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Questions from a newbie.

5K views 29 replies 16 participants last post by  tausap 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Total n00b here, 1st post, so please excuse any stupid questions.

I have been taking the ASA 101 & 103 courses and am almost finished, one more lesson to go. I have been bitten by the bug hard and spend all my time either on the computer looking at sailing and boat sites, reading sailing books, or cruising harbors, marinas, and anywhere else there are sailboats checking out the scene and the boats. I am hoping to buy an inexpensive used 22 - 27 foot boat to continue gaining experience on over the next few years and, of course, I have the dream of quitting my job and cruising when my kids are out of the house in 5 more years. In the meantime I intend to take more ASA courses to get some education.

I am hoping for any good advice, gained from experience by those of you who have been doing this for a while, on what to do/not do while I gain experience and work towards a cruising life someday. I want to learn as much as possible without putting myself and any others sailing with me at undue risk. For instance, how do I learn how to deal with weather? If I always avoid it I will never learn how to deal with it. On the other hand, I do not want to put myself in a situation over my head.

I work as an airline pilot and I like to think back to when I learned to fly over 25 years ago and liken myself to the newly minted private pilot I was at that time. As a new pilot, one knows just barely enough to go out by oneself and get killed if not careful. On the other hand, it was some of the experiences which scared me which taught me the most. I assume it is that way with sailing... as I gain experience I will continue to test my skills and knowledge and occasionally get a good lesson, I just want to know which ones to avoid ahead of time if you have any tips.

Thanks,
Brett
 
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#2 ·
Avoid lightning... that's a bad one.. :) Don't let the boom hit you... that's a bad one too.

Welcome to sailnet. I'd highly suggest you read the post in my signature to help you get the most out of your time here on sailnet.

I'd also recommend you get and read and use as a reference, David Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor. It is one of the best written, basic sailing primers and covers a fairly wide range of subjects as well as has good (and amusing) illustrations to back the writing up.

Joining a sailing club or yacht club is a good idea, if it gets you time on boats. Before trying to buy your first boat, sail on as many different types of boats as you can, so you can at least have an idea of what you're looking for in a first boat. Crewing on weekly beer can races is also a good way to get a lot of experience, since a lot of what you learn racing applies to cruising.

A few things to remember:

  • If you're thinking about reefing the sails, do it.
  • One hand for you, one hand for the boat.
  • When singlehanding, wear your PFD and STAY ON THE BOAT. That means using a tether and harness.
  • Don't hit anyone else's boat. Don't get hit by anyone else's boat.
  • Pointy end forward, black side down, big stick up. :)
 
#3 ·
You will find that these ladies and gentlemen are very helpful and have a wide knowledge base. I have asked a number of questions and attempted to answer several, to some degree, but you wll find it very friendly group

Tom
 
#5 ·
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship is a great book and new and old sailors could learn a lot from it.
 
#6 ·
newbie questions

The best place to learn to sail is . . . on the water. Before buying yourself a boat hang around the local sailboat racing scene, volunteering to serve as crew. Crewing on a racing boat you will very quickly learn more about sail trim, rules of the road, how to make good distance to weather, and all sorts of other good things. All at somebody else's expense. After you get a reputation as good crew, you will have lots of opportunity to crew on different types of boats, which will help you decide which boat you want for yourself. Furthermore, one of the joys of sailing is the really nice people you meet. Enjoy
 
#7 ·
Buy This Book

I recommend the Annapolis Book of Seamanship as #1 for beginning sailors. I read a book to help me get sailing and was doing alright. once I read this book I realized all the things I was doing wrong aor not doing altogether! Spend the money on it. You will not be disappointed.
 
#9 ·
What dongreerps said.

I teach from time to time, and tell my students (once they've learned the basics) to hook on to a racing crew list, and crew whenever asked (or just show up and look for a ride). Do what's asked, pay attention, and you'll get essentially free sailing lessons and free beer too.

