Random acts . . .

Of what? Kindness, friendliness? Or the joy that comes from being on the water, and savoring the camaraderie of other mariners? This August day, it likely was a combination of all of these.

Naomi and I were sailing our 79-year-old catboat Chessie on a glorious bluebird day in Narragansett Bay. The wind was northwest, five to 10, conditions we love. Few sailors around here enjoy a light northeast wind. Close to the land, you’re in often in a lee, and, with so little breeze, you can slat about in mirrored water that’s broken only by boat wakes.

But Chessie is an old lady; her bones are brittle, and some have said she hasn’t had the best geriatric care under her current stewardship. So we like to go out in conditions that allow her to comport herself in a ladylike manner – read: not have a meltdown and fall apart. Where we sail, northeast 5-10 gives us flat seas and steady winds, which lets Chessie flaunt the genius of her Spaulding Dunbar design.

We reached over to the mouth of Greenwich Cove, off East Greenwich, where a young woman was conducting an Opti sailing class. Normally, such tutorials are, justifiably, managed with such intensity that we give them a wide berth. But this instructor veered away from her little fleet of roll-tackers, and edged her center-console to within hearing distance. Thinking she was going to ask us to move farther away from her charges, we were surprised and delighted to hear her yell, “Your boat is so cute!” Then she took a couple of photos with her smartphone and returned to her class.

Naomi and I beamed. Not only is Chessie really cute, but also, until that day, we had no photograph of the two of us aboard her. We had to track down this sailing instructor to thank her for being so nice – and to acquire images of the old cat and her crew. And we did – by way of the East Greenwich Yacht Club and New England Rigging  – a few yards up Water Street at the Greenwich Bay Sailing Association, where she was employed. And she gave us two images of Chessie and her crew.

Twenty-five-year-old Jamestown, R.I, native Natalie Salk has been a sailor since the age of 8, when she entered the Conanicut Island Yacht Club sailing program. She’s been racing since she was 11, starting with Optis, then moving up to 420s, and finishing 6th in the Women’s Nationals one year. She began teaching sailing at 15, and has been passing on the nuances and spirit of the sport and recreation ever since.

At Tufts University, where she majored in Mechanical Engineering, she captained the sailing team in 2012-2013, was awarded two All-American honorable mentions, and, not surprisingly, was honored by her NEISA peers as Sportsman of the Year, which pretty much means Nicest Person in the Conference Fleet.

A week after we gammed with Natalie off East Greenwich, she returned to Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in Industrial Design. Her college curricula, so far, have been devoted to every aspect of designing, manufacturing and marketing clothing. Why? “I am actually working on a line of performance sailing gear for women, as a graduate project/potential future career,” she said. “I am launching my collection in 2017.”

Natalie’s company is called Salk Racing (www.salkracing.com) and she already has rolled out her Salk gloves, and prototypes of her stylish and utilitarian spray pants and spray tops have been crafted for tests and photo ops. At Georgia Tech, a pair of mentors has been guiding her through the processes of creating a company, designing gear, and, she says, “discovering  opportunity.” On her own, she has been working with designers, manufacturers, finance people, and website designers.

I told Natalie that meeting her out on Greenwich Bay, and acquiring cherished images of our boat, with us actually in it, was a highlight of our summer. “I’m glad I could make you two happy,” she replied. “This is one of the joys of life.”