Parts of the Boat

Learn the Lingo

Useful Knots

About Navigation

 

What's Sailing Like?

This is probably your first thought if you like the idea of sailing but have never been aboard a yacht before. The answer is " There's only one way to find out".

Ups & Downs

Quiet bits and noisy bits, dry bits and wet bits. Times when you can't wait to get out to sea and others when all you dream about is tying the boat up and going to the nearest pub. These contrasts are ultimately what make sailing so appealling.

Sitting watching a perfect sunset with a glass of wine whilst the boat is at anchor in a secluded bay on a warm summer's evening. Or being ten miles offshore soaked to the skin, cold and exhausted whilst helming at 2.30 in the morning during a hailstorm on a lumpy sea. From Nirvana to Nemisis, sometimes all in the same day.

Like everything else in life sailing is a bit of a roller coaster ride (sometimes literally). The highs are often higher than you would have imagined. Watching dolphins playing in the bow wave of a yacht slicing through the water at 10 knots is an experience never to be forgotten. On the down side of things, if anyone reading this has ever experienced sea-sickness you'll know just how low you can feel at sea.

It Has to be You

One conclusion that can be drawn is that whilst sailing you definitely live in the now. You don't just notice the weather, you really live the weather, you don't just look at the sea, you're a part of the sea. On a more personal level it can also be said that the sea will 'out you'. You can't pretend (for long) to be something that your not whilst sailing and whatever you truly are as a person will be plain to see after just a few hours away from land.

So even if you try it and then decide it's not for you, it will be at the very least, an experience never forgotten and one that might teach you a bit more about yourself as well as the beautiful and mostly water covered planet you live on.