Why you should take up sailing!

Blogging 101 has a bazillion classes and I barely think I am at 0.01% of the classes on offer; however 30 days ago I launched myself off the cliff and started writing and publishing again. And, in my enthusiasm, with zero marketing awarness, any form of mentorship, or sense of what you [yes you – you wonderful human] the reader would think I launched myself off the cliff and plunged into the inviting waters of writing 3 times a week. I was a scary, but it did it anyway, only knowing I wanted to share how personal growth can impact your life if you let it. So this halloween seems like a great day to reflect on why I started, and, why I picked sailing as my language of choice.

There are reportedly 33 million yachts in the world [1], so by my maths there are at least 33M sailors minimum. Someone is bound to read it! It seemed like a good idea at the time. But that isn’t the main reason, the real reason I picked sailing is because I think everyone should learn how to sail. Here is why, it is not just about the technical skills of sailing, its about the environment that allows each individual to explore how they cope and handle stressful situations in order to make them better and more impactful in day-to-day life. It is emotionally, mentally and physically demanding in a dynamic setting. There are of course real life consequences when things go wrong and I have written about some of them already. A lesson hard taught regarding things we can and cannot control, at sea it’s the weather in our lives well practically everything external. I genuinely and vehemently believe, all the training and skills learnt on a sail training yacht are transferable into the work place and our personal lives and so Waypoint Creation became a reality.

I know not everyone faces lethal danger at their desk or on their commute, however, we could all probably welcome even more resilence in an ever challenging world. Resilience is the ability to cope under pressure.

Everyone, yes everyone, I know is a leader – on and off the water. You are a leader. You, all my family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances are leaders, because even though you may not head up a team you lead yourself first; daily. The consequential environment is our class room on and off the water, I think more often than not, that the sea is less forgiving. There is no where to hide, you can fail publicly or you can embrace the lesson served. Sailing provides a key of interpretation and therefore a speedy understanding of stressful encounters and the coping strategies we employ. Understanding that for yourself is a superpower.

Skippers sometimes appear like they have an easy life, trust me the key word is appear! It is their job to be responsible, to have candor and integrity, to make unpopular decisions, to remain calm, maintain order, to mediate, to hold themselves and others accountable, to encourage, to make sense of the experience, to invest in their crew’s learning and coach, to keep safety at the forefront and to build confidence with risk, to inspire and care [medically & emotionally], to improve and to leave the boat and crew better than when they first met. [All my skippers did this for me and it is why I am a Sail Yachtmaster Offshore Skipper]. I intentionally aspire to be as many of these things on a boat, and the same for myself! Full disclaimer: I am a work in progress. We never have everything together, all the time, and releasing that perfection expectation was the heaviest anchor I cut loose! And, you should too.

Sailing Syllabus and Personal Growth

When you start to sail, everyone is in the same boat [pun intended]. We learn how to become confident crew. When anyone embarks on a personal growth journey, they start at the same place as everyone else; becoming comfortable with who they are – right there in that moment of decision.

Tests, examinations and challenges are obligatory to check your resolve and committment to your journey, as you have the lives of your crew in your hands irrespective of your title on the boat, so we have a syllabus, to help understand the relatuonships and experience on board. Sure the heirachy is necessary when needed, however titles dont matter how we behave and treat each other is more important.

I have seen, heard and more importantly experienced the rewards associated with the nautical miles and hours of work. We often over estimate what we can do in a year and under estimate what we can achieve in 5! If progression equals growth… does that mean :

If we aren’t growing are we dying?

The world is binary amd there are only 10 types of anything?

I believe yes! Some of the best moments of my life have occured as sea and so have some of my worst. The public failure in the vice like grip of self-doubt was for me a huge personal low. I hadnt been on the water for over 2.5 years and yes i was out of practice but I doubted myself and second guessed myself – the result I perceived was a diminished confidence in me from the crew and it impacted me significantly on the trip as well as them. How we show up affects and effects!

Like any skill we choose to take up we either use it or we lose it! The best part is though we get to decide to master it whenever we choose, and so there is always work to do, improvements to make and new insights to take away, and so we must persist through every storm and celebrate every victory.

G&T or Cuppa Tea?

This is possibly one of my favourite things about sailing, both are available on board! I’m serious.

There is one ickle teeny tiny caveat though; one or the other at the appropriate time and half cups!

No matter where you are in the sailing syllabus you can adventure across the Atlantic Ocean or port hop in the Mediterranean. Explore the polar regions at a glacial pace or brave the giants of Cape Horn. There is a flavour of sailing made just for you, you need only choose. When choosing to level up our life there is a pace tailor made for exactly what you want. I prefer the immersive intense route over the slow and steady, as often it leaves me floundering or quitting unless highly motivted. I discovered this through sailing but I understood it better on my personal growth journey, additionally slow and steady is more appropriate. It is all about awareness.

I have sailed to and from some of the most beautiful shores our planet has to offer, and when I return home, most want to hear about my salty tales and I am eagar to share. I get to re-live the excitment, joy, awe, hilarity, even the angst all over again. I sometimes [shamelessly] drop it in conversation just so I can tell one more story. Think about the youngest kid you know who wants your attention as they tell you about this cool thing that happened-barely room for a word in edgewise! Having recognised I do this [sorry again to my long suffering friends], I realised I was like this too with personal growth spurts! Unsolicited verbal diarrhea to share this moment of enlightenment that could change their lives too if they just listened to me. [Not cool!] So I thought what is a different way to share where people who want to know more, can? Hello Blog!

Sailing enhances cognitive and physical capability [even when sitting you are working one muscle or another], fosters teamwork and leadership, tests our decisions and choices, is the real deal even in a training scenario so it made perfect sense to me to speak about 2 of my passions. And maybe, just maybe, encourage Someone to try one or both!

Brief just about done…

I am going to stay on course, navigation from one waypoint to the next. Checking where I am and where I am going. Eyes on the horizon, and pausing to check the compass. I marvel at all the journey has had to offer so far. Leading and learning from crew mates and Skippers alike, refining and finessing my craft, myself. I desire to be better and grow, to inspire and encourage Someone along the way. Join me on the journey and follow the blog.

Logbook Entry: 31 October 2023, KAxx

References:

1 BarcheaMotore https://barcheamotore.com/analysis-how-many-boats-there-are-in-the-world-where-they-are-and-who-uses-them-most/?lang=en