sail so that the pressure of me having to learn to sail was off. I am going to obviously learn as much as I can and help out wherever possible, but my primary role is going to be first mate. I will be responsible to
make a daily meal and keep things neat and tidy on the yacht...
No comments:
Post a Comment