Now, I have sailed on modern boats, with all the latest, up to date technology. Satellite phones, GPS, chart-plotters, and radar. But what if you blow a fuse? You still have to know how to sail like it's a hundred and fifty years ago. That is how I am wired. I know how the old time sailors felt. I now the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what the weather is going to do. Not knowing exactly where I am, what time we will be home or if we will even make it back today. Not knowing if there are any other boats ahead of me in the fog. I have tasted the same salt spray, seen the same sail trim, felt the same ropes burn through my hands, as a sailor a century and a half ago. I can tell the name of a far off boat by the way its sails are rigged. I know how a wooden boat will “speak” to you. If you want to know what I mean, I will teach you. I learned what I know from a couple of old timers who were happy to share their knowledge. Knowledge that they got from some other old timer. I have had a taste of what is was like to sail in the old days, and I savor it.
No comments:
Post a Comment