I read an article, I think in Smithsonian, about Polynesian way finding. They talked about becoming familiar with the movement of the boat so you could "feel" your course. My father, would wake up in the middle of the night and yell up from below, "Willy, what's our heading?" I'd always look down at the compass and see I was 5 to 8 degrees off. I'd take a moment to correct before is answer him.
One night, anchored in Mobil Bay during a storm, he jumped up and raced on deck. The anchor line had chafed apart. We weren't able to unlash the dingy and get the other anchor out from under it in time to avoid grounding on a nearby sandbar. He could feel it in his sleep, the instant Blitzen, an old S&S design, began to turn broadside to the waves.
They say you can't teach things like that but, it is so much harder to learn if the ideas were never taught first.
My father says it comes to you with responsibility. When you are in charge of the boat, you don't completely relax.
- Will (Dragonfly)