5/10
Although I am a land-based activity lover, since I am in Auckland —the City of Sails—I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn how to sail. Last week was my first class. Unfortunately, as I was getting out of the boat, I missed a step, and fell heavily to the ground. My wrist was hurt badly and will take some time to recover. I completed my second lesson yesterday, and am starting to understand the basics of sailing.
Our boat is a keel boat, which has a heavy keel underneath. When the boat heels, the keel helps it stay balanced. Although this lesson is for beginners, everyone else already has some sailing experience except me. Before going out on the water, we need to learn the names of the different parts of the boat, as well as some basic sailing terminology. We also learned about the buoy system to avoid hitting the rocks or sandbars, as well as how to sail according to the wind, and how to avoid collisions based on right-of-way rules between boats. There is a lot of information to take in. It’s not my field, and everything is in English which makes it even more challenging and stressful.
When the boat was heeling through the waves, I certainly felt a sense of freedom. Our coach said “Powerboat is about destination, Sailing is about journey”. I am beginning to understand the beauty of sailing. Just like this stage of my life, it is important to enjoy the journey itself. When we reached the waters outside Auckland Harbour, I saw many people racing. There are numerous sailing clubs that hold regular races every week. I could literally feel how deeply sailing is woven into the local culture. To be honest, I don’t think I will have many opportunities to sail in the future. The coach also said, “The point is not buying a boat, it’s keeping the boat”
Sometimes I feel the world is so vast, and people’s lives can be so different. It’s hard to imagine a hundred different ways of living. I wish I could be a little like Forrest Gump, sometimes doing my best and running as hard as I can, and sometimes simply waiting for the feather to drift down beside my feet.
學習帆船
雖然我都是從事陸上活動，但來到千帆之都Auckland，機會難得就想說來學sailing，雖然上禮拜第一堂課下船時踩空，讓我整個撲街，著實摔了一大跤，手腕到現在都還沒有好，昨天上完第二堂課，大概知道Sailing是怎麼回事。
我們用的是Keel boat，就是傳底下有突出一片重物，讓船在傾斜時保持平衡，雖然是給新手的課，但是其他人都有一些sailing的經驗，像我這毫無經驗的倒是沒有，一開始要記船個的部位的名稱，左側跟右側（port and starboard)，然後要了解Channel紅綠浮標代表的界線，不然可能會撞上rock or sandbar，然後帆船迎著風如何航行，其實不能正對的風航行（No go zone)，要在正對風兩邊45度角的地方航行，所以很多時候你會有點像是Z字型再走，所以在順風時要注意什麼，然後船禮讓的優先權在Channel如何交錯，資訊量還蠻多的，是自己完全不熟悉的領域，而且又是英文，著時有些壓力。
在船身傾斜側著風在海面劃開滑行時，確實有種自由自在的感覺，教練說：Powerboat is about destination, Sailing is about journey. 也了解到帆船的魅力，人生到了這個階段似乎也是enjoy journey，到Auckland外面的海域時也看到許多人在Sail racing，這邊很多club每週都會有比賽，感受了一下這邊的帆船文化，但其實仔細想想真的以後要Sail的機會好像也很少，教練也說The point is not buying a boat, it’s keeping the boat，買船容易照顧船難。
有時覺得世界之大，生活經驗以及體驗如此的不同，很難想像的100百種生活，願我就像阿甘一樣，有時努力奔跑，有時就等待羽毛落在腳邊。
