THE HONORABLE ART OF SAILING

 

 

In this discourse community ethnography, I will be covering a highly specialized trade and hobby, one of the oldest arts, the seafaring life of sailing. The characteristics found within this highly specialized community are like none other, and its criteria one must meet before being acknowledged as “a part” of the sailing community is far more demanding than other nautical trades, as well as trades and hobbies in general. In the sailing community, its members actively participate in making their clubs better and more accessible to the outside, but its standards are high, one will never be considered a true sailor if the time is not put in to become better, to become “advanced”, to not pick up the terminology or the swiftness required to be on a sailing team. While sailors allow all to enter, as I stated previously, the sailors respect those the most that truly immerse themselves in the lifestyle.

 

Before being actively involved within a sailing club, or having what you say on sailing forums be considered anything of worth online, to be considered “in” one must develop a specific vocabulary relating to the sailing life, one also needs to be able to navigate, swiftly, their way through a sailboat of intermediate size, to hold a sailors bearing (to have so called “sea legs” and not throw up their breakfast in a storm) to be well versed in traditions at sea, to understand the importance of the sea, to fear what lies below the surface, to have childish beliefs in “mythical” creatures such as the Kraken and Cthulu, this is what it means to be a sailor. This community revolves not just around what the greatest sails are, who makes the best sheets (sailboat ropes and lines), or who will win the Quarter Tonner Races during Cowes week; the sailing community revolves around more than that, how can we make sailing more affordable for beginners? How can we get the youth more involved, how can we get veteran sailors more experienced? This is the sailing community, its members actively participate in making their clubs better and more accessible to the outside, but its standards are high, one will never be considered a true sailor if the time is not put in to become better, to become “advanced”, to not pick up the terminology or the swiftness required to be on a sailing team. While sailors allow all to enter, as I stated previously, the sailors respect those the most that truly immerse themselves in the lifestyle.

 

Inside of the sailing community, a newly committed member will find themselves changing, very fast. These changes show themselves in many different ways, to an individual who is a veteran of the high seas, a storm is no longer a storm it is a “squall”. When working in groups, sailors have an unspoken language and understanding of each other as well. On the topic of storms, one does not look to their mate and say “I think there is a squall coming, batten down the hatches (prepare the ship for rough seas)”, eye contact can be made, signifying the acknowledgement of the storm, and all members of the vessel will get to work on securing the ship, without the need for a single word to be spoken. Everyone knows their place on a vessel, they know exactly what to do, and when to do it. New members are brought in, veterans will watch over them, ensure their development, the only way a member does not advance and succeed in the art of sailing and its community in general is if the member does not put in their best effort and care. It does not matter if you wear Helly Hansen rain coats or have a sailboat with a carbon fiber hull made in 2021, it only matters that you are ready to learn and take criticism from those more experienced than yourself. 

For specific members interviewed, I had conducted them on my father, who is nearly 50. How he began sailing, was through his father who was a sailor himself, however, my father began sailing through a club at the YMCA and he states it began as follows “I went to the YMCA island for a summer camp for two years. We did many things such as swims, bonfires, archery, and hiking. Also on the island was the YMCA sailing program. When I was old enough I joined the program.” (Personal Interview).  My fathers participation began through the fact that his father was a sailor, and so my father began sailing through a program at the YMCA, which taught him the basics. As he became more experienced over the summer months, becoming more and more competitive with other clubs, participating in regattas, he knew that this was his love. He states his most exciting experience, where I believe this was the catalyst for his love of sailing “I was sailing with my friend Jason in strong wind, I remember leaning way out of the boat. The boat tipped so much from the wind it was so exciting keeping it from tipping with just the leverage of our body weight. I was hooked!” (Personal Interview). My father, who fell in love with the excitement of the seas, continued his practice in sailing, putting in his efforts, and over time, he began to train newcomers just as he was trained. He became well respected by other sailors, he had become well known in the sailing community, mainly for his participation in sailing regattas along the north east coast, and he shared his knowledge with other veterans. (it is important to note that by “veteran” I mean someone with many years experience in this trade, not someone with past military service.). My grandfather had fallen in love with sailing, joined this discourse community, through an invitation to a trip. He had owned a 21 foot sailboat for 3 years, learned the basics, and had then sold it. Later on, he had then been invited on a 42 foot sailboat, commanded by a crew of 12, and sailed along the north east coast. After this experience he stated that “It was the greatest sport I was ever in” (Personal Interview). Through these examples, it is now proven that entrance into the sailing community is not just a one way route, there are multiple ways to get in. Whether it be through a club, or through the help and invitations of others. 

 

In conclusion, in the sailing community, to a sailor, one is not just knowledgeable in “how to tie a rope” or knows what a Halyard is; one also has an unspoken, cohesive, language with the members of their vessel and within the community as a whole. One is well versed in the vintage traditions dating back hundreds of years, of myths told by the ancients. One cares for those who are new to sailing. When a sailor looks upon the stars at night, he knows that those great gleaming celestial bodies are the same ones that those before him gazed upon as well, and that they will guide him home, as they have guided generations of others. The sailor is the embodiment of thousands of years of refinement, the sailboat is the embodiment of another thousand years of development. The sailing community is the embodiment of what happens when the most elite, skillful, and caring members of a group all come together to help those new to the sport, and to improve on the sport itself. The sailing community is a combination of many different communities, it consists of members from scientific communities researching weather patterns to locate the best courses of movement, of oceanographers who search for the fastest water channels, of cartographers who develop highly advanced maps for the sole purpose of sailing; it consists of members who fabricate the lightest sails, who shape the greatest carbon fiber hulls; it consists of entire companies focused solely on making the most durable clothing for a sailor, for when the seas are rough and winds are high; the sailing community consists of everybody, from grandparents to grandchildren, all are welcome and all will be helped. The seas have been sailed long before we were even conceived, and they will continue to be journeyed long after the dust from our bones are gone. The sport is constantly changing, but its demographic never changes; those who want to learn, those who want to explore, and those who want to really live.