Sail Training – A Parent’s Perspective W O RD S A ND IM AGES: PAUL K A N
Sailing
“We shall not cease from exploration / And the end of all our exploring / Will be to arrive where we started / And know the place for the first time.”
had been thinking about getting my kids to start sailing almost since they were born. From the early 1990s and after half a lifetime on the water, mostly on the foredeck, I wish I could communicate what being on the water means to me – not only the freedom of the open ocean, the immersion in nature, and the tight comradery of sailing mates, but also the intellectual challenges of so many different and interconnecting disciplines including physics, aerodynamics, fluids, weather, orienteering, pioneering, mechanics, racing rules, tactical strategies, and teamwork.
T.S. Eliot, from “Little Gidding” (Four Quartets)
However, after surviving several personal near misses myself, almost drowning as a child, and knowing several close friends with child fatalities, I’ve also been quite risk averse and nervous for my own children’s safety. You can imagine my trepidation, as I would imagine my kids sailing off into the distance, without being able to see or guarantee their well-being. In the December 2004 Asian Tsunami, my wife and I were the only survivors from our resort in Khao Lak and spent a month in Bumrungrad from our injuries. So she scolds the ‘gweilo’ in me, with some healthy SEPTEMBER 2021 AHOY! |
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