S is for Sailing

Sailing class is a great example of how book learning doesn't always transfer well to real-life experience.

I took a sailing class during my junior year of college. The classroom stuff was pretty easy, although a few of the knots posed a challenge at first. Other than that, I had no problems identifying the parts of the boat we would be sailing. I understood it was never referred to as rope- it was a line. Finding oneself "in the irons" is not a good thing and if your sails are luffing it's time to trim those things.

One day we stepped out of the classroom do take a look at the 540s we'd be sailing. It was our chance to rig the sails, place the centerboard, and see what things looked like in 4-D. My partner and I did a pretty good job getting everything in place- so good, that our instructor thought we should step in the boat at the dock to show everyone how we would position ourselves.

After we climbed in we were for quite a shock as he untied the lines, gave a quick kick to the side of the boat, and pushed us off into the St. Mary's River with nothing more than a wave and a "Have fun ladies!"

Yes, that's when I found out sailing in a boat is much different than reading about sailing in a classroom.

We survived the experience and even passed the class with a few bumps along the river. I learned a little about sailing but more importantly, I learned I like floating around in a canoe much better.

Life Lesson: Learning is a mixture of lessons and experiences.