Season of preparation: Sailing
How do you prepare for a future so grand that it leans more on the side of ambiguous that practical?
Baby steps.
Baby steps that seem random to everyone else, and even to you sometimes, yet will fill gaps of the larger puzzle in a couple years.
Homes are built brick by brick—room by room.
The same goes for adventures, albeit grand or small.
The past couple months I could be found in a multitude of different rooms, states, and bodies of water.
Four months ago, I had absolutely no idea how to get into the sailing world, but I knew if I wanted to be able to follow the trail something within me was tugging at, I would need to figure out a place to start; the rest would reveal itself along the way.
March of 2026 found me both in Lake Lanier of Atlanta, Georgia and the Ashley River of the Charleston Harbor in Charleston, South Carolina.
Getting into a class was my first priority so I researched what the sailing community had and found American Sailing Association (ASA) classes ranging from 101-105 and after some days of internet scrounging, I landed on taking a weekend trip up to South Carolina for my introductory 101 class at the end of the month.
However…I can be impatient sometimes.
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It was early March when I got bit by the sailing bug and I didn’t want to wait until the end of the month before I could get onto a boat. Hence, I went back to scrounging the internet again to look for any earlier opportunities. Lo and behold my spirit led me right to what I needed—Lake Lanier’s Annual Joan Holcomb Women Skipper Race! And wouldn’t you know it was one week away, and they were looking for volunteers to help with the event.
I wish I could tell you that I thought long and hard about signing up for an event that was 2.5 hours away where I knew absolutely nothing and no one, but truthfully the only thing in my mind was “Cool maybe if I help out someone will show me their boat later.”
And that is how I ended up on the race committee.
Of course it was awkward, but everyone I met was friendly and happy to explain anything I asked about—especially the different kinds of boats.
I might have been on the Barge, which is a motorboat the race committee sails, raises flags, and gives updates and guidelines from, but it felt like the perfect place to be to get an overall picture of what sailing was about and the mechanics about it.
The race didn’t end up happening that day due to lack of wind, but it was still a great way for me to get into this new world. I even met some women sailors who sail every full moon, which is where I found myself at the beginning of May. While I couldn’t make it to the night sail, they also did a day sail that I had an equally great time at. Especially since it was post my ASA 101 class so I knew the basics of sailing.
Speaking of the class, what a way was it to get into sailing.
It was an overcast weekend with fairly high winds; I got my first realization of how different the wind acts on a lake versus flowing in from the ocean and how a sailboat sailed very differently than the Barge did.
My teacher let me at the helm initially—and kept me there through what he later described as a washing machine.
The waves crashed in white caps, turbulent as the wind blew them heavily in one direction before abruptly switching the opposite direction. Gusting just below the 20 knot zone that was just safe enough to sail in.
However, for this to be my first experience, I wasn’t sure what to expect and settled with, “This must just be normal for sailing.”
Once we were back at port my instructor gave me a solid pat on the back with a hearty laugh, letting me know this was in fact not normal and that he would spend the rest of the week telling everyone how he took a girl, whose first time it was on a sailboat, into turbulent waters and she didn’t bat an eye.
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April came and went with no sailing, but May and June brought their own adventures.
As I mentioned previously, I met a group of women who sail under the full moon at Lake Lanier, the Sassy Sailors they call themselves.
Sailing with them was a joy; couldn’t have asked for a better first time relaxed sailing environment. A complete 180 from my ASA 101 experience as we drifted along calm waters drinking adult beverages of our choosing with plenty of snacks to go around.
Our Skipper (the person in command of the vessel, usually the owner of the boat unless otherwise designated), was happy to volunteer her and her husbands’ boat Witchburner, a Hunter 336 I believe, as it was her first time taking it out without her husband and what better group to go with than with a host of comforting lady sailors.
Though one woman was a licensed instructor and still managed to guide us around sections of the lake, helping us all get experience in different positions around the boat.
