Julian Megson Sailing

I couldn’t sleep last night.  I was sat up in bed for ages until goodness knows what hour.  I was thinking that in just a few months I’m going to sail my new boat for the first time.  I was imagining what it’s going to be like on my first sail in her.  If I’m like this now, what on earth am I going to be like as the time to launch the boat gets closer .

I’m sure anyone reading this will think I’ve lost the plot, but she’s more than just a boat to me.  For starters she represents lots of hard work just to get this stage of owning a boat.  Then there is the time and money invested in getting her ship-shape before she goes back into the water.  There is still lots to do and the pressure is on, but I don’t mind that, I always find a way to get things done.

It’s the feeling I get when I’m out at sea that drives me.  On land its obvious I’m different from most other people and in some ways I am restricted.  At sea however, all things are equal and I am free. The feeling of freedom, mixed with excitement, beauty and exhilaration are all things which I associate with being at sea.   I can feel it just thinking and writing about it now.

The thing is, I know that if I want succeed and excel as a sailor, which I do more than anything, then its down to me in the end and my attitude to hard work, experience and a willingness to learn.  I can assure you, I still have much to learn.  Above all I will need grit and determination and to keep my eyes on the prize (which for me is the single handed sail across the Atlantic).  It would be far easier sometimes, when things are not going to plan, to use my circumstances as an excuse to give up.  My attitude however, is that problems and circumstances are there to be overcome and therefore greater is the achievement having overcome them successfully.

On that note, roll on spring and the sailing season.