I think your weather question will answer itself in due time. Don't go out looking for it, for it will find you eventually, and you'll learn from it when it comes. No sense intentionally rushing it, any more than you would rush emergency evasion maneuvers in a car (or whatever the equivalent is in an aircraft).

Sailing's easier than flying in this respect: if we manage to stall or otherwise screw up the wind flow over the airfoil, it only hurts our speed, while the ocean still holds us up. Not so for you aviators...;-)
 
#11 ·
The Tartan 27' is an old but great and (usually) inexpensive boat for a first timer. There are a lot of other models to choose from as well as smaller boats that are really good to learn on but not so good for cruising.
I learned on Sunfish sized boats and just got back from a Tortola to Provo delivery (400+ nm) of a 51' Benneteau. My first blue water experience over 4 days. Quite scary at first and then you acclimate if you don't go nutz. The more you bite off the harder to chew, IMHO. Start small and work your way up.
Older boats can be great but may require more work on your part which is not necessarily a bad thing as you learn a lot about the systems that you will be depending on. Newer boats cost more money and you expect that everything is working fine until it doesn't.
What Sailingdog said about lightning is true but when you are out on the ocean it is a little harder to run and hide. Just bring extra underwear.
 
#12 ·
If you're looking for a "new to you" boat to learn on, take a gander at the "production" boats like, Catalina 27, the older Hunters (cherubini design) older Tartans & Pearsons.
They won't set you back a bunch of boat bucks, have decent resale value, were built well, and you'll have enough fun to give 'em a try, so then, you can get rid of "threefootitus"
 
#13 ·
Hey there is another one like me :D
From zero, as everyone said, take crew positions or go sail with others... Taking lessons are also another good option to understand what you are dealing with rather than what books are talking about...
In my opinion, knowing the rules and regulations is the first step... So the Annapolis book is great for that...
Beginning with a cheap boat is what I did, however, from my experience before you buy the boat research about its characteristics... As I was told "after" I bought the boat; light displacement boats can really make you a great sailor or a really stressful person on water...
And once again cheap boats will teach you, what you'll be dealing with on a smaller and more managable scale. So far I learned how to sew, work on fiberglass, fix simple things on an outboard, clean, paint, cook, fix woodwork, plumbing, and etc... And all that in 3 months... Once, at least, you know how the things work on small scale you can upgrade them onto a bigger and more complex scale once you buy your dream boat... And not get robbed for every single repair...
 
#14 ·
Welcome to Sailnet Brett!

Definately just get out there and get some experience. After taking the classes you are taking i would agree about going ahead with a 27 foot to avoid "twofootitus." I highly recommend the Pearson 27... somewhere in the 1986-1990 years. Not sure if it fits in your price range but it's been our experience looking at boats that you can find a very good 27' Pearson, Catalina, O'Day... dare i say it..... Hunter... in the 15-18k range. Even though we have the "big boat" now we still sail our little Dolphin Sr (like a sunfish)... and that keeps us in touch with the subtleties of the way the wind and water feel. Plus the little boat is just plane fun! :D

As for the weather question... What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! :D I had been sailing since i was a kid and it wasn't until four years ago when we got stuck in a lightning storm that i realized how little i knew about keeping me and my crew safe. It was a real eye opener and motivated us to take a red cross class and a couple US Sailing courses. That brought my wife and i up to speed but what really has been the best thing has been putting ourselves in increasingly higher wind and waves. Don't get me wrong, i'm not looking for trouble and i know when it's not safe but continuing to push our limits a little at a time has been a great learning experience allowing us to gain more confidence in our abilities... this has also kept things fun which was hard to keep that feeling after being in the middle of that crazy lightning storm we survived. Since then we have gone on a few different trips... some with lightning, some with 8 foot waves and all of them still fun.

Good luck and keep asking questions here... you will find a wealth of knowledge and a lot of friendly folks.

