Sailing training: how does sailing change us?

“An abundance of impressions distinguishes a vacation on a yacht from other types of recreation,” says clinical psychologist Irina Gross, a participant in such trips. – The ability to change the environment while sailing makes it especially diverse and memorable. If they wanted to, they went into a noisy port and got acquainted with the local life and culture; if they wanted to, they dropped anchor in a deserted picturesque bay and felt like savages.” The main thing is to understand that not only rest is important, but also work on oneself, the expert believes. And it is worth going on such a journey if you are truly ready to create and rewrite the script of your life.

Assol never dreamed of such a thing

If you cherish the dream of lying beautifully on the stern or bow all days of the journey, exposing the curves to the sun, you will be disappointed. Yachting is strict rules, submission to the captain and a set of exercises for everyone without exception and without regard to the social status on the shore: everyone will have to cook food and scrub the deck. It is unlikely that Assol guessed about such a reverse side of her fantasy about scarlet sails. One of the primary tasks is to learn the terms so as not to rush around the deck in bewilderment and clearly follow the instructions of the captain.

“If you don’t have a team, you will have to sweat yourself. Each of the participants in the training becomes a “crew” with their own responsibilities,” says Irina Gross, “Mooring and departure of the yacht require coordinated actions of the whole team. Someone fixes the mooring lines, someone hangs out the fenders, someone is responsible for the anchor, and someone steers. To set or remove the sails, you will need skill. To get, to poison, to give away means to stretch, loosen or completely untie the sheets. Maneuvering under sail, tying knots, keeping a watch on the helm – there are plenty of worries.

At a certain moment, it turns out that people begin to understand each other at a glance, and sometimes even at a glance. To feel what movement and with what effort another member of the crew will make, to guess and anticipate – this is aerobatics. It is on the yacht that a sense of elbow and shoulder is not only a figure of speech.

Yachting is unpredictable. Much depends on the weather. You never know what wind will blow, whether the sea will be calm or agitated, whether there will be a place when mooring. “You are almost helpless before the forces of nature and external circumstances,” explains Irina. And in this there is a certain amount of risk and extreme, but at the same time – and an incomparable feeling of freedom.

In the same boat, but not within four walls

There is another feature of yachting that scares some at first. Being in a confined space for several days, even with familiar people, is not easy, but what if you got into an unfamiliar carriage? Can everyone take it? Will team members get bored with each other? In addition, there is little space on the ship for active movement – isn’t it tiring to move around a few square meters all day long? But this is part of the training, says Irina Gross.

The space on the yacht is really limited, and it’s hard to part with the feeling that you can’t escape from here if you want. But the crew has the opportunity to go ashore or swim by jumping off the side. “The enclosed space effect takes us back to the past when we were limited by the walls of the house. Therefore, the yacht is perceived as a place where you can’t leave, but at the same time you want to return there again and again. This is a cradle in which you are slowly rocked by the waves. You know that the journey will end, and it is the finitude that prompts you to search for new meanings. Limited space and pitching without any hypnosis is introduced into an altered state of consciousness. A person relaxes, manifests himself for real, reveals his scenario of life.

Being on a yacht for more than three days among other people is a test for each participant, Irina confirms. Live side by side, eat together, walk, swim, talk. It is much more difficult to observe one’s own and other people’s borders, to respect other people’s space here than on the coast. Strengths and weaknesses, pluses and minuses appear at sea twice as fast as on land.

“People are opening up every day. Someone was the first, someone was silent. Gradually we became more sincere, we worked more actively, and the discovery of one person stimulated the discovery of another. We found a new approach to problems, because, experiencing someone else’s pain, it is easier to talk about your own. Yes, you can get bored with each other, but definitely by the end of such a journey, those who were strangers yesterday become relatives.

There is also a physiological nuance: everyone tolerates pitching differently. But you should not be afraid of seasickness – it is not as terrible as it seems, Irina assures. Those who are swayed can take the helm. In addition, transitions last no more than six hours, and people quickly adapt to pitching.

Way to yourself

Going swimming is worth at least for the sake of testing and getting to know yourself. The unpredictability of nature only helps in this. “Suddenly waves rise, the boat tilts – and a person feels that he is only a “chip” in the whirlpool of endless fuss. Experiences like these lead to reflection on values. On the journey, you re-live your past, step by step, and here, among the endless sea, under the bright sun, surrounded by your team, you can see everything differently – which means you can change a lot.

In the sea, which represents natural power, we are faced with our own limitations. “We are aware of the imperfection of the world, because each of us is just a person. Participants return with new inner baggage, having found answers to the questions: “who am I?”, “What am I?”, “How do I live?”, “What are my features?”, “What am I looking for?”, “What do I like? “. Crew members admit that they have become closer to themselves, more acutely felt their own body, its needs and soul.

After such a “rest” it is easier to start living in a new way. As if a wave washes away problems that yesterday seemed unsolvable, difficult situations are clarified. And no one returns to their native shore without inspiration.