It was amazing to feel truly part of a sailing community even for just a couple hours. Back at the dock after, we continued the merry festivities until it was time for the next sail, that I unfortunately didn’t attend.
When I first started learning to fly planes in college, sleep would pull me into its depths the moment I returned home. The more I sail the more I realize the techniques are similar to flying a plane just at a different angle. Turns out the aftereffects of learning are also the same.
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In June, my job sent me down to Biloxi, Mississippi.
There was a tropical storm coming in from the Gulf that was set to flood the entire week, which meant my assignment would likely be canceled and I’d have to return home. However, the day I got there just so happened to be the last calm day of the week. The calm before the storm.
So, I took advantage of it.
I set to scouring the internet and Facebook groups to see if there would be anyone willing to take a new sailor out for some experience within the next couple hours. I found a company that ended up being a mom-and-pop shop kind of business. A couple who chartered their personal boat.
I spoke with the husband and arranged everything only for a woman to hit me back on Facebook and tell me about her chartering business—neither one of us had any idea it was her husband that I already spoke to and coordinated with until later.
Captain Jay and Captain Patti of Adventure-Charters were a wonderfully kind couple who took me out on their Hinckley Bermuda 40, Gypsy Lady. And wouldn’t you know she was one of the most beautiful boats I had been on so far; the largest too.
The winds weren’t nearly as turbulent as my first experience sailing, but with the impending storm, they were kicking quite a bit. Captains Jay and Patti told me that they agreed to take me out because I was a sailing student and wanting experience, otherwise they wouldn’t have chartered in that kind of weather.
Sailing with them brought invaluable experience as they have sailed all over the world. They took their time explaining any and everything to me, answering any questions I had, showing me how they sailed such as their charts and plotting, things I need to consider before buying a boat such as keel depth (considering Biloxi waters had averages of 5ft depth and I had only been in boats that had 5-6ft keels themselves, which are the weighted fins underneath sailboats that keep them counter balanced), and told me many stories of their sailing adventures abroad along with the realities of liveaboard sailing.
Captain Patti even wrote a book, A Woman’s Guide to the World of Sailing (The Dreams and Realities of Cruising, Crossing, and Competitive Racing). A beautiful articulation of how sailing has shaped her life and helped her with her family, capturing you with a life or death story that led to love right from the beginning.
While they taught me much of active sailing, they also made sure I relished a part of sailing I hadn’t dwelled in too much—relaxing. I’ll never forget laying on the bow of the ship, letting the sails fill above my head as I took in the beautiful sunset before me.
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My final recent adventure in sailing took me and my partner to the coast of Florida, St. Augustine specifically.
As my partner and I build a life together, I thought it imperative to introduce him to the life track I was on before his arrival—to show him the life I seek should he decide he’s bold enough to stick around insert playful wink because I know he’s going to read this and give me a ‘really Jas’ kind of look.
For the 4th of July holiday (Independence Day here in the States), I wanted to go to waters I hadn’t explored yet; and while it was still the Atlantic, no two coasts were the same.
This wasn’t to teach him how to sail, but to enjoy time together on a boat and introduce him to the feeling that has been calling me. We booked a private sunset charter with St. Augustine, sailing on one of their 35’ vessels and relaxed in each other’s arms at the bow of the ship gazing at other boats also out at the time as we drifted along the beautiful coastline scenery of the St. Augustine shoreline.
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While I don’t get to make it out on a boat every week or even every other week, the time I have spent learning to sail on a consistent monthly basis has brought me nothing but joy and allows me to be proud of my effort and courage to dive into this world headfirst.
The goal is to purchase my own boat by the end of the year and start sailing at the beginning of the next. Preparation and learning aren’t always fast and glamourous, no matter how much I will it, but that is just fine. The journey is unfolding as it should with twist and turns along the road, along with it beautiful sights, people to meet, and new languages to learn along the way. No need for there to be any worry or anxiety to fill my heart or mind about the future to come.
Jasmine Q
