A heading is enough

Lessons in navigation, ambition, and knowing when to abandon plans

Nairn Sailing Club had been making plans for a weekend sailing trip to Wick (and back) for some time. And so, when Friday came last week, we were all keen to make the trip despite the weather not being in our favour. The forecast was changeable and confusing, but it mostly looked like we would have a north-easterly for the long trip to Wick, which is the best part of 60 miles. This would ultimately mean a lot of ‘motor sailing’ and eleven hours mostly straight into the wind.

So about 2:30 p.m., a couple of hours before high tide in Nairn, we slipped the lines and headed north out of the harbour. I took up the role of navigator, with both paper charts and modern digital charts of our route as belt and braces.

Setting the heading "towards Wick" under a changeable forecast.

When planning a passage like this, sailors use the term ‘towards Wick’ rather than saying the destination of the passage will definitely be Wick. This is because you may well need a plan B (finding refuge in a harbour along the route) or a plan C (turning back and heading back to the start).

I like this as a lesson in life in that sometimes heading towards a destination on the horizon is enough. Are you pointing yourself in the right direction? You don’t always need to reach your destination or achieve your goal. Making a start towards it is enough.

The sea, like life in general, rarely matches our plan perfectly. And that was certainly the case with the Wick sail. We did get two hours with the engines off and some wonderful sailing, but mostly it was a long motor up the north-east coast to Wick with a very tired crew arriving into harbour about 1:30 a.m.

The long motor up the coast, mostly straight into a north-easterly wind, then no wind at all.

The plan was to stay in Wick for the annual harbour day festival and then sail back on the Sunday. But with an important meeting on Monday morning down in Glasgow, I had to scale back my ambitions somewhat, abandon the Sunday sail, and get the bus back to Nairn on the Saturday.

Are you like me and sometimes too ambitious with your plans?

Sitting on the bus, watching the sea from the road rather than being at the navigational table checking the charts, got me thinking about ambition. We are often taught that a plan must be detailed, a step-by-step blueprint or Gantt chart where success is strictly defined by arriving at the destination exactly as we intended. If we don’t, we’ve somehow failed.

But true navigation, whether on the water or in our careers and personal lives, requires a lighter kinder touch. A detailed plan can quickly become a trap when the conditions change. Often, a heading is enough. A rough destination on the horizon gives you purpose and forward momentum, something to aim towards. Setting your sights towards Wick is what gets you out of the harbour. Actually guaranteeing you arrive there, and sail all the way back, is a different matter entirely.

Sometimes, scaling back our ambition is the most strategic move we can make. It takes a certain kind of resilience and self-awareness to recognize when pushing forward is just stubbornness, and when stepping back is an act of preservation and self-care. Abandoning a plan doesn’t mean giving up; it means adjusting to the reality of the moment.

If you need to change tack, leave the boat in the harbour, and take the bus back to the start, that is perfectly fine. You still made the journey. You still learned from the passage. And most importantly, you arrive ready for whatever demands come next.

One of the highlights of Wick harbour day which I had to leave behind catching the bus back to Nairn.

Over to you: Where in your life are you holding onto a rigid plan, when a simple heading on the horizon might be enough? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, thanks.

Sail on, friends.

Neil