Sailing Stress
The crew and skipper were deathly quiet.
All talking had ceased since we had entered the passage, where a strong tide was running against us.
Dangerous whirlpools swirled on either side of us, as our skipper carefully navigated the 27-foot sail boat carefully among the eddies. The boat rocked from side to side, as we slowly made progress.
At one point, the current was particularly strong and it didn’t seem like we were passing a house on the island close by. The engine was straining at full power.
“Umm, I don’t think we’re making any headway,” I said carefully to the skipper.
His eyes never left the water as he told me we would be fine once we got past the house and the point just past it. My stomach clutched - what if the engine suddenly quit?
I looked over at my crew mate. She was quiet too, as I could tell thoughts were running through her head.
Finally we were free of the strong tide and out of the worst of it. Suddenly we were all talking at once, relieved that everything was okay.
For anyone who’s ever spent time on the water sailing, they know there are times that can be stressful - times when you have to make a judgement call.
Fortunately, our skipper was well experienced.
Most of us think of sailing as enjoyable - and it is, otherwise we wouldn’t do it. But sometimes there are stressful times and you have to know how to handle it.
Lack of finances, stress at work, stress in relationships - these are all types of stress we need to learn how to handle.
The SeptOct’09 issue of the Herbal Collective will feature an article on stress, what it does to our bodies and herbal botanicals, supplements and therapies that better equip us to deal with that stress.
Stress, handled properly, teaches us to grow and learn from our experiences. The skipper let me take the tiller and pilot the boat through another passage (see photo above) .
Marilyn Zink is the publisher.editor of the Herbal Collective magazine, www.herbalcollective.ca who also enjoys sailing.
