One of my favorite parts of what I do is that I still get surprised.
You’d think after writing about and photographing Deep Creek Lake for years, I’d have experienced just about everything. But, apparently not.
When Cheryl invited me to join her for an afternoon sail with the Deep Creek Lake Yacht Club at Turkey Neck, I said yes because, well, when someone offers you the chance to try something you’ve never done before, you go. At least that’s been my philosophy lately.
I’ll admit, though, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
We pulled into Turkey Neck, and the weather wasn’t exactly convincing me this was a great idea. The sky looked heavy, and if you had asked me, I would’ve said there was a pretty good chance we’d be watching the rain from the dock instead of heading out on the lake. Cheryl and Greg had a completely different outlook. “The wind’s perfect,” they said.
The Flying Scot sailboat was smaller than I expected. And there were four of us aboard, which meant there wasn’t much room to spread out. Everything had its place, and before we even untied from the dock, I realized I should probably pay attention. Especially when Greg said, “Watch the boom.”
As we headed out, Cheryl started explaining what everything was called. There were lines everywhere, each one apparently serving a purpose. I learned about sheets, tacking, port, starboard, and something called telltales. Those little pieces of string attached to the sail that let you know whether you’re catching the wind the way you should. I won’t pretend I memorized it all and, honestly, I spent the first part of the trip trying to stay out of the way.
What surprised me most was how active sailing is. From shore, sailboats almost seem to float by, but I quickly learned that you’re constantly moving. One minute you’re on one side of the boat, then everyone shifts to the other. You’re watching the sails, watching the wind, watching for other boaters, watching the telltales, listening for instructions, and trying not to forget about that boom overhead.
I loved the sound of the water against the boat. And Cheryl, if you’re reading this, I guess I should confess… There was one point while we were tacking that I got just a little nauseous.
Not “head back to the dock” nauseous. More like, “I’m going to keep looking at the horizon and hope nobody notices.” Thankfully, it passed.
By then I had stopped thinking so much about where to sit and started paying attention to what everyone else was doing. It was fascinating to watch how quickly Cheryl could read the wind by looking at the waves of the water. She seemed to know what the boat needed before I even realized anything had changed.
Near the end of the sail, Greg asked if I wanted to steer and, for the first minute or two, at the helm, I definitely overcorrected.
I won’t be entering any regattas anytime soon, but I managed to keep us moving in roughly the right direction, and I’ll call that a win.
The biggest thing takeaway from the afternoon was realizing there’s an entire sailing community at Deep Creek Lake that I knew almost nothing about. These club members are passionate about sailing. They’re racing every weekend, and they’re teaching and welcoming newcomers.
If you’d like to learn more about sailing and the Deep Creek Yacht Club at Turkey Neck, visit https://www.dclsa-tn.com/. Note their mission statement at the top of the page: “Where the love of sailing, deep-rooted family traditions, and everlasting friendships guide us to carry on the legacy found within this treasured Deep Creek Lake microcosm.”
We will be meeting up again with our friends and writing another story on the history and legacy of the Club, so stay tuned.
Just when I think I’ve seen everything Deep Creek Lake has to offer, it finds another way to surprise me.
From the August issue of the Lakefront Magazine.