EDIT: I just realized the original post is 3 weeks old now.... ugh, where's my coffee. :eek:
 
#15 ·
The thread may be old, but I always appreciate new advice! I have gotten a lot of good advice here. I have the Annapolis Book of Seamanship already and it is a great book.

My newest development is that I finally bought a boat!:D Its nothing big or fancy, but it is all mine. I bought a 1977 Catalina 25 swingkeel. It is in fairly good shape, the sails are in excellent shape, and the outboard runs like a top, well mostly (except at idle, where it tends to die on me, maybe a new carb jet needle needed). Some of the windows leak, and it has some gelcoat cracks and chips which I need to get to as soon as the weather cools down a little here.

I decided to go real cheap for my first boat (it was $4500). I figure I can always sell an inexpensive boat easily when I want to move up, and even if I don't sell it right away, it is paid for and it won't kill me to have it sitting idle if I buy a larger boat someday.

I have only had it two weeks and I have already been out 5 times on it. I have started watching the winds closely and drop everything when it blows to go sail! Unfortunately I have a lot of weekdays off and have trouble finding others to go with me, so I am learning to single-hand very quickly. The hardest part of that, it seems to me, is just leaving and coming back to the dock, especially when it is blowing. Any suggestions for dealing with getting the boat into and out of the slip safely by yourself?

Also, my teen daughter does not like it so far. I have tried all the usual things to help her with seasickness, but, being a teen, she does not listen to me and she just goes below and puts her head on the table. Any suggestions on how to get 13 year old girl interested in sailing?

Ok, I'm off to pour some money and sweat into the boat now! ;)

Brett
 
#16 ·
Brett;
Congratulations on the boat. Sailing and flying are very closely interrelated.
I can identify with your overpowering interest in the sport. I don't know how many hours I put in walking the docks and talking to sailors. I still read every little boat related thing I can find.
As far as your daughter goes, and looking at it from the point of view of a man with 6 adult children, with children of their own, 13 is a rough age. They are still children, but they don't think so. But, being in many ways children, they still enjoy playing, and almost everyone enjoys fun. That is probably the key. Let her drive with the motor once you are clear of the marina. Before you hoist the sails, throw some things that float, like buoyancy cushions in the water 50 feet apart or so, and let her motor around them and do slaloms through them till she is tired of it, finally coming right along side of them so they can be scooped up. When you are sailing and trimmed out fairly well, give her the tiller and show her how to hold that line just off luffing. Encourage her, congratulate her, compliment her, laugh with her, relax with her, tell her how pretty she is with the sun off the water, but never, never reprimand her, or show impatience with her.
Have fun, and show it. She probably won't show it but she will feel the mood. Most of all show her you love her in every way possible, everybody enjoys that. If it is a pleasurable experience she will want more. Perhaps some Gravol for the sea sickness.
Even if she never comes to enjoy sailing she will remember it fondly.
13 year olds give you very little feedback, but they are like sponges. They soak up everything, especially the bad stuff. My kids used to frustrate me no end, I just couldn't find a way to make them understand what life was all about. Then when the fledged and moved on, they kept coming out with all this stuff I told them, almost word for word. I was sure they hadn't listened to any of it.

Tim J
 
#17 ·
Great advice, and it sounds like you know well with 6 kids. It is hard not to get frustrated, she does not follow my advice about seasickness and just goes into the cabin and reads until she feels crappy. But, I am going to keep trying as long as I can get her to come out. I like the idea about letting her play around with the motor running, as she enjoys taking the tiller with the motor running much more than when sailing. She always said I should have gotten a fast powerboat! :eek:

Hopefully she will grow to like it.

Brett
 
#18 ·
Brett,
A lot of sea sickness can be related to what is consumed before sailing. I'm a big fan of nothing more controversial than a non-milk based soup and crackers. In fact, a pocket full of saltines doesn't hurt while out-you can usually hold them down. Steal 'em from the restaurant in the individual packets. Don't let her drink milk or juice before going-they don't react well to motion sickness.

