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i am 46 and am getting my first boat in a few weeks... a 1978 catalina sloop 30'... how tough could it be ???... seriously though, i need to learn some of the basics in the next few months... i do a lot of reading online and am thinking a lot of it will make more sense once i have taken the boat out a few times... but... should i take an online sailing course to come up to speed... are online courses worth the trouble or should i go to a proper sailing school for in class instruction... i am looking at several online courses and it sounds like a good idea... but since this is all new to me, i'm not sure what to make of it ... for what its worth... i am VERY self reliant and have learned most everything i know today by jumping in and learning on the fly... i don't do very well in classrooms
Just invite a sailing friend to go out with you a few times. If you have never sailed, little boats are easier to learn on; but, assuming you've sailed a little boat already, bring a buddy out with you....especially out in Portland, Oregon..you're in the middle of the friendly non-establishment. You've got a great boat, and I'm sure you will enjoy it thoroughly,
GForce...Congratulations! Suggest you DO get a boating/navigating course under your belt. The Coast Guard Auxilliary runs some great ones so you might want to give your local chapter a call. As to actually learning how to sail...just get on the water for a day or two with someone experienced (friend or rent!) and you will get the hang of it.
Just invite a sailing friend to go out with you a few times. If you have never sailed, little boats are easier to learn on; but, assuming you've sailed a little boat already, bring a buddy out with you....especially out in Portland, Oregon..you're in the middle of the friendly non-establishment. You've got a great boat, and I'm sure you will enjoy it thoroughly,
I would highly recommend you take a sailing course that has both hands-on, on-water sessions and foundational classroom sessions. ASA101 or USCGAux courses would be quite a good foundation. I'd also highly recommend you get David Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor, and read it...and keep it nearby as a good reference book.
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship is an excellent primer with most of the basic book information you need to get started. What ever training you get, it is still a good idea to have someone experienced along the first few times out. The trouble with sailing is force and mass equaling inertia. Five miles an hour doesn't sound very fast, does it? When you are on a ten thousand pound boat, 50 feet off a dock, and are not sure what to do, it can seem terrifyingly fast. Think of your car slowly rolling down hill towards your garage. Your mind is working in nano-seconds, the doors are locked, and how can that much damage occur at such a slow speed. That's what sailing can be like when one tries to apply book learning without adequate preparation. Pick a nice day without a lot of wind-it will let you make mistakes without severe penalty. Know how your motor works inside and out-it will bail you out of trouble. It takes a while to adjust to the way things happen on the water. When you do you'll realize why some sailor was so thrilled his little boat got up to six knots! You'll have fun-count on it.
IMHO, sailing a 30' auxiliary sloop isn't something that you can learn to do on your own or from a book, regardless of how self-reliant you might be. Most people start to learn on a 13'' Sunfish, or similar, simple, one-sailed boat, and work their way up to a more complicated boat. You're starting with a bigger, heavier boat that would be difficult for an experienced small boat sailor to learn to handle, simply because of it's size and weight.
You can't safely operate any boat, but especially a sailboat, without knowing something about boats. You'll have a hard time getting the boat out of the slip without damaging other peoples' boats. You won't know how to attach the sails and rig and raise them. You won't know which sails to use on any given day, or how to adjust them. You won't know how to adjust them so that the boat will sail downwind, and how to adjust them so that the boat will sail to windward, and how to adjust them for every course in between. While you're out on the water, you won't know the right of way rules that help you get through a crowded area safely. When you want to return to your marina, you'll suddenly realize that the whole shoreline looks the same, and you won't remember how to find your way back to your marina. When you take the sails down, you might not be able to get them back into the sailbag, because you won't know how to fold them. When you put the boat back in the slip, you'll probably ram the dock, and you won't know how to tie up the boat. You'll be a hazard to yourself and to other boats. People will shun you. You'll be an object of ridicule and scorn. You don't want that for yourself.
If you can find a knowledgeable sailor who has the time and patience and teaching skills, he can teach you to sail in a couple of days of sailing. But, if you look to an unskilled sailor, or one who knows how to sail, but can't explain it to others, you won't learn much. Your best bet is to take a basic classroom course from the power squadron, or the coast guard auxiliary, that will teach you the basic principles, as well as the special language of sailing. Those courses are very inexpensive. Then take a basic sailing course from a commercial sailing school, where you'll get classroom instruction, and then go out on a boat, rig it, sail it, return it, and put it away, all under the eye of a trained instructor. You'll still make mistakes. We all do. But you'll skip over the worst of the "ridicule and scorn" part of the process.
The only real way to learn how to sail a 30' auxilliary sailboat is to sail a 30' auxilliary sailboat. Each boat is going to have slightly different characteristics both under power or sail. Having an experienced and knowledgeable sailor assisting you is going to reduce the number and scope of the mistakes you'll have to make to learn...but isn't necessary IMHO.
A good cruising course will give you a lot of the basics and reduce the "scorn and ridicule" factor quite a bit, but experience is what you really need.
Congrats Gforce,
Would you please tell us a little about your current skills?
Do you know the difference between a jib and a halyard?
I was away from boats for a while (ok 20+ yrs) and took a course when I got back into it. Review of terminology, laws, Coast Guard requirements, navigation, etc.., were very helpful for me.
