Twilight sailing on Botany Bay

[khiemtran]

Now that we're into daylight savings, twilight sailing has resumed again and I'm out on Botany Bay in an RS Quba.



Here's my boat ready to launch.



Saila the Sea Dog has already given it the all clear.



There's a nice fresh breeze and it's a blast crashing through the waves. My back got a bit stiff by the end of it though - lots of hanging out the side ("hiking") and getting wet.



Here's the thing about hiking. When you start out, your great fear is of falling over backwards (which is very natural because our bodies are not really designed to recover from losing our balance backwards) and most beginners will capsize before they've hiked all the way out.

But then the next stage is when you're trying to hike out more, but all you're doing is pulling against the boat. You're trying to pull the boat upgright, but, in effect, all you're doing is pulling yourself closer to the boat.

To really hike out, when a gust has hit and the boat is tipping, you need to let yourself go and lean right back, even if that means paying out the main sheet (the rope you are hanging on too). It's an amazing act of faith that, just as everything seems to be in crisis, you need to relax and trust in the boat to hold you up. And, sure enough, most times the boat will magically right itself, leaving you feeling like you're flying over the water. The boat is far stronger than you are, you see. Your strength was never going to be enough to right it, but if you put your weight in the right place, the boat can use its strength to best advantage to keep you both flying along. Magic.

Back again as the sun sets. Note all the water in the back of the boat. A great afternoon's sailing.

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

That hiking sounds just awesome...

I expect it's a skill that involves cries of "Aargh!" and splashing noises while you are learning it?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, I've never gone over backwards ("to windward" as they say), which is probably a sign that I'm still not hiking out far enough. I certainly copped a lot of spray though...