Sailing Around The World: Sailing Directions

For anyone planing long passages you need to realize that the philosophy and the poetry is most important.Information on sailing the boat is all in here as well. But that is the easy stuff. The dinghy, the sails, the weather, the routes, the seasons are important but easily organized.Being confident, relaxed and supremely happy are the really important things to consider. So how do you sail your boat for pure pleasure?I take the helm and steer by the feel of the wind. She's in a groove balanced and true. My spirits lift; I look back west and laugh out loud. We are flying! I am free now, free of the petty life, free of the cloying social restrictions, free to enjoy, free to really feel alive, free to live. Mysteriously I come alive.The boat leaps, lunging up and over and out. The seas thunder past. For a day and a night the wind comes with relentless energy and the sky is clear. As I paused and gazed up I was astonished to realize that the night was perfectly clear and a million stars shone like diamonds. The seas were bald blue promontories that moved with majestic savage grace.Another night came down and the moon rose and the constellations wheeled by in sombre solitude.The wind took off at last; around midnight I think it was. One more gale I thought.from onboard Wallaby Creek 2005.1 The Philosophy 2 Mental preparation 3 The real Problem 4 Keeping your head 5 Pirates and Axe Murderers 6 The Crew7 Things you need to know8 Things you need to be able to do 9 The hardest bits10 The easiest bits11 The most enjoyable bits12 The least enjoyable bits 13 The most expensive places 14 The least expensive places 19 The questions most asked 20 The personal quality most neededSome days were made for swooping along on sparkling diamond seas with a bubbling white wake. Other days are cold and wet and melancholy, made for a big card game or a good book. If you can feel the rhythm and move to it, your life will be enriched.If you cannot feel the rhythm, if you are anxious to make progress, if you get your greatest satisfaction from seeing good progress on the instruments, then you are doomed to the same old same old from which you are supposed to be trying to get away. Good luck!