Old Racing Skippers
When You Die
By Dennis Coates
OLD RACING SKIPPERS WHEN
YOU DIE,
SET DEADBEAT COURSE FOR
HEAVEN’S LIE,
BEAT AND GYBE, ON TACK
OR FREE,
FOLLOW THE COURSE-LET
GLORY BE.
LAST MARK ASTERN. AND
SPINNAKER SHY,
ALLOW FOR THE LINE BUT
KEEP HER HIGH,
HELM HER TRUE, STAND
CLEAR OF OTHERS,
SHOUT LOUD AND CLEAR
YOUR VIEW OF MOTHERS.
SAINT PETER WAITS WITH
GUN ABEAM,
A STICKLER FOR RULES, SO
KEEP IT CLEAN,
AND WITH THE LINE PLAIN
TO BE SEEN,
HAIL "STARBOARD
GOD" - YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
JUST SHOOT THE LINE AND
CALL IT RIGHT,
YOU MIGHT BE IN HEAVEN.
YOU REALLY MIGHT.
About the Author: Dennis Coates has raced and
cruised small sailboats in the United Kingdom for over fifteen years. He placed
tenth in the 850 RTI in the UK the third year of the race. Now he is helping
his sons follow a passion for the water.
To pay the bills he is a management lecturer
and consultant, working with government and leading corporations.. He is the
author of three non-fiction management texts but Into Happy Havens is his first
novel.. Coates lives in West Dorset. U.K.