HOW I LEARNED TO SAIL, PART II — "H
"I
n the late 1970s I purchased a Lido 14 that my mentor found advertised in the newspaper," writes Randy Giovannoni. "He had been a national champion in Mercurys in the '60s, so I figured he knew what he was doing. As it turned out, the owner of that Lido and I became best friends, and still are today. He was busy the day I decided to go try out the boat myself, so I took my roommate Mary and headed for a nautical adventure. It was a beautiful day and there was no one on the lake but us. After a couple of hours it was time to head for the dock and I realized the only thing that I had forgotten to inquire about before setting sail was how to stop this thing when I got back to shore. "Now, I know that a Lido is not the fastest boat on the water, but as you approach a dock, there should be some finesse involved. But on that first sail we were thinking, 'Oh crap, where are the brakes?' We were approaching quickly when I let go the main and jib, and soon realized that the dock was only a few feet away. I knew this was it; crashing into the boat ramp was my fate. But all of a sudden, the boat came to an abrupt halt. The loose jib sheet had miracuPage 98 •
Latitude 38
• June, 2017
COURTESY BEAU VROLYK
ow did you learn to sail?" That question, posed to Latitude 38 readers a few months ago, yielded a boatload of heartfelt responses. It was obvious to anyone who read the first batch of them in our February issue that this simple question had unlocked troves of precious memories from carefree days spent reveling in the simple yet exhilarating pleasures of raising sail and harnessing the wind. In the reader reports that are continued here you'll find that many who learned to sail decades ago — when sailing classes were much less prevalent — did so on their own, in many cases learning both what to do and what not to do by trial and error. Many of the stories you'll read here provide a window into a simpler time when almost every kid's favorite place to be was in the great outdoors — rather than lazing on the couch playing video games. When given an opportunity to try sailing, many of the respondents you'll meet below were delighted to give it a try. Little did they know at the time that — for some, at least — those first few hours spent under sail would be life-changing.
lously wrapped itself around a dock cleat and saved my Lido's bottom — and mine. Who says sailors aren't blessed?
"I
was 21 when my boyfriend invited his best friend and me to go sail-
"On that first sail we were thinking, 'Oh crap, where are the brakes?'" ing at a local lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota." recalls Cheryl Laufle, "aboard a small daysailer that his dad had recently bought. Since sailing had been of interest to me for some time, and since he was my boyfriend, of course I accepted. Beau Vrolyk and his family grew up sailing on this splendid European-built gaffer named 'Sol Straale'. He now owns the schooner 'Mayan'.
"It was a glorious day in early summer; sunny and with a nice, warm breeze. The 18-ft boat (whose maker is lost in the mists of time) sailed beautifully, and we went to the far side of the lake. We stopped for lunch, swam, and stayed near the far shore until late afternoon. At that point, the wind died — completely. "So there we were, sunburned, getting hungry, and as the sun went down, the air temperature cooled noticeably. There was no paddle on the boat, and sculling with the tiller did little to move us, so we took turns swimming, holding the bowline in our hands. Did I mention it was early summer? The lake had not warmed appreciably, and with sunburns and a cool night, it became more than a little chilly, both in the water and on the boat. "We were roughly five miles or more from the boat launch, so it took several hours to swim/tow the boat back. I got back to the apartment I was sharing at about 2 a.m. "That experience didn’t destroy my