Pick up Don Casey's Complete Guide to SailBoat Maintenance Manual. It will make your boat maintenance and repair go much easier. You can find it on Amazon. It's quite a hefty book and will cover most every area that would otherwise seem intimidating to you.

As far as docking, I recommend a viewing or two of Captain Jack Klang's Singlehanded Docking and Sail Trim. It's really quite good on both subjects. You can find it here: Captain Jack Home Page
 
#19 ·
Brett,

Welcome to the forum. :)

I won't try to give you any practical advice because you are obviously smart enough to read books and figure things out for yourself, and that's perfect. Instead, I will try to give you a few pointers on your goal overall because, well, I used to be you a few years ago. :D

I did the same thing, took ASA 101, 102 and the hook was set ...

To reach your goal I suggest you focus on two areas - finances and motivation. Getting finances in order for what you want to do is probably a multi-year affair, I just say that because it seems to be for most people. You will quickly start asking this question if you haven't already ... how little can I comfortably live on ? Because the answer to that question determines your range and duration when you finally leave to go cruising. Second, since that takes a while to work out and since you have children that will be leaving and you have to wait for them to get out of the house, start working on long term motivation. If you are as excited as I was you'll be happy to know that the feeling really doesn't wear off, but having the discipline to continue on towards your goal can be a bit tough sometimes when things get hard, so it's important in my opinion to really keep yourself inspired and charged up as you go along. I suggest a nice BIG atlas, charts, lots of sailing books, a good sized globe, etc, all of those things will help to keep you walking down the right path. Managing your enthusiasm is important, I think .. don't be rash with your decisions, try to keep your goal in mind and move forward in a steady purposeful way, try to change your lifestyle in a manageable way so that you don't get hit with too much at once, etc. Think of it as a process, two steps forward, one step back, because there will be setbacks from time to time and you don't want them to keep you down for long. Just keep moving in a deliberate way towards your goals and trust that it can actually happen. Because it can happen. :)
 
#22 ·
I have already been trying to figure out how little I can live on. I am also looking into alternate careers/jobs I can do to earn money while cruising....consulting, writing, etc. Unfortunately my current career is the type where you have to be actively involved and current to get jobs again. If you take a year or two off it is very difficult to get hired anywhere again.

I have always had wanderlust, so I think staying motivated to cruise someday will not be a problem. So far I have journeyed all over the world in my career as a pilot, traveled all over the U.S. by motorcycle, so now I would like to see the world via a sailboat once my youngest is out of the house.

Do you think it is possible to do that single-handed? If I an still single by then it may be necessary. I would like about a 40-footer (for now at least, that may get bigger or smaller by the time I do it) and it seems like a boat that large may be a handful by oneself.

Brett
 
#20 ·
Brett, from 1981 to 2003 I sailed and raced a Catalina 25, and it's a good choice for a starter boat. I'm retired and am sailing and racing the middle Chesapeake Bay on a bigger boat, and would be happy to sail with you for a day and help you learn how to sail and dock the boat shorthanded, if your boat is not too far from my location. Let me know via this thread if you want to schedule something.
 
#28 ·
Sway-

I hear that was when the dollar was much stronger and he was only getting $.05 per person... he was obviously surviving on quantity, not quality. :)
 
#29 ·
Getting back to the 13 yeat old daughter... being the father of 4 I have always found the best way to get them involved is to allow them to bring a friend. Even if all she does the first time out is lay on the deck and tan and chat at least she will be enjoying it. The rest will come naturally. As said before, don't push and offer plenty of praise as she participates.
Don't let size scare you just practice and enjoy. I club sail here on the east coast out of Annapolis where I have the use of a 27 ft Catalina and a 30 foot bennetau. I own a Hudson Force 50 on the west coast that I expect to retire to in about a year.
 
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