As a teenager, I was fascinated by sailing boats and dreamed of one day having my own boat. Some years later this dream came true with a beautiful 21-foot fiberglass boat. I read all I could on how to operate a sailboat, how to rig the sails and how to maneuver with the wind fore and aft. One day our family was vacationing in Southern California and we found ourselves on a Sunday morning in Newport Beach. Newport Beach is located on a long peninsula that shelters a harbor from the open ocean. It is a favorite place for boating in safe waters. I talked the family into renting a sailboat, and I looked forward to demonstrating my sailing skills. So all five of us, mother, sister, brother, myself, and the dog loaded into the small boat and shoved off. It was a glorious day for sailing with a bright sun and a brisk breeze up harbor. All went well until it was time to turn around, or luff, in sailing language. Somehow, that was a maneuver I hadn't learned in my research, and as we turned broadside to the wind, the boat capsized, and we were all thrown into the water. Fortunately, no one was harmed, but I learned that book knowledge was not enough.
When you climb aboard a boat, you need to learn to speak boat language. Instead of forward and back it's fore and aft, instead of sideways it's abeam, instead of into the wind and with the wind it's windward and alee, instead of stop it's avast or belay, instead of right and left it's starboard and port. It's easy to see how a sailboat can travel downwind, but how can it sail upwind? This is done by tacking, which is a zig-zag course, first to starboard and then to port. As one does this tacking back and forth, the mast swings from one side to the other, so one must be careful not to be knocked overboard. While tacking with the boom drawn up close, the wind blows along both sides of the sail. One side is convex and the other surface is concave forming an air foil. There is less air pressure on the convex surface so the boat is pushed forward by the Bernoulli principle much the same way as an airplane is lifted by the airfoil shape of the wing.
Sailing away from the harbor downwind is simple and fun, but then to turn around, luff, and head back against the wind requires skill and concentration. This can be likened to the way of life. We are tempted to take the easy way and go with the flow. This is the easy way that leads to shipwreck and destruction. Only by going against the current of wind and water can we return to safe harbor. It will take all our stamina and determination plus the help of the Master of ocean and sea and sky to enable us to sail the narrow way, to avoid the shallow shoals of disappointment, grief, and temptation. As we tack into the gales of adversity, we may have to zig-zag to keep on course but if we keep our eye on the sail and our face to the wind, we will find that it isn't the gale that determines our fate but it is "the set of the sail."
