Crew Communication
I first learned to sail when I was in my mid-twenties. I’d been on a friend’s eight-foot pram and was hooked immediately. Two weeks later, I went sailing again; this time on my own boat. Pogo was a 12-foot home built sloop I bought from a local businessman. Pogo was under powered and overweight, much as I’ve gotten to be. This was a good thing as it made her very forgiving of beginner’s mistakes. It was a really good thing. It probably saved my sailing life, not to mention my physical one.
Not having any sailing instructors in our small Indiana town, I did what I usually do. I bought a book. I carefully read all the instructions and memorized all the salty nautical terms of sailing.
On about the third sail on Pogo, there was some decent wind. I had my wife holding the jib sheets as I steered and maintained a death grip on the main sheet. Cleat them off? What cleats? “We don’ nid no steenkin’ cleats.”
Eventually, we heeled enough to bring the lake alarmingly close to the gunnels. I knew from my extensive experience (reading the book) that one way to correct this was to spill some air from the sails, so I said, “Let out the starboard jib sheet.”
My wife casually replied, “What?”
“Let out the starboard jib sheet!” I calmly shrieked.
“Huh?” Water was slopping onto my foot.
“Drop that #@$%&ing rope!!”
“Why didn’t you say so? You don’t have to yell.”
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