MY STORY! How did I start sailing? - Ep.45
March 27, 2025 · 8 min · 3K views
What this video covers
Andre M Homem de Mello returns to the reservoir club where he learned to sail as a child, tracing the origins of his ocean sailing career to childhood experiences there. At roughly eight to ten years old, he sailed a small dinghy across the reservoir, deliberately capsizing it to frighten friends before righting it — a game that planted the seed of solo sailing confidence.3:46 His father, whose nickname was Zé, owned a red motorboat named Dozé and also sailed on the ocean, though Homem de Mello was too young to join those passages; his father died twenty years ago, cutting off any exchange about those voyages.3:40 The club, unchanged in roughly fifty years and showing deferred maintenance, still holds the same winch used to launch boats down the ramp.6:38 A Zemar water-ski board dating to 1985 — a once-prominent Brazilian ski brand founded in 1927 — sits stored there, triggering memories of learning to water-ski.4:54 Standing at the reservoir, Homem de Mello identifies this place as the direct source of his ambition to sail offshore and eventually circumnavigate.6:39
More from Andre M Homem de Mello
From Andre M Homem de Mello — see the channel’s boat, crew, and every analyzed video.
The Sailing Directory Newsletter
One email with the fleet's best finds — the moments, boats, and stories worth your watch time. Enter your own address to get your own copy.