I also have to agree with SD that for boat handling nothing takes the place of experience, preferably with a experienced sailor along in the beginning. There is a big difference between passing the "rules of the road" section of the online course, and doing the right thing when there's a trawler bearing down on you.
The books mentioned by others are good. A more basic book if you need it would be Sailing Fundamentals by Gary Jobson, used by ASA and CG Aux.
Good Sailing!
Gforce, I think there's a free online boating safety course at boatsafe.com but that's general safety knowledge--not a sailing course. Sailing involves a lot of visceral feedback, it is best learned ON a boat, and learned better and faster if you don't have to "unlearn" things that were done the wrong way.
So I'd say the PowerSquadron courses, USCGA courses, all those skills are nice but you'll get a lot more enjoyment a lot faster by taking a basic sailing course, at a sailing school, to get you started. Often they break things up into a "basic" "intermediate" and then different directions to pursue, i.e. racing or bareboat cruising, navigation, etc. I'd say to take the first two right off, so you'll have a good grip on things from the start.
I actually wouldn't recommend Chapman's or The Annapolis Handbook as a primary source to read. They're both much better as reference books, rather than books to just sit and read.
David Seidman's The Complete Sailor is probably the best of the books I've recommended to my crew and other friends who want to learn to sail... fairly comprehensive, yet small, well-written and with good illustrations—much more readable than the other two.
Thanks for the tip. Your right about it being a reference book, I read tech manuals all the time so I relate pretty well to chapmans. Next I'll try the ones you mentioned, If I'm not Sailing, then reading, watching or simply talking about it is my next favorite past time.
That is spam. I have seen the same thing on at least 3 threads all this month presumably from the join date.
As it is now a while since the original poster acquired his boat perhaps he could enlighten others who have much the same question with his experience.
How hard can it be? Ever taught someone to drive a car?
I think there are various areas.
1 the road rules etc which you could learn online but a course provides additional incedental learning.
2. Sailing fundamentals. Some theory ie books help or make it faster but practice is required preferably in a small boat.
3. Advanced sailing skills. Reefing docking etc. Theory maybe and practical.
4. Boat skills eg filter changing etc. Theory and pratice.
5 Judgement. Weather, routing, crew, good seamanship.
Like most things the skills for 90% can be learned by many people relatively quickly, as a lawyer told me as a teenager I could teach you 95% of what I do in a year.
Only thing is that last 5% or 1% or .01% is what makes a good lawyer, or one worth paying (hmm).
In the end I think it comes down to not what is the bare minimum I need do to sail a lot of the time. Rather an attitude - to move beyond basic semi-competence to the ability to handle whatever comes up. It requires experience and attitude to move from I am a lawyer so I know, to I don't know but will endeavour to find out prepare myself and act in the meantime in a seamanlike way ie conservatively to preserve my options.
Never mind lawyers. As captain you are responsible for the boat and yourself, skip those - how much value you put on them is up to you, but you are also responsible for the safety of others.
Summary sailing aint so difficult. Good sailing can take a while.
I wish I had your boat. It's beutiful to sail and stable. I suggest you get into a small sloop rigged daysailor and get the feal of it, the response of it will emedaditely let you know if you did the right thing or not with minimal concequances and it will also nurture your instinct and build confidence in your piloting skills.
Sailing is not rocket science. I would recommend if you cant find a sailing buddy, contact the local sailing school and have one of their instructors come out on your boat, you will learn more about your boat and the systems in place and possibly some improvements. I would gather that as you are getting this boat you must have some knowledge of sailing. If you have never put a reef in a main, with an instructor on board it should be a synch. Learn about what you have not what others have.
I realize that we are all posting on a 4 month old post, but now is the time of year a lot of newbies are getting into their first boats. I agree that you can learn a lot in books, but if that 10,000 pounds is my dockmate I want them to have some hands on instruction. See the pissed off thread to see what yard bills are like for damage to other boats, and he was not a newbie.
Of course, a friend that is also a sailor and knows how to explain things is a great option. If they are not good instructors learn first and then learn from them later. ASA 101/102 is a small investment and does teach you basic skills and lets you practice them on a similar boat.Many of the ASA classes are taught on Catalina 30's in fact. Another option is to hire a captain (ASA instructor or other) for a day on your boat. Costs a few hundred dollars and you get enough knowledge to lessen the carnage to yourselves and others.
If in fact you feel that you already know everything I only hope that you are far enough away to be of no danger to me, and close enough for everyone watching to get a great laugh. And as long as you are far enough away we will laugh before we offer to help you. Remember, this is like a car and a gun......it usually hits what you are pointing at.
I agree with the whole classes thing, and as many books as you can fathom (pun intended).
Heres another option.
I'll make the assumption that there is a yacht or sailing club at the the marina.
Wander in early on a Saturday morning with lots of coffee and doughnuts.
Tell some of the people there of your plight/opportunity.
We're an opinionated bunch, but I have yet to see anyone refuse a sail on another persons tub, if they have the time. (inducements of refereshments and food are always welcome)
It will take time and practice to learn how to dock, this may be one of your most important lessons, we all get a little hinky when a "new guy" is bringing his boat in for the first couple of decades
CP's advice is sound as usual... and the other guys at the marina have a vested interest in making sure you know how to bring your boat into the dock safely.
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