Zen of Daysailing; Vaurien Sailing out of Tenerife

Buried deep in the bowels of this blog are several posts I did about sailing with no racing - just kicking back in a pleasant breeze - the zen of daysailing. As winter makes its approach in the Mid-Atlantic it is good for the soul to watch the zen of daysailing, basking in the tropical sun close to the equator; in this case Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.




More Zen of Daysailing.

Geezer Racing: The Gentleman's Way

The formula:

1. Get a small two-man dinghy with, and this is important, NO SPINNAKER!
2. Make sure the wind is light so NO HIKING! (Well, maybe some leaning out is OK.)
3. Assign one geezer as PORT helmsman and the other as STARBOARD helmsman which eliminates any one person actually crossing the entire boat on tacks
4. Enjoy whatever the competition brings!

Zen of Daysailing: A Dutch Valk and Jolle Segeln

Every once in a while I intersperse all my posts about planing boats, or racing, or boatbuilding with videos of people just enjoying a daysail and a day on the water. The wind is perfect, not too strong, not too light, the sun is out, the water temperatures are good for swimming. Sailing is best done with the feet up and a smile on the face.

The Dutch Valk klasse is similar size and original concept to the U.S.A.'s Lightning class though with a squat traditional gunter rig. It appears the Dutch build them in fiberglass for recreational sailing - the PolyValken. (I think they reserve the wood ones for racing.) By the looks of this video, the Valk fits the recreational role superbly. (I like the cross thwart at the aft end of the cockpit allowing the skipper to recline and steer at the same time.)


Zeilen op de Kagerplassen from Muxio on Vimeo.

Jolle segeln is German for dinghy sailing. Here is a daysail in a true classic German dinghy, wood with traditional fittings. (Video settings doesn't allow me to embed.) I'm not sure what the class is, maybe a reader can help out.

Easter Weekend: Two Videos of Family Sailing on a Drascombe Lugger and a Welsford Navigator

Nope, I wasn't the one to get out on the water last weekend but here are two videos of families that devoted part of Easter Weekend to kick around in some smallish daysailors.

The first video is, I think, from Holland. Definitely looks chilly but the sail area was kept very manageable on, what looks to be, a fiberglass Drascombe Lugger.



Sailing from Kees Plattel on Vimeo.

The next one is definitely from a warmer clime; a daytrip to Carnac Island off the West Australian coast. The boat is a similar type to the Drascombe Lugger, a plywood Welsford Navigator.



Close Encounters of the Seal Kind from David Broun on Vimeo.

Another Topper Daysail with grins

I keep running into great daysailing videos featuring adults enjoying the English Topper scow. Normally used as a transition singlehander in England for the juniors coming out of the Opti programs, it seems adults who are not racers, enjoy kicking around in this plastic boat. (In the U.S.A. I would vote the Sunfish more than the Laser as the one adults more enjoy as a kick-around singlehander.)


Topper on Oulton Broad from John Fielding on Vimeo.

I like the music. Anyone know the name of the group? - Ahh! Found It! Ben Howard with the song "Promise".

Music Whenever; Noah and the Whale "Love, Love, Love"

Haven't done a music post lately. Some friends have fled to Florida to avoid winter altogether (though today was a glorious warmish day for the Mid-Atlantic winter - after a very dismal weekend - but nothing comes close to having a a bummer week like getting your car crushed in Pacific storms!). Well what to do to bring some cheer? An upbeat tune by "Noah and the Whale" and some of our Filipino friends having a grand old time where the weather is hot, the water is warm, the beer is flowing. Ukulele, whistling, mouth trumpet. Life is good.



Love, Love, Love from Cedric Valera on Vimeo.


Lyrics
Oh, in five years time we could be walking round the zoo
With the sun shining down over me and you

And there’ll be love in the bodys of the elephants too
I’ll put my hands over your eyes, but you'll peek through

And there’ll be sun, sun, sun
All over our faces
And sun, sun, sun
All over our bodys.
And sun, sun, sun
All down my neck
Oh, and sun, sun, sun
So, what the heck

'cause' we’ll be laughing at each others silly little jokes
And we’ll be laughing about how we use to smoke
All those stupid little cigarretes and drinks stupid wine
‘cause it’s what we needed to have a good time

But it was fun, fun, fun
When we were drinking.
It was fun, fun, fun
When we were drunk
And it was fun, fun, fun
When we were dancing
It was fun, fun, fun
Oh, it was fun.

Well then I look at you and say “it’s the happiest that I’ve ever been”
And I’ll say: “I no longer feel that I have to be james dean”
And she'll say: “yeah, well I feel pretty happy too, and I’m always pretty happy when I’m just kicking back with you”

And there will be love, love, love
All through our bodys.
Love, love, love
All through our minds
And it'l be love, love, love
All over her face
And love, love, love all over mine

And though admittedly all these moments are just in my head
I’ll be thinking about them when I'm lying in bed
And i know that none of it will even come true
But in my mind I’m having a pretty good time with you

Oh, In five years time
I might not know you
In five years time
We might not speak
Oh, In five years time
We might not get along
In five years time
You might just prove me wrong

But there’ll be love, love, love
Wherever you go
There’ll be love, love, love....................

Zen of Daysailing; Canoe Sailing in Hawaii

Another one in a series for those who just like to kick around in sailboats.......

Nalo Sail from DG on Vimeo.

Zen of Daysailing; Kicking around on a Snipe Dinghy

My "Zen of Daysailing" series of posts is just that; no racing, just video clips of people out for the enjoyment of a daysail.

My previous posts in the Zen series can be viewed here .

Snipe sailing..... looks like Florida to me.

Untitled from Kelly Rae Ardis on Vimeo.

Before someone else points it out; the music by Wiz Khalifa, with it's unabashed hedonism and drug consumerism (I hear the word misogynistic tossed around all the time when these type of lyrics are discussed), is as far as you can get from Zen. Also, the lifestyle is very foreign to an old married fart like me but the music does have a good toetapping rhythm.

Just for the thrill of it

I've been a small boat sailor for most of my life. When you get as heavily into racing small sailboats as I had in the past, you get somewhat jaded, you forget that thrill of just scooting along in a small boat. This video of an Englishman whooping it up in a Topper scow brings back the joy I felt as an eleven year old sailing the family's El Toro.

(Plus the chap keeps yelling the name of my blog over and over again.........)

Zen of Daysailing; Oh No! A Thunderstorm!

You take four of your best buds out for a daysail on a catamaran and what happens .... the wind dies as a thunderstorm approaches. Got to hand it to the camera man on this one.

Zen of Daysailing; Threesome on a Windrider tri

Andros Island, Bahamas.

The Zen of DaySailing

Remember when you learned to sail and just puttering around the bay was fun enough. Tired of all this high stress dinghy racing? Maybe this couple in an FJ can put you in the right frame of mind.