For your car

I am completely advice'd out. It's time to go. I have been given
advice on how to wash, dress, wear my hair, eat, drink, pack, clean
the toilet, ... even sleep. Anything we do that is different from
others is clearly inexperienced, and anything we do that's the same as
others can be improved. The only thing that no-one is giving me advice
on, and the only thing I could really do with advice on, is how to
sail.

I've done a bit of research lately, and am coming to realise that not
many people start their sailing career with the Pacific. Many cruisers
sailed as kids, or had an overlap period between work and cruising
when they went sailing on weekends, or joined family members or
friends on yachts for weeks at a time prior to their big adventures. I
don't think they get that really, I don't know how to sail. If Andy
fell overboard, we'd be in trouble.

But no, no-one has anything to offer on that point, in fact there's
just a spooky silence if I mention that I find sailing hard or, worse,
at times terrifying. Sailing is an art, a feeling, a dance, a sport,
just a thing you do, like walking or riding a bike. Come to think of
it, if you were asked to give advice on either of those two things,
what would you say? Just put one foot in front of the other, and stay
upright, it's easy. Just jump on and push and pedal and maintain
momentum and stay balanced all at the same time while also watching
for traffic and pedestrians and dogs and pot-holes. Easy? Try telling
that to a toddler, or a 6 year old.

I do in fact spend much of my time feeling like a toddler, or a six
year old. Standing up is hard, getting dressed is hard, feeding myself
is hard, and hardest of all is that everyone else around me is so damn
natural at all these things that it makes me want to SCREAM. Just like
a toddler, or a six year old. Yes, today I have entire and...

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