Why We Do What We Do

So the part of my job as Sailing Master that is never written up here are the hours sitting in administrative meetings, and recently many of them have been about institutional planning and strategic goals etc. We'll review and develop and update these for the Waterftont with proper metrics and all- but the real outline for what we do at the KP Waterfront was beautifully outlined by the first Sailing Master at KP- Captain Prosser. I won't put it all up at once, but each section really hits the nail on the head. Below is perhaps my favorite passage of a white paper that Captain Prosser wrote in the early 1960's-

Then there are the special educational influences of being at sea under sail. Probably the most important additional quality induced is self-reliance. Life under sail is nearly always a perpetual struggle with the blind forces of nature which are no respecters of persons nor can one contract out of the struggle. It has to be waged by each individual on board with all his powers. Because sailing ships are often smaller than power vessels and always more dependent upon and susceptible to weather, special discipline must prevail. The man in charge must obey instantly under all conditions, very often conditions of extreme fatigue and discomfort. The discipline which the safety of the ship and the crew require must be accepted with willingness and alacrity. The occasional condition of danger or potential danger, while giving opportunities for the display of courage, quickly produces prudence and the habit of thinking ahead in a way that few other activities rival. And finally, if as is often the case, the crew is small there is constant scope and encouragement for unselfishness, that most truly respected of all qualities.