The Sense of the Sea

This was my view of the Sea for too many years as a kid, Getting past these
Waves and going to sea is the way to reach a kid and motivate them to learn

Do you wish you were boating right now? How about sitting on a beach with a cocktail in your hand watching the tide come in? Do you ever wonder what the world looks like to a sea gull blowing in from some where far away? I did- as a kid and now as an adult- all the time.

You get a very slanted point of view though standing on a beach versus staring back at the shore from the decks of a vessel. John (The CCB Bridgeport Coordinator) and I were discussing this point earlier this week and it struck me, this is what my aim was when I started CCB and one of the best aspects of my job when I was Executive Director- I got to see things about the Sea and share them with everyone, by boat or by beach, by sight or by sound- I got to be the eyes and ears of the Sea.

But seeing it is not the same as experiencing it first hand. Describing the tactile experience of taking the helm, raising the sail and hanging on for dear life, John said, "I don't like shaky little boats, When the ferry goes by the wake scares the hell out of you. In the (26' Keel Boat) Grampian, I can tell the kids, hang on to the life lines, we're gonna pitch and yaw." I agreed with John that getting people out there is so much more valuable that just showing them what they are missing, but I differed with him on small boat versus big boats.

The Kids of CCB Summer 2010

"John", I said, "the thing your missing about a small boat is especially with kids, the intimacy you get with the water. You get wet, you can flip and you rock and roll, but by doing that you develop a confidence with the water when you realize, your not gonna die, just get a little wet".

Particularly with kids who learn about sailing in small boats at a young age (I say 6-8) they get it with a first hand knowledge that I can only equate to learning a first language. I taught kids ages 13-18 for the last 8 years at Fairfield Prep. The thing that always impressed the hell out of me, was how these kids knew the vernacular of sailing the way they knew how to breath, speak or eat- it was just something that was part of them. Those kids that picked up the tiller at a young age, had such a seamless knowledge of the natural world on the water- so much more so than those like myself who learned to sail a much later age. (I didn't get on a small sail boat til I was 18 years old) and even though I have been teaching sailing now some 20 years, the kids at age 16 had been doing it for 10 years were so much more fluid at it than I could be with 50 years of experience. They had a better sense of the sea than I ever would.

Much like the kid who grows up speaking French as a baby vs the teenager who takes it up in high school- given enough time both will be able to speak to each other with relative fluency, but the kid who experiences it early and carries on with it for a lifetime will go so much farther in the language with so much more ease. Its the same deal with sailing.

But I started this blog talking about seeing vs doing. Having a kid actually sail a boat, not just sit as a passenger, creates a tactile experience that carries with them for the years. When you just watch someone do it and sit as a passive passenger, you miss out on the lessons of doing, versus the lessons from watching. That is why I have worked so hard to teach sailing and do not do charters or rentals. I could make a bunch more money taking people out, but that is so counter intuitive and frankly a waste of my time.

At CCB, we don't believe in putting skippers in the boats, that said, one kid always
takes the helm most readily- That is why we make efforts to constantly change drivers
aboard ship- you should too!

For the longest time, if you wanted to learn something about boating from me, you had to do it, I wont do it for you.

But never the less, the thing that has bit me in the butt, is more people like watching what I am doing and I guess I am not very good at getting people to do what I am doing. Towing a dock for 18 hours across the sound is interesting to watch, but not very fun to do. Seeing the insides of a 150 year old light house is cool to see but too much of hassle to do. And learning to sail, with sun burns, wet underwear and the fear of injury is so much more interesting to watch, than it is to do and quite frankly a lot easier to be a passenger than a participant. But watching is not the same as doing.

So while I am happy to share with you all the sights and sounds of my travels on the water, I can only do it, if you decide to do it yourself. When you get involved, go boating and actively participate, then I get something out of it- the gift of sharing. But when you passively sit back and say, boy that's cool to watch but it looks hard- then I get nothing out of it, but more importantly, you get nothing out of it either- So while I totally appreciate you taking the time to read my blog, I do hope you will take the time, the effort and initiative to not just read about it, but do it- at least that's my thoughts on the matter. Thanks.