Sailing Primer

[kennya]

Dog: have just finished reading this thread to date, and agree with you hole heartedly on your suggestions. If there is something to be thought then lets teach it with the correct terms and procedures. It is much easer to learn sailing correctly then to unlearn an incorrect term or technique. I admire nickj69 for taking the time to write his primer and think he is doing the correct thing in asking for comments and suggestions from the members here. Using the knowledge base that is available, good golly we might be part of the creation of the Newbie Sailing Bible.

[kennya]

By the way nickj69 you can have that title for free ( THE NEWBIE SAILING BIBLE) nice ring

[roywmoss]

sd's astute comments reflected careful reading, and an understanding of the proper terminology -- that's the basis for good communication on-board. No need to dumb down. Also, "Pull that rope" makes me cringe a little. "Rope," is "cordage," or better yet, "type of cordage," isn't it? Thus double braided dacron is a rope. Sailors, who were all beginners once, know that jib sheets, etc, athough consisting of rope, should be referred to as ....lines.

[equitiman]

Originally Posted by Looking

Your right. Point taken. I've actually done it myself a couple of times... backwinding the jib and sailing backwards is a little tricky but a fun exercise.

I read somewhere that on a small daysailer you can't really get the anchor to set properly by simply backing the main, but rather you must "sail it into the seabed" by 1) maintaining a speed of around 2 knots on a broad reach, 2) dropping a length of chain/rode a little longer than the depth 3) when the anchor hits pay out the additional rode to your desired length, and 4) sail on til the anchor grabs and pulls the bow of the boat around and up into the wind.

Is this good advice, bad advice, conditional advice, or other?

I'm not trying to hi-jack this thread...the OP can include the (hopefully) useful response in his primer

Thanks
Bob

[Looking]

Sounds very reasonable to me. The last time I set a hook under sail I was 15 or 16 and was making it up on the fly. The boat was small... 15 feet, and the 'beaches' in the PNW are rather rocky. After refinishing the bottom of my Fireball, I wasn't to thrilled with the idea of dragging it up the 'beach' over all of those rocks, so I just dropped an old anchor from my dad's Cal 25 and swam to shore with my ditty bag over my head.

Pretty funny actually. When I think about it now, it was a rusty old danforth, probably 15 lbs or so, with no chain just line... probably could have tossed a cinder block off the boat and had the same effect!

Simpler times. Engines and Dingies for me now.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Guesser

It's not really about you being an expert or not; it has more to do with how tired I am already of your 18.5 posts per day. It might be different if you had real boat, instead of little catboat, but I guess some people just don't know their place.

Umm.. exactly what is the problem with me sailing a trimaran? Does it mean that I don't know how to sail? I don't think so... Ellen MacArthur also sails a trimaran. You probably don't know who she is though.

At least I am trying to contribute to the thread usefully, which is far from what I see you doing.

By the way, a catboat is a sailboat... and it looks like this:



My boat is not a catboat... but it appears you don't even know the difference between a catboat and a trimaran...

[Looking]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

At least I am trying to contribute to the thread usefully, which is far from what I see you doing.

Oh, I don't know Dog... I'm thinking of using his Home Depot Faux finishing ideas on my hull!

Originally Posted by Guesser

... check out the faux finishing section at Home Depot, they have a bunch of sponges, and stuff to add texture to the finish...

[sailingdog]

LOL... that's good Looking..... Are you going to do a nice decorative border along the top too???

[Looking]

Actually, I was considering a nice wallpaper border above the rub rail, something appropriate of course... perhaps anchors and dolphins? Also, a Faux wainscoting below the bootstripe. Oh, vinyl of course, for maximum water repelling properties!

[sailortjk1]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Ellen MacArthur also sails a trimaran. You probably don't know who she is though.

I am a big Emma Richards fan myself.
I think she is a lot cuter than Ellen.

Edit- Looks like I missed something, like she got married. No more Richards. That ok, I'm still a big fan. Any 23 year old woman that can compete singlehanded around the world is ok by me, and she is cuter than Ellen