Marsali Taylor
Living with the sea
Onboard caution is vital following last July’s regatta injury and hard-fought recovery
Marsali Taylor sails an Offshore 8M, Karima S. She’s a dinghy instructor and author of The Shetland Sailing Mysteries starring liveaboard sleuth, Cass Lynch.
That first, wonderful run under motor to the end of the voe took till past mid-February to achieve –six months past the accident that put me, temporarily, in a wheelchair. It was a still day, with almost-warm sunshine. By now I was walking along the pontoon self, as my grandson used to say, and swinging on board the boat as if my pelvis had never heard of breaks. Philip. my non-sailing spouse (NSS), was coming too, as supervisor, and was already showing NSS credentials: “When you say ‘Just to the end of the voe’, exactly what counts as the voe end?” He also vetoed my traditional end-of-voe hot chocolate:
“Let’s just get out and back.”
The engine started first time; I steered us beautifully out of the marina, and we headed out. It felt fantastic. Being back on the water –feeling my tiller in my hand, and my own boat under my feet, and seeing her prow in front. I wouldn’t have called the king my cousin.
Now the sailing season’s here, it’s time to take an honest assessment of what state I’m in. Between swimming, physio and arm strengthening (I’ve been carrying a 5lb weight round the house, including every time I go up or down the stairs), I’m probably fitter than I would have been otherwise. To counteract that, the breaks in my upper pelvis have mended with ‘fibrous tissue’ joins which complain at the added weight, like carrying a sailbag along the pontoon (done now). One hip is higher than the other, so when I’m walking I take an involuntary wander to the left now and then. I’m concerned about my balance on board, and what I definitely can’t do is move quickly.
Hoisting the main at sea is worrying me most. It’s mast-hauling, and Karima needs to be absolutely nose to wind for the main to go upwards, though with a good skoosh of silicone spray at the start of the season it rattles up fast and easily, with the winch only needed for the final tightening. Given the wind strengths I’ll be out in, i.e. under 10 knots, well, absolutely under 15, it might not need much tightening at all.
I was thinking that for my first couple of sails, I could wait for a southerly wind– dead on her nose in the berth, so I could hoist it there, push it over and sail out. But what if it’s a summer of northerlies, which is perfectly possible here in She
