Sailing School

A lot of people have been on sail boats and enjoyed gliding across the bay or lake.  Halcyon is getting ready to take on something entirely different.  We will plow through two thousand miles of Pacific Ocean and another thousand in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.  We will travel into some areas where there are still pirates.  Some of the charts of Southern Mexico and Central America are so inaccurate that your electronic charts can show you sailing two miles inshore while you are miles off shore.  Some of the weather can be very severe and a handful for any boat.  In addition to these challenges, Halcyon has some additional problems.  We have two inexperienced crew members not to the mention the Captain is no spring chicken.  They have to learn so much just to be able to leave the dock that it’s staggering for me to think about.  They have to learn the language as well as the parts of the boat and sails.  They have to learn to manage the systems on the boat.  How to make fresh water, a/c and d/c electricity, diesel engine maintainance, sail handling, battery care, solar cell care, line handling, knots and where to use them, rules of the road, navigation, emergency drills of all kinds not to mention, sailing the boat and the list goes on and on.  I wonder how they will ever learn it all.  Then, I have to remind myself that these are not skills that one learns in a classroom.  They will pick up the skills by doing just as countless sailors have before them.  How long will it take for them to learn everything?  They never will, no body ever does.  Both of them have the makings of good sailors, they are prudent.   Contrary to popular belief, good sailors are not risk takers.  Good sailors prepare carefully and leave as little to chance as possible.  Show me a great story about survival at sea and I will be glad to point out where they did not practice good common seamanship.  They took a risk and paid the price.  There are old sailors and bold sailors but, there are no old bold sailors.  I’m very tired and starting to ramble but one thing I need to say is, I am proud of this crew, my family, and look forward to showing them the greatest adventure I know of, sailing the oceans.