Fourth day of sailing instruction. Hey, this is FUN!

My three days (it’s a Tue-Wed-Thu schedule) of instruction last week left me

humbled, vexed, frustrated, and close to despair. Tacking! Jibing!

Luffing! Hiking! Reaching! Close-hauled! I thought I would NEVER sort it

all out sufficiently to do what I was supposed to be doing at any point.

Then, today, we got on the water, and somehow, over the weekend, it had all

sunk in. **I KNEW WHAT TO DO**. Well, not always — but enough of the time

that we didn’t capsize, or even come close. It was a beautiful day and we

had FUN!

The learning process is a wonderful thing. From utter incomprehension &

massive confusion, slowly the fog clears & you find yourself half-way

competent. (One of the best descriptions of this process in literature is

Mark Twain describing his instruction as a riverboat pilot in LIFE ON THE

MISSISSIPPI.)

We were in such good spirits I even persuaded Danny to drive the boat for a

while. He did pretty well — better than I did crewing, anyway. A

wonderful morning on the water.