THE LIFEBADG56 April 2019 _ PopularMechanics.comSo Teresa, 39, and Ben, 46, decided to teach
as many of them as they could.
The New Yorky man on the dock has a three-
quarter halo of white hair. He is one of the five
students who’ll learn to sail from Long Island
to Annapolis this week. The boat seems small
for two people, let alone seven, but it’s differ-
ent on the water. “A house this small would feel
cramped,” Teresa says. “But on a boat, you step up
and your walls are an endless horizon.” She tells
the man he is a day early, and carefully steps back
down into the cabin, moving past Ben like chefs
in a tiny kitchen they know by heart.
Ben checks the engine, pumps, and hoses
for the last time before he’ll turn those respon-
sibilities over to tomorrow’s student engineer.
“We consider it a bonus if they get to fix some-
thing,” Ben says. “I’ll say, ‘You guys are so lucky
the bilge pump broke this week!’ ” The students
rotate through all the roles—cook, engineer,
navigator—learning everything it takes to sail.
Ben and Teresa will teach a skill once or twice
before handing it over. For the navigation les-
son, they’ll show how the compass, charts, and
landmarks all work together. Then they’ll step
back and watch, letting their students mess up,
figure it out, learn.
The work is equal parts instruction and
counseling. Keeping everyone happy. Polite.
Sometimes it’s two strangers who find a reason
to get into it. Sometimes it’s the married cou-
ples. “People sign up to learn the technical skills,
but accidents at sea don’t happen because some-
one doesn’t know those skills. Accidents happen
because of communication breakdowns,” Teresa
says. So they build a team. “You learn shipboard
camaraderie, leadership, troubleshooting.”
This is the last trip of the season, the last trip
before the boat comes out of the water for the
winter and Ben and Teresa move into an apart-
ment for the season, the first place they’ve had
off the water in years. The boat might not be
cramped for two or even seven, but three will be
a bit much. For now, though, when the sun comes
up tomorrow and the students arrive eagerly and
awkwardly, like the first day of eighth grade,
Teresa and Ben will stand on deck, welcoming
them aboard the boat that could be anywhere.For a shoppable list of the clothes and gear featured in this story, see page 58.