Sailing on Trinovante recently gave me
the chance to be reacquainted with the excitement of Tall
ship sailing. After a break of 10 years I was feeling a little
apprehensive at the prospect as I neared Brightlinsea.
My mind was thinking back to the previous
trips and the highs and lows that had blown up around the
Irish Sea. The majority of my memories were good, but I couldn’t
help remembering those situations with lots of bits of string
to pull and crew that can’t remember which, or the slightly
military feel to the whole week.
In the end after spending a week aboard
Trinovante there was no need to waste time on such thoughts.
The week was excellent.
The relaxed adult atmosphere was far removed from the visions
I had from previous Sail training.
So I got thinking how is this different?
What is sail training for? Why are two ships so different?
There is no doubt that sail training has a valid part to play
in the development of young minds. It offers excitement, responsibility,
lessons on getting on with others, sharing and living together
in close proximity. It also offers people an opportunity
to appreciate the simpler things in life that are often forgotten.
But being a little older and feeling that I had grasped the
basics of the above, I didn’t really need this reinforcing.
Sue and John are excellent teachers and
hosts. After a week the rudiments of working the rig and sails
is easily grasped unlike a larger vessel with more “knitting
and string to pull” Yes - the sail handling is
more involved than a yacht, but this too can work as an advantage
to those who
are more active and don’t want to just sit in a plastic
cockpit wrapped in oilies for a week.
Sat in a snug cabin with a beer in hand
after a days relaxed sailing around the beautiful East coast
- what could be better than that? |
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Raising the anchor
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