Life's a bit like that, full of shy kites. You get shy kites in your life when you sail a bit too close to the wind. I didn't think I could sail as close to the wind as I have done this year but I did, and I survived ------ just.This is a photograph from a sail I had last year. We are carrying, or 'lugging a shy kite,' funny expression. It was so shy it was back winding at times so I put the jib up with the intention of bringing the spinnaker down, but I was able to hang on in there and carry this big expanse of sail until I got to the next channel mark. Then we eased away downwind with the big kite pulling like a team of horses.
The blur in the top left hand of the photo is the skippers finger on part of the camera lens - stupid old coot, can't take him anywhere these days without him stuffing things up.
Sailing close to the wind with a shy kite, what with one thing or another I have been doing a lot of that lately - time now for winds that are a lot fairer - easier on the gear, easier on the body, easier on the mind, easier on the heart.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you're out of the gale winds. Or was it the doldrums? Whatever...
Gale winds, doldrums, all metaphors of one sort or another - lets just say the weathers cleared for now and I can see the boat compass for a change
:>)
Is it that you used the spinnaker als a second jib, with little wind? It indicates that you want to be vast and do the extra work. May be it is now time to ease off for a period, but will it stay that way? One cannot betray its internal drive forever.
Sailing close to the wind as an expression means in my mother language that you get the most out of something and take some risk.
Ben. Yes - sailing close to the wind means taking risks. And as you know, literally sailing close to the wind in a yacht risks going completely about onto the other tack and going in another direction - risky business if there is a large rock in the way or a channel marker etc.
In this situation we weren't trying to use the spinnaker as another jib, we had just changed course and found the wind to close, but as it was only a light wind we were able to hang on for a short distance until we got to the next channel marker and were able to change course again.
I have eased off physically (I have to do that for a while) but as I get stronger I hope to be able to do most things I used to to do - but I have to be wise and not over do things - strain myself too much - which is sensible.
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