When I was just a young girl, just six or seven
My daddy taught me sailing as his own had him before -
My brothers and my mommy, they were keen and eager
to learn to steer and navigate, set sails and then some more

So I learned all the ropes, I learned also compass
Then I learned the sextant - and rhumb lines and the stars
I learned to adjust the mainsail and running with spinnaker
How to lean-to in a gale and do voyage near and far

I have sailed around the islands, I've sailed around the Baltic
We have now our own sailing boat, and our own children too
It's been now thirty years since my daddy first did teach me
But there are many things I wish that everybody knew

CHORUS:
You gotta know sheets and halyards, know charts and compass
Know how to beat the wind and know how to run
You never leave the tiller when the gale is howling
There's time enough for resting when the wind is calm

Now every sailor knows the secret of surviving:
It is knowing when it's time to reef and when to heave
Every boat's a winner - and every boat's a loser;
The best you can get of your boat is more than its hull speed

We're heading for oceans, we're heading out to tradewinds:
we're heading out to high seas, circumnavigating world
Now sailor's life ain't easy; it's cold and wet and boring
But I am still quite certain - it's the best I've ever heard

CHORUS:
You gotta know sheets and halyards, know charts and compass
Know how to beat the wind and know how to run
You never leave the tiller when the gale is howling
There's time enough for resting when the wind is calm