By David Polakoff
There are songs about sailing, but not about golf. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Beach Boys, Lyle Lovett, Jimmy Buffet, Phish, and Christopher Cross are amongst those whose song lyrics have imparted important life guidance delivered through sailing (or boating) metaphors. Sailing and golf can each be described as sports, hobbies, or passions and they are, similarly, both significantly impacted by the weather. But unlike sailing, why are there no songs about golf? What is so special about sailing?
Just like anything new, golf and sailing have similar, introductory hurdles to jump. The beginning sailor is primarily focused on understanding and mastering the unique sailing vocabulary and the fundamentals (raising sails; steering the boat; controlling sail position to propel the boat; learning knot tying; safe maneuvering amidst other vessel traffic). Compounding the effort, to garner sailing proficiency, though, is mastering the required coordination of hands, feet, eyes, and body (also not dissimilar to golf). And in addition to sight, sailing also involves the integration of touch, smell, and sound (the required use of the fifth sense, taste, will come into play in advanced sailing). Collectively, a novice sailor’s “brain bandwidth” is thus maxed-out. o, what the heck are these musical artists singing about? My list of life lessons from the lyrics did not mention anything about boating fundamentals, such as Bing Crosby singing, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
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