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May 8, 2013
There is
nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats.”
as simply messing about in boats.”
Kenneth
Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)
I started sailing by taking
the Basic Sailing course at Boca Ciega Yacht Club (BCYC). There are other schools
in the area, including University of South Florida and Eckerd College, that can
get you out on the water in a small boat, really controlling the boat you’re on,
but BCYC is the one I’m familiar with.
And it’s a lot of fun. You
learn the points of sail, or the position of the sails in relation to the wind;
how to tack (turn the bow through the wind to sail in a different direction);
jybe (turn the stern through the wind to sail in a different direction);
backwind the headsail, which makes tacking easier in light wind; heave to, or
set the boat at a slow and controlled drift so you can do things like eat
lunch; dock; and rescue a person who has somehow managed to fall off your
little boat in spite of your expert sailing skills. Hey, anything can happen!
Learn those things at BCYC
and you get the treasured little card that says you are qualified to take out
their 16.5’ Catalinas on your own (with a sailing partner – they’re designed to
be sailed by two people). I’m sure all the small boat sailing classes in the
area are very good, but of course I have a bias for my club.
However, there’s still a lot
more to learn about sailing. You’ll find, when you sail on a bigger boat, that
although the principles of things like tacking and jybing are the same, the
execution will be somewhat different. In addition, a number of extra pieces of
equipment will be on those boats that you haven’t yet learned how to use, such
as reefing systems. To sail safely on bigger boats, it’s crucial to know how to
use that additional equipment.
There’s also a whole world of
rules and regulations that don’t apply to small boats sailing in very
restricted areas during daylight. So how do you learn those next steps? BCYC
has only the 16.5’s for instruction. You can go sailing with others on their
boats, but that instruction will be hit-or-miss, and if you study more
systematically, you’re unlikely to miss the important things.
Coast Guard Auxiliary to the
rescue! The CGA in St. Petersburg offers a year-long cycle of supplemental
classes for both power boaters and sailors. In addition to a basic boating
safety class which lasts six weeks, they have a more in-depth one that lasts 13
weeks and a wide range of supplemental classes including coastal navigation;
how to use your chart plotter; reading charts; anchoring safely; and hurricane
preparedness. I have taken a number of them. They were all well organized, well
taught and extremely useful on a day-to-day basis.
In addition, if you take the
six week class and pass the test, you are then eligible to join the Coast Guard
Auxiliary yourself, which is likely to get you a discount on your boat
insurance.
If you live in the United
States and have access to sailing, there may well be a Coast Guard Auxiliary
near you. Check it out and see what they might have to offer you.
However, don’t completely
ignore the value of reading. I don’t believe anyone can really learn to sail
from a book; but once you get the basics down, books can tell you about finer
points. I have said before that Sailing
for Dummies was tremendously helpful to me once when I got caught in a bad
situation, and that’s the truth. But try other books as well. If they don’t
make sense, set them aside for now, but come back to them later. Find
supportive sailors around you and ask questions about what you read, and sail
on other people’s boats every chance you get.
Once you’ve started sailing,
don’t ever stop learning about it, and don’t ever be satisfied with your level
of skills. There will always be more you can learn. Those things may make you
and your boat more safe, or it may just make sailing more fun, but either way
it’s a win.
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