Then and Now with James and the Amazing Janaye – July 2018

Along came James, Harold’s  son, and there were many hours spent on the Tanzer 22 getting James acquainted with sailing from the early age of two while still in diapers.  Through the years James brought friends aboard and appeared quite content to occupy his time playing games with his friends or reading.   Harold was under the impression that James was not particularly interested in sailing but none the less it was a way to spend time with his son so Harold always encouraged James to bring as many friends as he wanted.  James took lessons, then enjoyed the sailing dingy Harold had bought for him.

One day to Harold’s great surprise James announced he wanted to do everything on the Tanzer to get her ready for a sail.  Harold asked if he needed his help and James replied, “No Dad, I’ve watched everything you’ve done” and was very capable of getting the boat ready for setting sail.  “This brought tears to my eyes” is Harold’s memory of that day.

Teaching sailing has always been an informal passion of the Skipper’s and this summer we had the awesome surprise of having a lovely young lady aboard who took to sailing like a fish to water.  THE AMAZING JANAYE came from Manitoba with her Mom Jackie (niece to the 1st mate) and set sail from Port McNeil to Sointula on Malcomb Island to Blackfish Sound and back to Port McNeil.  In the few short days aboard, Janaye advanced from novice sailor to experienced deck hand and crew, asking all the pertinent questions and understanding the answers and directions in a heartbeat.  She helped tie the lines when docking, adjusted the fenders, and even reminded us when we needed to move the fender step from port side to starboard side at the dock.  While at anchor she asked “what do we do if we start to sink?”  So we got out all the safety gear and explained the EPIRB, the waterproof VHF, the flares, the emergency food and water and explained the reasons why we may need to abandon ship, along with all the safety mechanisms on board to keep us afloat.  Janaye and her Mom seemed reassured we would be safe in case of disaster.  (We were anchored within the bay at Port McNeil at the time but wanted to keep their first experience safe and secure)  Coming from a 10 year old from the prairies the questions were extremely appropriate and showed us the wheels were turning and she truly wanted to gain knowledge and understanding.   The Skipper was THRILLED, and before the first sip of morning coffee Janaye would ask “Harold can we play chess?”  and they were off.  They got along like long lost friends and life on board OMOO was a dream come true for the Skipper.

Thank you SOOOO MUCH Jackie for bringing us your delightful daughter to spend some time on the water.  Looking forward to your next visit on OMOO.

Here’s Janaye’s story of her trip on OMOO.

PSS… She’s adorable and she gets an A for effort on the anchoring (35 ft depth so 120 ft of chain down).