That Itch...
Sometimes in life, you get that “itch”. I finally scratched mine at the end of a dock one summer morning as I met up with my sailing instructor Ron, the personification of a truly “Salty Sailor”. Need to go back a bit to set the scene here though. Firstly, I cannot swim. Makes sense, take up sailing! Heck, go in knowing that you are likely to be doing this solo as you are not exactly getting rave reviews from family and friends about this new “initiative”. Just to add to that, I am a total aviation geek so why not get my private pilots license you ask? Well, sadly I am likely that guy that forgets to put the landing gear down. This new hobby needs to happen at five knots, not 200!
All Decked Out!
Looking like a complete newbie, I stroll down the wobbly pier in my clearly brand new Gill Sailing jacket (sweating profusely as its obviously too hot for foul weather gear!) and clutching my automatically inflating flotation device (part of the deal with my wife as she is smarter than I am). As I shake Ron’s hand I can tell he knows. He has that smirk, he knows. Here comes another one of those bored executive types that figures the sailing life is where it's at! (Thankfully I do eventually find out he made the same stroll decades ago!).
Welcomed aboard, I get the proverbial tour around the boat. A 30-foot Catalina, looks brand new but I learn it was built in 2004. Everything is foreign to me, there are ropes everywhere (“Lines” I am constantly reminded over the course of the day), the mast is taller than a small apartment complex, the boats moored in their respective slips are so tight it looks like a Walmart parking lot on Black Friday!
Boats Don’t Have Brakes!
So apparently I AM going to take this gentleman’s $100k+ boat off the dock! With all of my experience (zero!), this seems to be a bit of a rash decision on the part of the captain! He convinces me that I can do this though and starts explaining the throttle, the gear selector and the wheel. The part I already knew was that there was no brake, zero, nada. Being the proverbial procrastinator I am quickly thinking of scratching this itch with snowmobiling instead and pushing the whole thing off until the end of the year when the snow flies! Flashbacks of CP24 weather graphics showing -40 (with wind chill) quickly snap me back into attention. I can do this. Right? Right?
Just prior to “Go time” Ron wants to go over “Prop Walk”. I am perplexed as the words roll off his tongue. Ok, left is port, right is starboard, the back is the stern, and now I am told if I leave the wheel (rudder) straight, when I reverse the boat will want to pull itself to the port (left side) and not be steerable for a few seconds (something about not enough water over the rudder. All I can see IS water!!!). Apparently, with a single propeller system, the direction of the propeller’s rotation will create a force that moves the both in one direction when you are reversing. Good to know. (Visions of the Black Friday parking lot, a brand-new Porsche, first time with a standard transmission and I am simply pulling out of my parking spot. What have I got myself into?!)
The Prop Can Walk?
My lucky day I am told. With the boat moored on the starboard side, this “walking prop” is going to naturally pull the boat off the dock in the way I need it to go. Phew! More on my itch next time!
Some smart info to consider before you scratch that “itch”!
Boating Safety Course
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons