Barbara Jones

Welcome aboard!

I love sailing! The personal challenges help me to grow as each and every sail day is different. The challenges often start by making the decision to get out there on the water. For most beginners it is scary to take those first steps but then if it suits you, bliss. Remember your decision to give sailing a try puts you way ahead of many people.

“Sailing with Sam”, was written and published two years after my first sailing expereince. You will learn about my rocky start, but driven by my rapidly growing passion to fly across the water I kept at it. I am so glad I did. During my early months I was sailing a Topper, a Hobie 13 catamaran and a Hobie 15 catamaran. No wonder it was challenging. Looking back now it is clear how the techniques for sailing each of these boats are very different.

The rapid changes worked well for me for just as I became really frustrated with solo sailing the Topper, I would be invited to sail the catamaran flying along, trapeze crewing or helming the Hobie 15.

Catamaran sailing is wet, really wet – some days I felt as if someone was throwing icy cold buckets of water just for the fun of it. Toppers are really designed for lake and reservoir sailing with their spoon shaped underside. This makes them really hard to turn in a strong sea current and sometimes you really need to tack or jibe to get out of trouble I capsized often but thankfully as I am a good swimmer and very competent kayaker I am confident in the water, In addition I have deep respect for the alchemy of wind, sea state and currents which are ever changing from moment to moment.

Presently I am working on my second book “Sailing Beyond”. A collection of the stories and adventures I experience as I branched out, joined a sailing club and began to access a new level of fitness and determination. This will soon be followed by “Sailing Within”, the last book of the trilogy which focuses on fine tuning the development of clear focus, determination and self belief.

I now have my own sailboat “C Scorpion” (in the Scorpion Class) – a lovely wooden dinghy which was originally designed to plane across the waves off the Cornwall coast. Ideal for our choppy seas off the east coast of Paphos. Yep! I am getting close to flying.

I am flying a little higher and faster when I crew the Lazer 500. A crazy boat which you can ONLY trapeze sail. My sailing partner Robin knows of my love for trapeze sailing, so when he had the opportunity to acquire this trapeze only boat he barely hesitated as he knows he has a competent experienced trapeze friendly crew.

I joined the Paphos International Sailing Club (PISC) in 2014. A great bunch of sailors and support teams. Always positive and all the members look at least 15 years younger than their calendar age.

I began crewing with Robin in 2019. Robin sails a Kestrel - a nippy, competition, two man dinghy. Robin is a great helm with a fine eye for spotting the slightest change in sea conditions and a feel for the wind which is so accurate. With my balance and fearless ability to move about the boat we make a great team.

Competitive? You bet!