Last Friday afternoon,  my wife and I took a couple of non-sailing friends for a sail on the Charles River in Boston.  Gorgeous summer day, no clouds, wind from the southwest steady between 8 knots and 10 knots with a few moderate gusts. We pulled on our life jackets and boarded  an Ideal 18, a simple, responsive boat that carries a mainsail and jib. Easy to sail.

Sailing from the Community Boating mooring field near the Hatch Shell on the Charles River, we eased out of the mooring field, the wind mostly behind us and a little to our left.  An easy departure.  We reassured our excited but slightly nervous guests, “You’ll be fine, you won’t be going in the water, you’re safe in this boat, these don’t flip over.”

We sailed about 100 yards into the river and turned left, the wind now coming directly from our left as we headed up river toward the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge. Not wanting to frighten our guests, I eased the mainsail a bit so that we weren’t heeling much.

The tricky things about sailing on the Charles with winds coming from the southwest are the Hanock Tower and the Prudential Tower.  Each of them, in turn, creates a wind shadow, an area where wind is blocked or significantly reduced, creating turbulent air that can change direction and angle, even to the point of coming down on a boat like a micro-burst.

We were just about to pull even with the Hancock tower. I was expecting the wind to calm a little, blocked by the tower, and I was just thinking about describing that phenomenon to our guests when a sudden, STRONG puff of  air caused the boat to roll, maybe, 30 degrees.   One of our guests, sitting on the lower side of the boat, shouted “Help!”.  The other, sitting on the higher side of the boat, shriek-squealed something incomprehensible.  I was as surprised as they were; I turned the boat hard toward the wind expecting the boat to settle.  The air was so turbulent that it took another three seconds for us to come back from the 30-degree heel.

Deep breaths all around.

“Are you OK?”. I asked.

“I thought I was going in the water,” said the lower-side guest.  A tight smile was all the upper side guest could muster.

Lesson:  When taking newbies for a sail, (1) anticipate turbulence and avoid it where possible and (2) prepare them well  in   a d v a n c e   for what can happen, how you’ll manage it, and why they’ll be safe.

I headed away from Boston toward the Cambridge side of the river. We finished the sail uneventfully.

Nick Miller and Clarity train banks and bankers to attract and develop deeper relationships with small businesses. Many more Sales Thoughts like this and a host of other articles and resources at https://clarityadvantage.com/knowledge-center/ .