Going in at the deep end isn’t always advisable, but
what you learn, you won’t forget
ILLUSTRATION CLAUDIA MYATTHOW TO BECOME A SEAMAN
TOM CUNLIFFE
L
ast week I was interviewed by Andy of 59° North for
his sailing podcast. We had a grand hour or two
giving ‘ships and men’ a good thrashing and ended
up discussing whether it is feasible to educate
others about seamanship. Is time on the water the only
answer? Well, I thought, surely some aspects have to be
taught. Essential ropework, for example, needs
hands-on instruction. Anyone can learn the lubber’s
rabbit-and-hole version of the bowline from a
book, but there’s no way I’ve found of passing
on the sailor’s flick of the wrist without a
helping hand. And what about the three-
strand eye splice? When it comes to that
extra tuck in the first round, it would
take a writer of Shakespearean skills
to describe it. A tutor who knows is
the only answer.
That said, you can become
an expert at the Indian ropetrick, but you’ll never be a seaman without getting your feet wet.
When I was examining Yachtmasters my job was made easy if
candidates obliged by going aground at the end of a tack beating
up a muddy river. I didn’t mind them running out of water, it was
what happened in the next 10 seconds that revealed all.
The ones who failed dropped the sails and started the engine.
The winners shoved the tiller to leeward as soon as they smelt
the ooze and were urging the guys on the headsail sheets to hold
the jib to weather. If they managed to get her head through the
wind I was glad for them because they now had every chance
of sailing her off. Even if fortune left them kedging, I was still
on their side because they had shown a seaman’s instinct.
You can tell people about these things, but you can’t
burn them into the soul. Only the sea and the years can
really do that, but if there’s anyone reading this who
doesn’t have a lifetime available, the best answer to
speeding it up is to sail a boat that has no engine. The
lessons come thick and fast, and the instructors are the
wind, the sea and the boat.