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
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