Notes on Sail v.
Motor sail
I am a sailor. Give
me the day on a sunfish and I am happy, wind in my hair, judgment on the wind
puffs and direction, sharp turns with a capsize here and there, rising in the
water under the sail, standing on the centerboard to right the boat, no fear,
fun.
Now we “sail” a maintenance laden 40,’ beautiful Island
Packet complete with a Yanmar engine that is used 90% of the time.
Recently the NY Times ran Maya Jasanoff’s article “At Sea
With Joseph Conrad.” There was a short period of no motors on ships and only beautiful,
big sailing schooners, barks, brigs, galleons, frigates, clippers crossing oceans and carrying cargo, exploring
and trading around the world. She said,
“To operate a sailing ship was to master a ‘craft.’ You had to interpret and observe nature,
adapt and react to fast-changing conditions, obey without questions, decide
without doubt, toil without pause. The craft connotes more than a clutch of
skills; it’s a code for how to live. It
turns a sailing ship into a fellowship, a community forged by shared values.” Sailors were asea for months or years.
Conrad said, “The
taking of a modern steamship has no great moments of confidence. It lacks the artistic quality of a single-handed struggle with something much greater than yourself.” And sometimes it’s no struggle at all but a
beautiful quiet day with no need for the rummm of the engine.
When the motor snaps off on our boat I breath deeply, take
another deep breath of sea air instead of diesel fumes and slowly relax with
the end of vibration and the beginning of hearing the frothy wake against the
boat, wind through the air, creak of the boom, ringing haul of the winch, and artful
coiling of the sheets.
The golden age of sail lasted until about 1900. Then steamships outnumbered sailing ships and
the craft was abandoned for the faster motor. We get there artfully or directly. Who wants to wait for the right weather, tide, current? I do. "Can we turn off the engine now?"
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