First Sailing Experience, More Questions!

[sailingdog]

Taking an ASA 101 course would be a great idea, since it would give you a very solid foundation of sailing knowledge and terminology. I'd also HIGHLY recommend you get Dave Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor, which is one of the best sailing primers I've seen to date and covers a fairly wide depth and breadth of subject matter.

[BrightWolf]

There is a Sailing School local to us that teaches the ASA classes. Well, the ones you can learn on a lake. We are going to take the 101 class in a couple of months after we've gotten some other things taken care of and read some books. That will give us ASA certification and a discounted rate for the attached sailing club. We will join their club once we are done with the class because the main benefit to that particular one is the boat rental. They have Capri 22's available for use by the club members at no fee. So, we feel that rather than buying a 22' (or so) boat and then selling it in a year or so we can just use the club boats for free. By the end of the year contract with the club we will be ready to go to the coast and start taking the more advanced classes like coastal cruising, etc.

I really wish we could buy a Sunfish or the equivalent right now but we just can't. I know they are good for learning on and Ken had such a great time sailing it the other day (was that really just this past Saturday?) that I know it would be a good investment.

I also wish that we had some people who would be willing to take us out on their boats so that I can see some things first hand. I was really quite confused about some things after our sail on Saturday. For one thing, I learned that we had way too many people in that boat for a "learning" sail. I kept falling over every time I was told to stand up and part of the reason was that I kept standing on peoples feet! It was just way too crowded. So, I feel that I would learn a lot more even from just one sail in a calmer and less crowded situation. I want to just watch a couple of times and then try it.

So, that's the plan at this time. Any other suggestions?

[doctormase]

I think you're right on track, also, maybe the sailing club has some smaller boats like a laser or sunfish. My family had a Capri 22 and that is my only real experience sailing with a keel, it is a great learning boat with decent speed and if they are free to use, all the better. You may learn that they are taken too much of the time and decide to buy on your own in a year, but sounds like you have a good plan.