As the title suggests, this feature will come towards the end of each Bulletin, and will comprise a passage or quotation which captures the spirit of some aspect of sailing, cruising or the sea. It will probably come from a favourite author or sailing personality and could be witty, wise, or just plain instructive. A quotation could come from a sailing acquaintance rather than a recognised authority, of course – the only criterion is that others may learn from it, or be entertained by it!

There could be more than one text printed at a time, but there will only be a single page allocated for the feature. There are two texts to start us off in this issue, one long and one short. In choosing these I tried to balance the romance of Jack London's description with the curt, no-nonsense approach of Bill Tilman, a man who was always most at ease with the harder contours of this life. I'm afraid the final effect of these two is perhaps overly masculine and macho, but no doubt we will achieve a balance in time: it is up to you! We will always include the names of members who successfully submit texts. Examples will be stockpiled for future issues even if they do not appear immediately. Include an e-mail address or phone number so that we can let you know when this is the case.

How Would You Define a Small-Boat Sailor?

"A sailor is born, not made. And by 'sailor' is meant, not the average efficient but hopeless creature who is found today in the forecastle of deepwater ships, but the man who will take a fabric compounded of wood and iron and rope and canvas and compel it to obey his will on the surface of the sea. Barring captains and mates of big ships, the small-boat sailor is the real sailor. He knows - he must know - how to make the wind carry his craft from one given point to another given point. He must know about tides and rips and eddies, bar and channel markings, and day and night signals; he must be wise in weather-lore; and he must be sympathetically familiar with the peculiar qualities of his boat which differentiate it from every other boat that was ever built and rigged. He must know how to gentle her about, as one instance of a myriad, and to fill her on the other tack without deadening her way or allowing her to fall off too far.....

And once a sailor, always a sailor. The savour of salt never stales. The sailor never grows so old that he does not care to go back for one more wrestling bout with wind and wave. I know of it myself. I have turned rancher, and I live beyond sight of the sea. Yet I can stay away from it only so long. After several months have passed, I begin to grow restless. I find myself day-dreaming over incidents of the last cruise, or wondering if the striped bass are running on Wingo Slough, or eagerly reading the newspapers for reports of the first northern flights of ducks. And then, suddenly, there is a hurried packing of suitcases and overhauling of gear, and we are off for Vallejo where the little Roamer lies, waiting, always waiting, for the skiff to come alongside, for the lighting of the fire in the galley-stove, for the pulling-off of gaskets, the swinging-up of the mainsail, and the rat-tat-tat of the reef-points, for the heaving short and the breaking-out, and for the twirling of the wheel as she fills away and heads up Bay or down."

A Note on Sail Handling

"There are three positions for the mainsail and boom: all the way out, all the way in, and halfway between. Anything else is the effete nonsense of dinghy sailors."