Sail Training – A Parent’s Reflections

WORDS AND IMAGES: PAUL KAN

“Here we lie entranced by the starlit water, / And moments that should each last forever / Slide unconsciously by...” Kenneth Rexroth

“Another Spring” from <i> The Phoenix and the Tortoise (1944)

What a wonderful summer we had over five weeks of sail training.

First, we were lucky to be able to get so many weeks. My friend and I had been checking the Club website periodically, but we had missed the notice that told us when the signups would begin. So, it was pure luck that my friend had been browsing the site the day signups opened, and we quickly logged in. (In the recent fall term signups, the four fall weekend classes offered were filled in seconds. I could only get one slot, and another dad who had wanted his son to attend together with my kids was not able to get the same day.)

While we had some idea how things would work, a lot of details we had to figure out as we went along.

My original idea had been to spend the whole time on our boat, like a summer sleepover camp. But in the end, because of scheduling, we ended up making the daily commute to Middle Island for the first three weeks and the last. Our daily routine would be for me to park at my office in Central, taxi down, and then Uber back, as it was harder to secure a taxi along Island Road in the rush hours. For afternoon classes, we tried to arrive early and have a light lunch before we started, usually splitting a plate of spaghetti Bolognese to stave off their hunger, without being too much to feel weighed down. I also discouraged my kids’ pizza favorites, in order to go easy on the dairy before they went on the water. For morning classes, we brought sandwich squares to share, and some light snacks for their mid class break, as the Middle Island Clubhouse was not open for food until noon.

For their daily gear, we brought 10l waterproof shoulder bags for the kids to carry sunscreen, a change of clothes, their sailing gear (rash guard tops and bottoms, baseball caps, gloves, and sunglasses), ziplock bags for them to put their wet clothes after they were done, and collapsible silicone water bottles, that they could fill from the water coolers in the locker room. Most of the kids seemed to arrive with their parents or helpers, who often waited to help them shower (especially the young ones), before bringing them home. But it was still easy for the young kids to lose things, as was evidenced by the overflowing lost and found basket.

way. So eventually, they went without them. And although my son and I both tried to use long sleeve rash guards, the direct sun, and light air days were quite hot, and we ended up switching to short sleeve shirts and swim trunks to be cooler under our PFDs.

The benefits of coming every day were evident from the start, enabling each successive day’s learning and adaptations to be built on the days before, without forgetting much. It only took a few days for the kids to get the hang of the routine, such that they knew exactly where to go and when. Each day they stowed their clean clothes in the lockers, filled up their water bottles, donned their PFDs and helmets, and reported for class.

The first three weeks, the half day classes allowed me to take a half day off in the mornings or afternoons, and still be at work for most of the day. This also ended up being more convenient, as we had several academic zoom classes scheduled for the kids, including two from the US, and they were much easier to do from home.

Our 4th week out, we brought our boat down to Middle Island from Shelter Cove. Living on the boat allowed the kids much more time to be in the water, without having to rush home. We also brought our stand-up paddleboard and inflatable kayak, so the kids could invite their friends over to play together, on the beach, or on the water. And the added benefit was that they would be far away from their iPads, television, and YouTube, well distracted by all-consuming outdoor activity.

Waking up early in the quiet morning air was so still and peaceful, amid the lapping waters, and we got to see the outriggers training from 0630hrs every day. On two of the evenings, we walked the footpath along the water’s edge to Spices in the Repulse Bay Arcade, as the sun was going down, framed by arching trees overhead. The sunset hues and twilight vistas were just stunning before each early evening’s downpours came. The first one caught us by surprise, and we ran a bit to get shelter, but we were ready for the second with our rain jackets.

In fact, some of my most favorite moments of the summer were when it was pouring rain – so much more exciting to shoot stills or video around passing typhoons, although my Lumix GX9 sustained water damage from being overly exposed to the rain. On the last day of week four, a squall blew in, and we had several hours of heavy rain to savour. My wife and I were on our boat at the pontoon, preparing to move her back to the guest moorings, and there was nothing to do but enjoy the moment, read, and take a nap.

The only difficult aspect to living on our boat was sleeping overnight in the heat. Admittedly in context, it wasn’t even that hot really. But for those accustomed to ever present air conditioning, it still took

some getting used to. During the day, under direct sun and with little breeze, I was producing a constant and voluminous stream of dripping sweat. Evenings were mostly still, with little breeze, but we had fans which were effective blowing on exposed skin to produce cooling evaporation. The heat at night made the skin feel swollen with a thin sheen of perspiration, which was mildly uncomfortable and somewhat itchy, and just took getting used to. But additional itchiness from bug bites exacerbated that. And that was where we could have done better. (Ideally, and perhaps this is the boy scout in me talking, I want us to be able to live outdoors in nature, in tents or on our boat, for multiple weeks, in any weather. At least that should be the goal.)

The mosquitoes weren’t actually as bad as we thought they might be. My wife brought mosquito netting that we stuck up around the hatch and windows with velcro, such that we had a mosquito free environment for sleeping. But we later realised that the worst environment for insect bites was at the Clubhouse up the hill, especially from the small black flies that you only realised hours later had bitten you, when you got bumps and an intense itch that lasted for several days. We should have been more vigilant with insect repellent. The first night, my daughter woke up super early, and it took some time to get her back to sleep. On the 2nd night, my son was waking up every two hours from itchiness and discomfort. The 3rd night, he only woke up once in the middle of the night. And by the 4th night, everyone slept through till morning, finally! All in all, we had a very successful and rewarding summer to observe, learn, try, and experience. My kids were able to pass their sail training through Step 4, and gain more confidence on the water. My son and I made good progress on our diets, and added muscle to our core, just from balancing on the boats for hours every day. And my wife and I both loved puttering about in a RIB with our new Torqeedo electric engine, to follow the kids as an extra safety boat, and to take pictures and video. “The faster things become, the more we want to slow them down.” I often feel my children’s childhoods are progressing too fast. I want to slow it down, experience more of it with them, and inculcate their love of nature and the sea. This summer was a great part of that. Sail fast, live slow, be prepared, do no harm, leave no trace. The journey continues!