Make Boat Go
Sailing is an art, a gift, a luxury, and sometimes a necessity. Those of us who sail—whether recreationally, professionally, or out of sheer stubborn necessity—each do it for a reason.
For those who don’t sail yet, remember this: everyone who does has their reason.
Best find yours quick.
I grew up in a wonderfully convoluted and wildly entertaining world of sailboats—living on them, fixing them, using them, captaining and eventually owning them. After all that time, one central truth finally revealed itself: the fine and un-delicate art of “make boat go.”
I had a convoluted—but unbelievably entertaining—upbringing living on sailboats, fixing up sailboats, using sailboats, captaining, and eventually owning passenger sailboats. After all this time, something finally clicked. The fine and un-delicate art of make boat go.
Something I really wish I’d known when I tossed myself aboard the first overpriced derelict vessel I could afford at age nineteen so many years go.
What I wanted then is what we all want now: make boat go.
Didn’t know how at first. Still made boat go.
I’ve made many boats go since then, and I’ve got a few that are a-going right now. Sailing is such a beautiful thing that once you see it, find it, learn it, enjoy it—you can always rely on it. If your boat goes, then you best be a-going.
As the Water Rat told the Mole in that fine volume The Wind in the Willows:
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
My first boat didn’t go. After some messing about, she did.
Make boat go.
I can tell you how to do it.
Times have changed for us old sailor-men, but we’ve seen the same things again and again. We have credit-card captains seeing double on double hulls, brand new production vessels that will break if you sail upwind in more than 27 knots, and 50-year-old boats still going strong.
In my 33 years aboard sailboats, I’ve met wizened wizard sailing folk with infinitely valuable knowledge, doomsday-preaching dock queens, and a whole cast of likeminded boat chummies and liveaboard neighbors. Friends and neighbors—at anchor or in the marina—are our fellow advocates and teachers.
Unless of course they are not. No offense, Karen.
(Spoiler alert: rely on and help the advocates and teachers.)
If your desire to sail and learn is there—good. Ask everyone all the questions. Each mariner has something to teach another. Give your fellow sailor beer. Offer to help with their project. Give your fellow sailor beer. Ask them to help with yours.
Having the ability to hop on a boat that actually works is pretty cool. If you are one of those with a boat that “works pretty good” yet leaving the dock or sailing around seems stressful—
(looking at you, Charleston Harbor!)
Fear not. Your local area is full of boat captains. Being one, I know we are everywhere. On the dock, under the dock, aground on some rock. Give us half a chance and we’ll climb aboard and show you the ropes—for a price. Just a Facebook or Craigslist ad away.
We scurry to those ads.
But it’s up to you to filter out the flakes making wakes.
Forty percent of us are the best on the sea.
The other sixty percent are also the best on the sea—according to themselves.
If your boat is not so fancy, pockets not so deep, and you can’t afford a captain—like I couldn’t—
Become one.
Sailing is super easy. Anyone can do it, and people are doing it all the time. Someone is doing it brilliantly right now; someone is doing it terribly right now. I’ve been sailing my whole life and professionally for many years. Some folks have called me an amazing sailor. Some amazing sailors might call me… okay.
I actually never “learned” to sail, but I figured out a few things along the way, so I looked cool.
• Don’t point right into the wind—preferably not less than 50 degrees.
• If you have a cool old boat, maybe don’t go past 60 degrees. Unless you can.
• If the sail’s a-flapping, keep on a-wrapping (pull it in).
• When in doubt, let it out.
• If it’s windy, reef your sails, not your boat.
With all that in mind, sailing is clearly easy to understand. You obviously don’t point the boat where you want to go. Instead, point it in a completely different direction. If you consistently do this correctly, at some point you will—hopefully—be pointing at where you want to go.
Where hopefully there is also rum.
And make sure to use only your iPhone to navigate. (Kidding. Mostly.)
HOW TO MAKE IT GO
Whether you’re on a boat that CAN’T GO or one that CAN GO, if you WHANGO, here are some simple steps to MAKE GO.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Prepare to take her out for a day. Probably best to choose a good day. Go for a sail and use your boat! That’s why we have them. They can be comfortable homes or holes in the water to throw money in—but once you finally get her sailing, that’s the good old chariot of dreams.
Just make sure the mast isn’t going to break off.
Make friends with your boat neighbors.
Don’t crash.
If there are tight quarters to maneuver and your sailboat drives weirdly and you would prefer not to crash into Karen’s boat..again–
Ask a friendly boat neighbor—after giving them beer—to stand by with their 15 hp inflatable to be your push boat. That little dinghy is the tugboat to your Queen Mary. When I operate my gangly, weirdly-hulled, non-turning 56’ steel schooner, I use a push boat. You won’t always need that push boat, but if you have anxiety while maneuvering, that tender will help you out. It’s your detachable bow and stern thruster.
Go sailing for a day. Then do it again. Maybe go for a week. Maybe buy some beans and rice and go for a year or twenty. If you can make your boat go for a day, you can make her go for more.
Learn about that old (or new) boat and keep fixing her up. Keep her serviced. She will get you out there. Pick up the anchor, drop the mooring, get off the dock, and go.
If you have that reason to sail, you will.
Market Perspective
- Many new sailors get stuck in theory, but real progress comes from time on the water and practical repetition.
- The rise of chartering and production boats has created a gap where confidence often lags behind ownership or access.
- This “make boat go” mindset reflects traditional seamanship, where learning by doing remains the fastest path to competence.
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