The Art of Cruising

by John Curnow on 21 Mar 2017 It is all very much like the old lesson that is often forgotten. Open a book, to any page, and there before you is something you need to learn. Now no doubt that is a derivation of the quote attributed to Confucius, “You cannot open a book without learning something.”

So the art of cruising may not be as big as Sun Tzu’s effort, or bandied about by as many college Professors and self-help tools, but it is probably studied by a good number of souls none the less. Maybe this is because The Art of Cruising is not so much doctrine like The Art of War, but more like a collection of references and anecdotes, which by their very nature require a gathering of souls in order to be postulated?

No matter how you choose to describe it, however, The Art of Cruising does remain just as educational as its more famous cousin. All of which was reminded to me very recently, for I had not done it for a while. Truth be known, when you boil it all down, it actually felt like I might have come close to forgetting all about it. Thankfully, nestled in there somewhere were the very embers needed to spark it all up once more. Often the tale of an old racing friend of mine comes to the fore. He always said to me that he walked away from ocean racing when he began to enjoy the deliveries so much more. I never got it then, but I reckon I could well be on my way to full comprehension.

Ultimately, is all that way too ethereal? Could be. Was it far more about the promise of simply glorious weather? Hot. Damn hot, the gentlest of breezes, flat, flat, flat seas, sunglasses and large hats. Did the cold, cold, cold drinks from the ice-laden chiller hold some special power?

Was it all about the Scotch Fillet steaks that had been lightly coated in olive oil, seasoned, and then left in a sealed container with fresh garden herbs for a day? Perhaps it was the sound of the sizzle, the delightfully pervading smell and smoke emanating from the BBQ mounted on the pushpin?

Maybe it was the connection and time to be spent with friends, or the wandering, wondering, and pondering? Now it could also be that for a change the heady was not required to go up inside five boat lengths. That it would involve anchoring, and even more importantly, the fact that there was a winch to bring it back up!

Yes. A recent cruise on a friend’s boat was a lovely summer time thing to do. The thermometer made 33 degrees C, and the anemometer must have cracked a huge 8 knots at its zenith, before dying away almost completely. Blissfully, that was when the boat was once more back in her pen and day had worked its magic on the fortunate souls who had been out cruising for a good deal of it. The shoulders were a good few centimetres lower, the smile that much wider, and the defences against the universe were that much more charged up.

Alas, it was about the escape from everything like traffic, white noise, closed minds and ludicrous pressures. Accordingly, it is little wonder this all started, and just as equally, all ended up with references to books, for there are so many quotes about the subject. However, in concluding we’ll just go with one from that renowned philosopher, Groucho Marx, “I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go into the library and read a good book.”

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