To those of you who know me,

It will come as no surprise.

That I will go sailing

In boats of any size.

I’ve built them and restored them,

with the sweat of my own brow.

But the strangest craft  I ever sailed

Was a little Arab Dhow.

 

I called her Jamelah.

Which is an Arab word –

for beautiful and that she was

in every lovely curve.

But when it came to sailing,

I can tell you here and now.

That off the wind she was very fast,

though to  weather, a real cow.

 

A lateen rig is fine off shore,

with a wind that’s on the beam.

But if you have to tack them

their performance is obscene.

Still I loved that little boat

and cruised her many miles.

On waters blue and sparkling

Among the Bahrain Isles.

 

David Garlick, Victoria, 1986