Sailing on the Lean

Some people are very risk adverse, some appropriately so and then there are those that tend to be a bit reckless. Some would claim I am in the last group.

Safety is about ones own perspective on reasonable outcomes and risk. Some would say taking three school aged children to live in Angola was reckless.. We considered it an adventure. Some people would wear a life jacket at the dock and others would consider it in the way at all times. It is truly about what you can live with as an outcome.

Starting in my sailing as a child, it was required to have lifejacket with you and it was immediately shoved under the deck only to be brought out to go home. We never thought of putting it on, though we did know how. We learned how to make them act like pants so we didn’t need to tread water instead of having to work at it. Or they were used as a pillow when there was no wind.

Frostbiting during the winter did require a lifejacket. Swimming in freezing water would not be so much fun and the game was to stay out of the water at all costs.

In college racing we did wear them in the dinghies. It was a requirement and no one really seemed to complain. But those same people out in the afternoon would go out without one if they weren’t required to wear them.

Then as I aged and bought my Ta Fixe and had to start evaluating my idea of safety as it applies to me, my crew and what was an acceptable risk.

The first few sails we took the boat out we did not wear life vests. Our sailing ground was the protected waters of Long Island sound. The water can be glassy smooth or a rough chop as the depth is relatively shallow depth. There was almost always someone else out with us on the water, power boat and sail. As Magill and I chose to take the boat out in all conditions this would be our first public call out.

I had a video made of me pulling up the main sail and the boat was bucking like a bronco under my feet. The video was taken showing how “tough” I am and I was proud of it… Then I sent it to some friends that were immediately alarmed that I didn’t have on a life vest. And I didn’t. I thought it was awesome, they thought it was reckless. It is all in your definition of risk.

The fact that we would leave the dock to go out for an afternoon sail in 20kts of breeze baffled most. As we considered it “Sporty” and could see no reason to stay tied up.

I had figured I am in a relatively safe body of water, where there are lots of other boats and not far from shore… I would be fine. The water was warm enough and I was enjoying myself. My life jacket at the time was the one I had worn dinghy sailing. It was big and bulky and annoying to wear with needing to get in and out of the cockpit and cabin. So should I have worn it, absolutely…did I feel unsafe without it…nope

That rule however was different when I had visitors on board. We wore life jackets and so did they. Some of the people we sailed with would struggle if one of us, or them, fell over. We also did go into less protected waters and so everyone had them on.

As time went on and my balance got worse, my risk assessment got updated. I bought myself a Spinlock life vest which was far more comfortable to work in and wore it as soon as we left the dock. The life vest was the inflatable kind that made it much less bulky. Hubby started wearing one also. In my mind that the chance of me falling over had increased substantially. I needed to make sure that I would wear the life vest and thus I bought one that was more suited for what I was doing. in doing so I was more likely to put it on as it was comfortable and not in the way.

In my new safety plan I sent hubby forward any time I could and the risk of me falling overboard was also lessened. I took over steering and manuveraing duties that had in the past been his.

We realized at some point that even if I tripped and fell a small distance it would not end up well for me. Fatigue made the balance issues worse. I was constantly bumping into and getting bruised. I began to get increasingly afraid of falling over board. I knew that hubby had full capability to come and get me.

At this point my risk assessment included the need to stay in the cockpit with a life vest on rather than being out on the deck.

I had bought a tether to go with the life vest but never rigged it on the boat. Nor did I clip into the cockpit. On the water that we sailed it seemed excessive. I just needed to slow down and make sure I rested between jobs.

On land my balance had now deteriorated to many falls and finally the use of a cane.

Things eventually got to a point where we decided to put the boat on the market. I wasn’t able to safely climb a ladder in the boat yard to do work, hubby traveled so much of the winter work was on me. The sailing season in New England is short with most of it from Memorial Day to Labor Day, approximately three months. We saved work to be done over winter so we could spend as much time as possible out sailing. Later the same year that I started using the cane, my husband was offered a job on the West Coast and we ended up splitting out time between both places.

We are far from done with sailing and cruising but needed to find the right boat with our new risk assessment in hand.

So the ability to define and manage your risks changes over time. The boat that was safe for me five years ago is less so with my new disabilities. Would I be able to continue to sail that boat, yes. We still have the passport and went out for a lovely overnight a few weeks ago. She is for sale but until she sells we are sailing.

We have bought a boat on the west coast and she is a beast of another color. I will get more into the boat in the future. Why we chose this boat. What advantages/disadvantages it has for a person with disabilities and the changes that need to be made.

The boat requires a new set of risk assessments that will change with time. I still will wear my life vest any time we leave the dock. I will still avoid the foredeck under way but we are going to do things to this boat that will help me feel safer maneuvering around.