This post was published over 700 days ago and therefore may not represent current Outside Context thinking or opinion. Please, do not let that detract from your enjoyment of it! 
Sailing — final day.
Originally uploaded by Basho Matsuo.
So the final day is over and the trip is done (the parts on the waves anyway). What can I say other than we have truly flogged-the-Oggin’ in almost all sea conditions. My impressions? Well, there is something intrinsically “blanking” about standing watch on deck alone, by which I mean my mind is slowly ground to quiet and silence and becomes, well, blank. Like I am an Etch-a-sketch being shaken gently against the wind so that the picture (the stressfull picture that work and modern life creates) is diminished and eventually gone. A welcome blankness into which I can pour what I want and I find that suddenly I can, to switch metaphors, see the wood from the trees. I like sailing, I like it a lot. However, It has its problems as far as the standard holiday checklist goes. As whilst I can say that it is social, fun, exciting, travel to the unknown & back again and fairly cheap, it is also very tiring (my body is thinking that work will be rest after this!), slightly claustrophobic (it is impossible to have a private conversation or tryst aboard ship), a holiday governed by someone else (Captain says jump; you jump, obligingly, but jump none-the-less) and a high learning curve (I finally learned the knots by the time we pulled back into lymington!). And that is leaving out the sea sickness. It is I suppose very similar to one’s first ski trip in these respects and I take heart by that thought, as the second and subsiquent ski adventures are fun and later ones where you have mastered the art are pure bliss. I very much look forwards to future sails and will be better prepared for the challenges involved mentally and physically. So it is to be recomended to all and savoured by those prepared to step aboard with oportunity to go further than a days jaunt.
