Headfirst (Part 2)

Attempting To Sail

If you missed part one, you can find it here.

It was mid-January, and we were getting used to living on the boat. If you’re unfamiliar with San Francisco Bay Area weather, January can be very windy and rainy. We quickly discovered that almost every hatch on the boat leaked, so we spent our days dodging drops and surrounded by buckets, pans, and any other water collection vessel we could think of.

We were also getting used to the sounds and motions a boat makes. Since we weren’t familiar with boats in any capacity, it was a steep learning curve. One night, we woke up to what we thought was water rushing into the boat, only to discover that it was the sound of waves slapping against the transom (the aft part of the boat).

I really wanted to try living without a television now that we were all nautical and whatnot. I had grand ideas about spending all of our free time playing board games, reading books, and connecting with nature. I pictured us both lounging in the cockpit, cold drinks at hand, reading to each other from classics like Moby Dick and Ulysses. I brought my idea up to Rance and, understanding where I was coming from, he took a few minutes to mull it over. We compromised on this:

One day, while talking with other people in the marina, I discovered that if your waste holding tanks (yes, that kind of waste) weren’t vented properly, they could just kind of explode when you opened the cap to pump it out. This was more troubling to me than an actual explosion, so I promptly started lobbying Rance to rip out the holding tanks and replace the whole system with a composting head.

Two and a half months went by, and we began to get antsy about learning how to operate and sail our boat. We had asked our broker to help us bring the boat to the marina after we purchased it. We had put our whole life into this thing; everything we owned was now moved aboard, and we hadn’t even learned how to drive it yet, let alone sail it.

So, one day, I was on shore doing laundry and spotted a poster above the washing machines advertising private sailing lessons you could take on your own boat. This was exactly what we needed! We emailed the instructor that night and scheduled a date to begin.

We completed the first day of instruction without ever leaving the dock. This was good because we knew pretty much nothing. We learned basic knots, which I immediately forgot. We went around and named every part of the boat, which I also immediately forgot. And we checked all of the systems.

The second lesson was an easy cruise around the marina, with the instructor showing us how the boat responded to simple maneuvers. We also reviewed basic vessel skills like line handling, wind awareness, and docking.

We were ready to get the sails up on the day of the third lesson. When we left in the morning, there was a light wind. We had fun learning how to hoist the sails and tack around a bit, but as it got closer to midday, the wind really began to pick up. Things were getting more chaotic; lines whipping around and saltwater splashing over the deck.

Our instructor decided we should break for a late lunch and showed us how to heave to, which basically brings the boat to a near-resting state.

I went down below to put together some sandwiches. I was only down there for about five minutes when I started to feel nauseous. I quickly finished up and took everything up to the cockpit.

As Rance and our instructor dug in, I stared at my uneaten sandwich, waiting for the nausea to subside. I couldn’t help thinking, “Oh shit, we live on a boat, and I apparently can’t be down below for five minutes without feeling seasick. WHAT HAVE I DONE?”

After lunch, we sailed a bit more, but my seasickness worsened. Rance was also starting to feel queasy, so we headed back to the dock.

After a few panicked conversations with people in the marina and several hours of Googling, I determined that it was common for people to get seasick at first. People usually get over it quickly with enough time spent on the water.

We finished the beginner sailing course and kept practicing, but we still had much to learn. Next on the list… spending the night at anchor.

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