The Young Couple and the Sea
Slate Magazine is brining out the story of four amateur sailors renting out a catamaran and heading out to the see, towards Virgin Islands. Writer Seth Stevenson seems to be out for a real adventure with his catamaran. Doing this for the first time, he does seem to have some apprehensions and makes no effort to hide it. The first story in the series makes me look forward to more.
Catamarans have two propellers, one on each hull. You use them in concert, upping the right prop’s throttle if you want to steer left, and vice versa. You have to make constant, sensitive adjustments. Meanwhile, the wind pushes you toward those rocks over there. And the current pulls you uncomfortably close to the gleaming hull of a swanky megayacht—which you would prefer not to punch a hole in with your bow. Overall, the experience is sort of like steering a split-level house across a football field coated with ball bearings.