Well, it is now Friday of sailing lessons week and my class of 8 women will celebrate our success this week with a long sail on a much larger boat this afternoon.

After my fiasco on Monday (see previous post), I asked to spend the rest of the week on a larger boat where I could concentrate on learning the mechanics of rudder and sail and jib without the constant fear of capsizing. The staff accommodated me even though that is not how they normally teach this class.

Falling in the water was not the problem. It was the realization that I no longer have the agility or upper body strength to turn the boat back over and haul myself back aboard.  If there had been a videocam out there on Monday, I would win the America’s Funniest Videos contest hands down! Moral of the story - #1 start doing some strength training, and #2 don’t let the physical effects of aging stop you from doing what you want to do - find a way.

So after three days of tacking, reaching, beating and running (all different positions of the sail), I know that I can now rent a small craft at the lake at home and enjoy an afternoon of sailing and that was my goal.

The amazing thing about this class was to watch 8 women, most of whom had never sailed, master all the new skills they needed over the course of the week.  On Monday, we were all going every which way and I was not the only one to capsize.  On Tuesday, we were still pretty scattered and, due to a very cloudy, gusty day, some of the girls did not want to go back out when we gathered on Wednesday.

But the instructors were encouraging and firm and the weather turned lovely and all eight of us had a good fun day finally beginning to understand what we were supposed to do.  We pretty much stayed together and followed the course and returned to shore 2 hours later with smiles.

Yesterday, you could just feel that everyone felt much more confident and were determined to go out and get it right.  And it worked.  We all sailed in a group, followed the course and returned to the dock with no incidents.  It was a real moment of triumph! They all said that everything they had learned just clicked together in their brains at once.

The instructors said that they love watching this happen.  Every group, regardless of age or experience, goes through the same process. In the course of just 4 days they overcome fears and insecurities and push themselves beyond their previous limits to experience something new and thrilling.

My brother and sister-in-law are arriving on Monday for a few days and I can’t wait to go out with them.   He’s a long-time sailor and probably won’t notice, but I know that I’ll feel much more confident and sure  than I’ve ever been as his crew and maybe he’ll let me take over for a while.       Mission accomplished!