Personal Page: Why Do We Enjoy Sailing So Much? 

Keven’s son, Willem Piper

July 10, 2025

By Keven Piper

I really enjoy that moment when I sheet in the sails, the boat gently heels and it accelerates through the water with a splash and the burble of water and waves.  Even in the lightest of breezes, the boat glides through the water, almost as if it is defying the physics of mass and hydro-aerodynamics. 

Sailboats require quite a bit of care as well.  If you have a cabin, you need to valiantly fight off the spiders, keep the lockers and cupboards clean of mildew.  You need to dive into the tiny spaces, reseal and tighten nuts and bolts, keep your safety gear sorted and up to date.  Servicing and winterizing the auxiliary engine requires care and feeding to keep the vital fluids fresh and full, and occasionally adjusting belts or packing glands.

I can go on about sanding, painting bottoms, polishing topsides, and caring for the brightwork with some oil or some sort of varnish coating.  It really sounds like a horribly large amount of work, but it is working on “YOUR” boat.  I sometimes question whether we own our boats, or if in a secret way, they own us.

There are also those proud moments when we glide out of our slip, smartly hoist the mainsail, unfurl the jib and crisply tack our way out into the open water.  The satisfaction of a neat and tidy mainsail reef, and the snap of the leech when you sheet the sail home.

If you are lucky enough to have a pretty boat, there is satisfaction of other sailors’ admiration for the aesthetics of the sweeping shear and sharp bow.  You can always tell a sailor away from the water as they will have a photo of their boat on the wall, or a great action shot as wallpaper on their computer desktop. For now, I’m just going to look out the window onto the harbour to see if one of my kids has taken off from the club for a sail.