22 April 2018

Cruising without fuss

Eric Hiscock (probably most people haven't even heard about him these days) admired his mentor, Roger Pinckney, because he 'cruised without fuss'.  Doing anything without fuss seems antithetical to the twenty-first century approach to life, where even news of one's breakfast is photographed and distributed, in one assumes, the hope of receiving the plaudits of the masses.  (Why else would one do it?)

However, my heroes and heroines cruise without fuss.  Yes, I know that we refer to all genders as heroes these days, but dammit, my heroines are women and deserve to stand out separately.  My particular heroine is very much someone who cruises without fuss.  She blogs quietly and is virtually unknown beyond a small circle, but her blogs are inspirational and her way of doing things an example that those who say they can't afford to go sailing, would do well to follow.

I'm talking about Shirley on Speedwell, who has just blogged about transiting the Panama Canal.  As ever, the event was quietly understated, but her excitement came through.  She mentioned, in her previous blog, how when she came to organise herself to go through the Canal, she was warned about the dangers of venturing into Colon and "thought of the many times I have walked through the town between the supermarket and the bus terminal without any problems."  This sums up Shirley so well.  She is part of the real world, not on the outside, a tourist looking in.  She wanders alone around places that young men would be frightened to visit, not out of any starry-eyed faith in humanity, but rather with a realistic approach to what constitutes danger.  She brings this same sanity to sailing, and although her non-sailing friends appear to think that she's intent on committing suicide, sailing across the Pacific in her 25ft Vertue, she is well aware of all the other Vertues that have crossed oceans and been around Cape Horn.  She also knows that many, many small boats have crossed the Pacific and she knows herself and her boat well enough to realise that while the prospect may be daunting, she and Speedwell are more than capable of making the voyage.

Knowing one's capacities and having the courage to follow through on that knowledge are two very different things.  So many of us are frightened of being frightened.  Shirley is a heroine to me, because she can rise above that fear and achieve her dream.  And doesn't feel that it's necessary make a fuss about it.

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