Nana, Dad (4 yrs) at tiller of Scamp, Great Aunt Flo- Great South Bay, Long Island, NY.My father’s maternal grandfather was in banking and lived in Brooklyn, New York. His family spent summers out of the humid confines of Brooklyn and commuted to Amityville on the southern shores of Long Island. Here he built a home on 138 Ocean Avenue on the Amityville River. Eventually a covered boathouse was added with a marine railway in order to maintain his growing fleet. There was the Scamp, the Teal, the Scampa, the Coot, and the Gull. The entire family sailed in the Scamp including Dad. He took the tiller at a young age. His father and mother split up and Dad remained with his mother and grandfather, Marshall Woodman. My great-grandfather “Grandpa” was only in my life for five years, but I remember his glasses, his chair, and the big tree in the yard at Ocean Avenue. Most of all, the boathouse held a fascination. The aromas of tar, linseed oil, and oakum are redolent of smoky teas like Lapsang Souchong.
My siblings and I were welcomed aboard both the Teal and the Scamp as babies. I was sleeping in a dresser drawer for my maiden voyage. My two older sisters were already old salts. Sometimes I was left to nap in a pram under the big tree (I claim it was a willow) with my Grandpa to watch for any wiggles. My first visual memory was the interplay of sunlight and shadow through the wisps of leaves on a scorching summer afternoon. Another very young memory was the sound of water slipping by the hull of the Scamp as I lay in a blanket to leeward under the cuddy. There is no finer sound than this….soothing and smooth. From the heeling angle and the faster sound of the water sliding past, I could lay there and imagine the wind freshening up, the tiller pulling slightly with weather helm, and the ripples on the surface of the bay turning into small waves. This is how a child gathers all the information to have what’s called “seat of the pants” knowledge of sailboats. Much of it comes through your senses, some of it is mimicking your parents, and very little of it is pedagogical. The wind hits your face and you can always point to its source. The waves usually come from that direction too. The sailboat won’t sail into the wind. Stronger wind causes heeling. Becalmed is no wind. Current can carry you slowly with no wind. Tides go in and out. Shallow water is to be avoided unless the centerboard is up or you are going clamming. The tiller was pushed opposite of the direction you wished to sail. No one had to school or tell us. The data came in and registered. We were sailors, rowers, and helmsmen at a very young age.
My siblings and I were welcomed aboard both the Teal and the Scamp as babies. I was sleeping in a dresser drawer for my maiden voyage. My two older sisters were already old salts. Sometimes I was left to nap in a pram under the big tree (I claim it was a willow) with my Grandpa to watch for any wiggles. My first visual memory was the interplay of sunlight and shadow through the wisps of leaves on a scorching summer afternoon. Another very young memory was the sound of water slipping by the hull of the Scamp as I lay in a blanket to leeward under the cuddy. There is no finer sound than this….soothing and smooth. From the heeling angle and the faster sound of the water sliding past, I could lay there and imagine the wind freshening up, the tiller pulling slightly with weather helm, and the ripples on the surface of the bay turning into small waves. This is how a child gathers all the information to have what’s called “seat of the pants” knowledge of sailboats. Much of it comes through your senses, some of it is mimicking your parents, and very little of it is pedagogical. The wind hits your face and you can always point to its source. The waves usually come from that direction too. The sailboat won’t sail into the wind. Stronger wind causes heeling. Becalmed is no wind. Current can carry you slowly with no wind. Tides go in and out. Shallow water is to be avoided unless the centerboard is up or you are going clamming. The tiller was pushed opposite of the direction you wished to sail. No one had to school or tell us. The data came in and registered. We were sailors, rowers, and helmsmen at a very young age.
No comments:
Post a Comment