
Sailing – how to let your fears go and enjoy sailing
What were your fears? Is it fear of water? Weather conditions? Boat/Yacht dancing on water?
Imagine, it is 21 century. Nowdays boats, and yachts are even better designed to give you maximal comfort and safety while sailing. And actually it is pretty hard to flip over even a small size yacht. So let go of your fears and imagine some people are spending years and life sailing. And some other are spending even more to make sailing even more safe and comfortable. not convinsed yet.. imagine and there are kids doing it. They are brave enough to do it. Not only sailing. They are even racing!
If I could compare sailing to something else. It would be driving a motorway with a strange cabriolet car. The only difference is that your suspension is crazy soft, while driving a hilly road. Another difference would be – on highway you might meet 1, 2 or a few more cars in short time. Would it not be great to jump on the road without traffic and simply drive wherever you want ? This is what sailing is. It gives you this freedom, extra space and even more amazing views.
What you also need to know is that Sailing is one of the things you are truly learning only by doing. There is no other way. Of course you can and you should get some books and learn theory. Basics about navigation, names of the sails, ropes or parts of boats. But Even that wont let you feel comfortable on water. So simply go out there, get someone experienced with you and do it! This way you will learn fast and enjoy it even more.
Oh and one more suggestion from personal experience. Start from small yachts but.. get in into bigger yachts as soon as you can. One of the reasons is that bigger yachts or catamarans are a little more stable, behave on small waves different and might have more comfortable setup or even more electronic systems. You wont feel waves that much. You might also meet more people, crew, have more space under deck.
I would also suggest you also to get one of the following books, as I find them extremely useful for getting more into theory. Even if you are not interested in doing a day skipper course. The following books will explain you a lot about yachts, winds and all those you can meet on water. And this is a priceless knowledge. And also a good lecture while sailing or taking sun back on the deck.
You might also like some other sailing books, such as this ones
Enjoy sailing !