I must ask, how did you get into this sailing/nautical deal, like what piqued your interest in the first place, did you have a family member/friend nurture it, how did you pursue it on your own, how long have you been at it and what are you currently doing now with it (I can see you're actually sailing but is it a local sailing club/paid program/other)? Sorry for all the questions I just think it's super interesting. :3
oh my gosh um i’ve actually never sailed before in my life! i was doing a training program called two weeks before the mast which takes inexperienced sailors and enthusiasts such as myself and trains them to become at least moderately competent tall ship sailors
i did go in with a very solid theoretical knowledge base (of terminology and whatnot) which i got pretty much entirely from wikipedia - in fact, a couple of the more experienced deckhands said i knew more facts about the ship than they did! i also spent a couple months beforehand practicing knots, which was EXTREMELY helpful (the most important ones are the bowline, the cleat hitch, the reef/square knot, the gasket coil, the sheet bend, the round turn with two half hitches, the rolling hitch, and the midshipman’s hitch)
i’m actually currently back on land - the program is only two weeks - but i’m trying to either get a paid gig or an apprenticeship or something with the tall ship windy, which is based in chicago, so i can keep my skills sharp and keep learning
unfortunately i can’t really remember what got me on to this whole sailing thing in the first place haha. i’ve always been enthusiastic about pirates since i was a kid, which rekindled two years or so ago for... some reason...? i found this webcomic called baggywrinkles, by lucybellwood, which is how i learned you could actually do this nowadays, and i asked my parents to pay for the training program for my birthday (it runs about $700, but that includes room and board, so honestly it’s cheaper than a hotel)
i’d highly recommend it if you’re in decent physical condition and are enthusiastic about ships or nautical history or stuff like that!! it was a ton of work but really really fun and i learned a ton! and now i can return to the ship whenever and volunteer for them without having to pay, which is nice
