The other night I was sitting under the stars sipping some wonderful ale along with a couple of salty sailor types just bsing about life in general and the topic of Oklahoma sailing came up. “Yes, I’m an Okie”, I said with a bit of proudness to it probably…”I grew up in Oklahoma and that is where I learned to sail”. My fellow sailors stopped their drink at mid face and stared at me wondering just want kind of sailor I could be then? “No water in Oklahoma”, they both replied. Funny they should mention that. Oklahoma PR states that there is more shoreline in Oklahoma than the East and Gulf Coast combined. Of course, I added this tidbit of information and again, their drinks stopped half way to their mouths but this time, a different look on their faces as they felt I have now exceeded the boundaries of BS, I have crossed the line so to speak. “It’s true,” I stated. And I proceeded to qualify my statement telling them of our lakes and river systems, not to mention the fact that Oklahoma has one of the greatest natural resources known to man, and that is wind. The entire state could maintain itself on solar and wind generated systems if it would. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. But, that’s another thought. With that kind of wind, and lots of water, we have some of the best sailors, some of the best sailing facilities not to mention regional regattas, etc, that any inland state could possibly have. Again, they were floored, speechless and after a moment or two, I was bombarded with comments, questions, you name it and I found myself defending my stand on the state being the sailing state it is.
Anyone that sails Oklahoma knows what I’m typing about. Ever sail Lake Hefner on a weekend? Bumper boats. Ever sail Tenkiller? Grand? Eufaula? What about Texhoma, Kaw Lake, the Spavinaws? Kerr-McClellen? What wonderful sailing opportunities we have in Oklahoma. What about the 100-mile race on Grand Lake? That’s one way if memory serves. The opportunity to sail in Oklahoma is remarkable, the wind ever blowing and rarely light, one can sail most the year. And yes, maybe it’s a secret that Oklahoma has the shoreline that she has, that natural born sailors flourish there and at any given weekend, no telling how many thousands are actually trimming sail on an Oklahoma lake. What a place to set sail at. I miss it.
What I’ve learned from Oklahoma winds will follow me all throughout my sailing career and I make use of the knowledge I gained having learned in Oklahoma. The winds, the cloud formations, the weather patterns there, all made me a better sailor, a more competent one in that I know how to predict weather patterns now. I learned that in Oklahoma. I’m not an ol’ salt per say. I’m an Oklahoma sailor now taking her knowledge to the Chesapeake where I hopefully one day sail my 41 using my Oklahoma sailor education. I don’t argue the fact that inland sailors are just as true to sailing as offshore people. I know better. I know the differences in heaving to in a storm rather than finding a cove to tuck into. I’ve done both on an Oklahoma lake. I’ve ridden out some good swells in the Gulf of Mexico and I’ve also handled some pretty good wave action on an Oklahoma lake where people approached me later on telling me all they saw of me and the boat as they crossed the dam was the boats spreaders. Now, that’s some big waves out there, right?
What is all this comparison stuff about? Who cares? Does it really matter where one learns to sail? Does it make a person less of a sailor just because they learned inland rather than offshore or in some big estuary? I mean, really…. Who cares? The fact that we all sail, we have that common bond, that thread that sailors have, means we are part of a unique lifestyle, a culture all it’s own, be it inland or seaside, who cares? We all spread the canvass, we all have the same feelings regarding sailing itself or we wouldn’t be sailors. We aren’t like the rest of the water people that stick a key in and go, that’s all fine and good maybe and requires little thought, little brain power and lots of money to stoke the engines. We have our own qualities. We appreciate the finer things that sailing allows us and that’s a fine payoff for taking the time and learning how to sail a boat. Maybe we are more intune to the weather, the gentle movement of treetops catches our eyes more and we pay more attention to cloud types. Is it possible that our senses are sharpened and honed more each time we go out under sail in that we pay more attention to wind changes, wind speed? Are we truly more visual in that we detect the change of water color before the storm, the change of sky color as well? Where did we learn that from? Did we learn it from other sailors? Or did we pick it up naturally as we became sailors ourselves, paying close attention to the elements around us?
Sailing inland offers so many advantages that there are too many to relate but what I’ve noticed is this, without my Oklahoma sailing experiences, there is no way I’d be out here taking on the Chesapeake or the Atlantic eventually. Without my Oklahoma sailing background I wouldn’t be able to do any offshore racing that I enjoy on the Gulf of Mexico in the fall. Oklahoma provided me the education I needed in confronting storms and storm sailing and because of that, I don’t panic on the high seas because I’ve already been there, done that, on an Oklahoma lake.
I don’t need to defend my stand on inland as opposed to offshore sailing. It’s obvious to anyone that can tell the difference, that there really is NO difference in abilities just because one learned inland. If you’re a sailor, you’re a sailor. Period. If you’re the type that sits on the boat and watches everyone else go out and come in, then, you’re not a sailor but maybe a wannabe. Just don’t enter into the conversation stating that you know this and you know that because you have a 40 footer sitting on the biggest estuary in the world. Who cares? I don’t. What I do care about is the fact that my roots to sailing were formed in Oklahoma. I have no regrets. And because of this, I’ll always be an Oklahoma sailor whether I wind up in Fiji or Belize, no matter. And I am proud that I learned in that state where the wind constantly blows, where the weather is always changeable, the water cool and fresh, no jellies there. I appreciate an inland sailor fore’ they make better offshore sailors having already experienced heavy stuff, scary stuff and possible catastrophe. Lakes are minute seas surrounded by boundaries. What do boundaries do? Teach us, right? Then, go learn on a lake before you hit the sea. It’s an advantage and a good one at that.
Anyone can hold a straight course at sea. Not just anyone can sail a mean scurvy lake that wants to take you down. As the saying goes, “Whenever your preparations for the sea are poor, the sea worms it’s way in and finds the problems”.
Captain Lee Allred
Of the good ship, Mintaka