SAILING IN ZAMBALES
Sometimes, my wife’s family and I gather together for a reunion of sorts during Holy Week. The venue for these gatherings is usually held in Iba, Zambales. This is the provincial home of my wife’s uncle - Jun Aranas. He has a largish beach property there.
Several storms had destroyed his old beach home, and after several attempts at rebuilding & consequent destruction - uncle Jun finally gave up and rebuilt only the comfort rooms & a common area. Thus, whenever the family gathers there - we’ve to bring tents & sleeping bags. The more daring of family members, braves sleeping on the sand. I’ve tried it… sand doesn’t taste very nice. Don’t ask me how I know, just take my word for it.
About five years ago, I was considering what kind of radio control aspect I could get my wife involved in. I asked her if she was interested in trying out airplanes. She said “I don’t like looking up at the sky.” So that killed off any kind of flying - including choppers. I found myself clueless.
As fate would have it, a few days later - we were called upon by our wedding sponsor - Obi Mapua, to come over and visit him. Upon arrival at his shop, Obi showed us around & talked to my wife about the different aspects of RC that existed. Still… nothing caught her interest. Then… she caught sight of something. Obi had an old PW40 hanging about his office. This is, as Obi explained - a trainer sailboat. She walked over and admired its construction. Graciously, Obi offered it to her as a gift. My wife cheerfully accepted. I looked on in horror, realizing that it was going to be me who had to work on it & study how to go about RC Sailing.
For some reason, our wives expect us to be the hobbyist & want nothing of the building part. Not wanting to begrudge my wife anything (afterall I was very happy that she took interest in something radio controlled) I tried to smile. We thanked Obi for his gift and left for home.
At my workshop, I stared at the sailboat for hours. My mind was a blank. I had no clear plan as to how to repaint the boat, fix her riggings or how to replace the sails.
A month later, I managed to find multiple websites that had information on proper set-up & sailing techniques. I even found a nice local paintshop that rehashed the sailboat at a reasonable price. I also had rainbow colored sails manufuctured for the PW40 locally. All this due to the knowledge & experience of my unlce - Tony Lazatin, who helped us out every step of the way.
Come Zambales & Holy Week, we were NOT ready. A test at the Parks & Wildlife lake proved the onboard electronics wanting. So I asked Tony Lazatin if I could borrow a boat to take with me to Zambales. He lent me a Mini Miss America.
I loaded my hobby box with batteries - both rechargeable & disposable. I wasn’t taking any chances of spoiling the fun. We were to be in Zambales for nearly a week. True enough, everyone had brought their cellphones & other electronic equipment that kept all the power sockets full 24 hours daily.
I made my last minute preparations & got the boat ready for sailing. As I picked-up the Miss Am, I realized that I had over two dozen eyes on me. Relatives mostly, plus drivers and an odd assortment of beach neighbors… all pretending to be busy, but all obviously very curious as to the performance of this RC vessel.
With a big grin on my face, I lifted her up in one hand (oh my aching muscles) and carried the remote in the other. I walked a good distance from the beach home towards the shoreline. In my excitement… I forgot my slippers and my poor feet paid the price.
Finally, I got to the shoreline. The waves were inviting. There was a steady breeze. All I needed now was either an umbrella or some sunblock… both of which I had again forgotten. My thoughtful wife quickly appeared behind me with the umbrella. A host of people were behind her. Apparently, the entire family’s curiosity could no longer be contained. And nearly everyone wanted to view up-close this new gadget… this “toy” as they referred to it.
I activated the onboard electronics as well as the radio. I did a last minute test, then took a few steps into the water. “Kulot” my mother-in-law’s driver, volunteered to take the boat in. I stepped back and watched. He nervously put the sailboat down, unsure if he was doing it right. He looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know either.
As soon as he let it go, the boat dipped towards one side - her sails catching the wind at full broadside. She sped off at a pace that surprised me. I truly thought that it would be “turtlespeed” at best, but I was wrong. The PW40 was cutting over water as if she had a motor-powered prop pushing her. In fact, several onlookers inquired of me if she were “powered” or not. I proudly answered “Nope. No motors, no engines. She’s purely wind-powered.”
Within the first minute, I had my “audience” agog & bewildered. “Oohs” and “aahs” flowed. While this wasn’t the first time I’d gone sailing, I hadn’t been into it for too long. The boat made me look good. The Miss Am lended itself easily to “Wing on Wing” (the lead sail turns one direction, and the main sail turns the opposite direction during down-wind runs).
After some time, my wife put her hand on my shoulders. As I looked back, she softly whispered in my ears “My love… its MY turn to do sailing right?”
“Of course!” Taking the hint, I passed her the remote sheepishly. Within a minute, everyone was so amazed at my wife’s sailing. She took to it very naturally, and was zipping about the waters with relative ease. Within five minutes, she was doing her own “wing on wing” sailing too. Of course, her relatives were all singing praises.
After about two hours, my wife mentioned that she was beginning to get tired. At the very hint of this, nephews & nieces jumped in line requesting to borrow the controls. My wife & I merely smiled at each other.
One after the other, many people tried the sailboat.
Five hours later, the boat was still in the water. She was sailing majestically against the sunset. Childish laughter echoed amidst the sound of waves washing ashore. A little girl of four was at the controls.
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