It’s been a few weeks since I have been sailing. I think that may be the longest since I’ve had Cuajota. Things have gotten pretty stressful at work and to top that off I just got over a pretty bad cold. After work I decided a sail was overdue. I was going to raise sails no matter what the conditions were. I got to the boat about 6pm. Sunset is about 815 so I had a few hours of daylight remaining. Wind was about 6-8 knits when I got there. Not bad! I fired up the diesel and it turned over on the first turn. Nice. Backed out of the slip and turned into the wind, raised the main and opened the jib. I was sailing! I was going downwind nice and smooth. Headed down the harbor. Gybed a number of times and the boat felt great. Got to the end of the harbor. Turned around and the wind was now up to about 12 knots. Awesome. Tacked upwind about a dozen times. All the way back up the harbor. What’s amazing about this kinda wind in harbor is that you have to be so much more focused. There are kayakers, outrigger canoes, powerboats, electric Duffy boats, 2 Ferries and other sailboats from Sabots to 50 footers. Not to mention the mooring fields. So alot of things to avoid. This is the therapeutic aspect. I can’t think about anything else other than what I’m doing at that moment. The worlds problems and issues disappear. The weight is lifted from your shoulders and all you care about is the wind vane, tell tales and sail shape. The amazing sound of a boat gliding through the water propelled only by the wind is like the music that soothes the savage beast. Tonight’s sail was amazing. Liberating. Exhilarating. One of the things that will leave a huge smile on your face no matter what else is happening in the world. There is nothing else in the world like wind therapy.