It Takes All Sorts
By svsc, Jan 10 2019 01:00AM
Last week I was very pessimistic about our PTBO. Less than a dozen bookings and a poor weather forecast. Is it worth the bother? Then as the week progressed, the forecast got worse - wind 2mph, gusting to 3mph! At least it wasn't going to rain.
Saturday morning bright and early I dutifully turned up. Good news: a last minute flurry had doubled the number of visitors and there was enough wind to move the flag. Those gusts could have been a good 5mph! But what really lifted my mood, was the enthusiasm and good humour of the other members. Maybe we were going to sit totally becalmed chatting to our visitors and explaining how much fun sailing is when the wind blows. But we were going to get them in boats and enjoying themselves.
And so it came to pass. The wind did blow (well, huff and puff a little) from time to time and sometimes we were becalmed. But the light winds allowed us to put all the visitors on the helm, bar a 2yr old boy, for whom the best I could achieve was to get him to pull the red rope or the yellow rope. And everyone had a great time. Nobody worried about the boat tipping over, nobody was scared by uncontrolled gybes when they went into their nonchalent pirouettes. We all had time to watch the fluffy little chicks swimming by and the pretty clouds.. They all drove the boat and most wanted to come back and see what it was like when the wind blew a bit more.
Perhaps some of us wind-aholics forget that complete novices can enjoy just getting on the water and discovering boating.
