An offshore state of mind

I absolutely love long-distance offshore sailing - whether it be a day-trip, a multi-day trip, day or night. I have said it many many times, but there is something very wonderful out there, that makes you feel so relevant and so deeply human that it is an experience that I would have a hard time giving up. I feel so so lucky to be able to partake in it from time to time, and it is well worth the effort to get going. Even a one-day offshore trip is a little bit of an operation to get the boat ready...

A big part of it is mental and just takes self-confidence. Confidence is developed through practice and experience AND the belief that you can figure things out. Interestingly, everything 'bad' that happened to me while sailing was actually very good in that respect.

I was on a boat that sank offshore, fortunately with someone with a lot of blue water experience. This was a fabulous training as it taught me that there are many situations you can get out of on a boat, even if the boat disappears from under you. It taught me the importance of communication devices, and how things can work really well when you do not panic, etc...I will know freeze if I realize that I have to launch a liferaft - I know exactly what steps to take.

We have broken poles, vangs, masts, forestay and loads of other parts of the rig: I also now know about what to do in these situations.

We have broached, rounded up and down many times on Elise and I know how to recover from these situations (they are super slow, and particularly round downs can lead to broken poles so I don't recommend them, but they are not scary)

I had to go aloft many times (including once at sea) to fix up things at the top of the mast - so not a big deal, and a professional rigger will help me figure out a system that allows me to hoist myself up with minimum energy (I have a self-belay device from my years as a rock climber to absail down the mast)

I caused a short-circuit (at the dock) and had the right reflex to switch off current sources - I could find land somehow with a compass setting if I were to get lost - I bring a lot of redundant equipment so I can reach out for help. I sailed with a broken autopilot (you may not be super competitive on a multi-day race with a broken autopilot if you are single-handed and going downwind but it is very feasible, you can heave-to to take a rest, or stabilize the boat in other ways. Erik Tabarly did the OSTAR with a broken autopilot and won it!)

We had an engine that didn't work when sailing the boat back double-handed from spin cup last year, or a couple of years ago, so we also learned to deal with that. We had an engine failure close to shore at a HMB race after finishing on Elise and had to throw in an emergency anchor, so we also figured out how to deal with this. We sailed in fog and had to use horn and GPS to figure out where we are, so we have experience with this. We sailed in heavy rain or unforgiving sun so we have experience with that. We sailed in 45+ knots of wind and in zero, so we have experience with that...

I have seen Elise's bow buried under a wave while surfing down at 15 knots during a Coastal Cup and come right back up within seconds, barely slowing the boat down thus protecting the rig - I have seen Elise fall down from steep 10-12 ft waves and land with a big bang, yet continue unscathed onto the next wave so I know she can take that. I have seen waves break over the deck, flood pretty much everything, yet Elise would continue proudly toward her destination.

+ I have to say that I get now pretty bored if I sail in less than 25 knots of wind downwind...and I feel pretty comfortable with a kite up in 40 knots of wind surfing down wave, more than this, it is completely exhilarating and something I am getting addicted to - and sailing on the boat in San Francisco Bay means that we pretty much have these conditions all summer...so I know how the boat reacts, what it can take, what I can take which helps me stay safe and not overdo it.

When you read about pro sailors that will sail short-handed, they like to do at least a long delivery on the boat that they will race on so they can get used to the boat - that is also important. Know thyself if you will...it does increase your level of confidence. Knowing where things are, how the boat reacts to any given condition, how things work on a particular boats just puts your mind at ease.

and my motto is: if I can beat alien, I should be able to sail a boat...it puts me in a pretty relaxed state of mind about a lot of things. It would be hard to imagine something worse :)