I plan to sail around North Los Coronados island tomorrow on my J29 sailboat BlackJack. The trip is approximately 30 nautical miles from start to end.
I will be sailing alone.
This was the goal I set for myself for this year, to get the boat and myself ready to go around Los Coronados. This is not a difficult sail by any means. In fact, it’s a rather nice sail, especially in good weather. I even used to call it “a walk in the park”.
Remembering Walk In the Park
Then again, that was a number of years ago. That was before I took a long hiatus from sailing and neglected BlackJack.
BlackJack is more than ready now. A lot of work was put in to bring her back from the brink of dilapidation. Much of the boat is new or refurbished like new.
I have also been re-training myself to sail. I do remember how to put the boat through its paces just fine. What I have lost was the sense of confidence, the sense of trust in myself.
Sailing in and out of the slip, raising and lowering sails, and sailing out of the bay and going miles out to sea. All on my own.
I knew how to do these things just fine. Yet it makes me anxious and nervous whether I still can.
Just Do It
The way to erase this anxiety is to simply just do it.
I made myself sail in and out of the slip. I went and sailed outside the bay, first with a jib, then with a genoa.
Now that I’ve gone through the paces, I do not feel anxious about these things anymore.
Next, I will re-train myself on flying a spinnaker single-handed. That can be nerve-wracking especially in a breeze. I will manage, however.
So I must now go take a walk in the park. One could say it’s back to basics, I’ll show myself I still can.
