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Who taught themselves how to sail?

29K views 102 replies 92 participants last post by  sterilecuckoo58 
#1 ·
Just wondering who taught themselves and how hard is it to sail
 
#27 ·
I had never sailed a boat in my life when I bought a Hunter 23 at 19. I had a buddy who had been on a sunfish once so with a full cooler him, I, and 3 others headed out from my marina which was 2 hours down river from Lake Michigan. By the time we hit the lake we were slightly toasted and ready to sail. The wind was huge, way to much for some drunk kids and we had horrible time. I eventually moved the boat to Muskegon and got off water lessons from an old cuban who lived aboard. learned a lot tried staying more sober for safety sake and had a lot more fun. Now I'm 32 with kids and after not having a boat for about 6 years my wife and I are "re-learning". Its not like a bike. We are having a great time still learning and the kids love it.
 
#28 · (Edited)
I've never taken a sailing course, but grew up around boats and have read several books and articles as well as watching several videos...actually still do most of the later. As a kid we sailed my Uncles Sunfish off the Magothy, as a teenager I would go sailing with a family friend on their Morgan OI 33 and spent a few weekends on my Aunt & Uncles Bristol 35.5. It wasn't until we purchased our first sailboat, a Buccaneer 20 did I really start to take it seriously and got the bug to learn more. Crewed a few races and after a couple of seasons with the Buc we bought our current boat and love it.

I like to relate sailing to cooking, once you learn the basics you can spend your entire life trying to learn more and perfect your skills...probably one the reason I love sailing so much is the challenge it presents, no matter who you are or how much experience you have, everyday its something new.
 
#29 ·
My wife and I started sailing by chartering a yacht for a week. We had never been sailing. I got few books from the library. The only one that made sense to a complete novice was "The young yachtsman" written for about 10 year olds.
At the end of the week I thought I could sail reasonably well. 25 years later I realise there is still a lot to learn.
 
#30 ·
Did not learn by myself; college offered Tech dinghy's and I loved it. A few years later my Dad was thinking sailboat, and we (family) rented a few on the Great South Bay. We played with two Phantoms one day, and sailed little sloops for a few trips. I taught him everything I knew. He bought a Vivacity 24 then (Echo in case her former owners are reading) and in the early years I sailed often with my folks, but haven't in the past 20 years.

As a father, I took advantage of the Community Boating Inc.s program on the Charles River, and both my kids learned to sail, my daughter instructed there, my son learned some racing skills.

My father transferred her to us before he left on his final voyage into eternity. Ten days ago Milady, my son and I took her out from her home port and headed her east x northeast and it was my son teaching his father a few things about sailing. I had a few things to teach him too, but an interesting replay.

More important than the sailing skills themselves though, was the preparedness to deal with things when they went awry. Spare parts for the motor, rigging, tools and sail repair capabilities are essential. Knowing where they are in urgent moment clinches the deal.
 
#31 ·
Essentially self taught after a brief introduction by a knowledgeable and experienced friend. Read books, and just went out and did it.

Given the windy area we lived in, there were plenty of days early on that we stuck our nose out of the harbour and decided - well, not today... but we soon worked out all the reefing gear, gained confidence and once we discovered cruising and our local race fleet we were on our way.

All that said, this started nearly 30 years ago now, and we're still learning....
 
#32 ·
Hi, my wife and I took an RYA training course-entry level competent crew in Menorca.This gave us the basics.Ten years later we have chartered,owned a third share in a (British) Hunter 27 OOD, owned a Gibsea 96 and subsequently an Island Packet 350.We both took further courses and found that an ounce of practical is worth a ton of theory.We are never shy about asking advice from more experienced sailors.We learn something every time we sail and try to be better at what we do.As we share the skippers job we both get to keep our nav skills up and check each others work as neccessary.We have recently installed a Kiwi Prop on "JESS" and have taught ourselves to be more competent at reversing and close quarter manouvering.I have read up and taught myself splicing and ropework as well as rigging and marine electrical skills.It is a never ending process!
 
#33 ·
I started with an English DIY kit boat called a Mirror Dinghy. It came with two books: one was how to put together all of the pieces (I had never built anything either). When the little boat was done went to a reservoir and the second book - how to sail. I still remember (after almost 40 years) the instructions: {Sit with your back to the wind, hold the tiller with one hand, hold the mainsheet with the other and pull it toward you.} After that it was just fine-tuning my skills - still happening today.
 
#34 ·
I took a couple Power Squadron classes, did a bit of Singles Sailing as noob, then bought a Hobie 18. A year later, I bought my first big boat, an Endeavour 37, prepped the boat, and three months later set sail - for the next 8 years.

I'm still learning, boats are still teaching me, and I'm loving every minute.
 
#35 ·
Moe, Larry & Curley? Wrong popular culture reference man! That quote (at least the first part) is attributed to Popeye the sailor man. The last bit is, well, if you don’t know Heinhold’s, then you don’t know Jack (London that is.)

But to get back to your original thought, yes you can be self taught, however, sailing is one of those endeavors where it is relatively easy to get started, but take a lot of effort to get good. The guys who rose through the ranks of junior sailing may have an edge over the rest of us, but with a little additional training and mentoring you too, can become a compulsive sting puller. I would recommend on getting a little mentoring and sailing with other (more experienced) skippers to get the finer edges honed. The downside of being completely self taught is that it is easy to unknowingly develop a bad habit that may become hard to break.
 
#36 ·
Self-taught. Started as a kid on inland lakes in Michigan. Pretty much sail to the end of the lake and try to turn without capsizing. Worked once in a while. Years later sailed a few times with a friend on his Sabre 30 and fell in love. I believe sailing is something you either get... or don't. You can learn the mechanics by reading and practicing, but the 'love' part of sailing...that's not learned. Luckily my wife shares the passion for sailing and we seldom miss a weekend aboard. I'll echo that racing accelerates the learning process and winning once in a while is great too. I find anytime I'm on the water with another sailboat it is "race on." Just for fun of course, but I love to catch and pass another boat.

Learn the rules, know when you are the stand-on boat and when you're not! Act accordingly and be predictable in your course.

You'll spend the rest of your life honing your skills.
 
#37 ·
I did in the beginning of this year, bought a Cal 25 and now have a much nicer Oday 22. Learning how to actually sail was not very difficult for me as I have now nearly mastered my particular boat. I probably should not say "mastered" but I mean I just know the basics of it pretty well and comfortable with it even single handing which I do a lot. I have NOT mastered sailing yet, more to learn.
What I did during my first day out with it, I was solo and I motored out and back in, no sails. Next time out, I hoisted the main and sailed under that only, done well. The third time, I had a couple friends with me and I hoisted my main and genoa, all went ok. I made a few mystakes that just caused me extra work, nothing major. In time I learned to "prep" my boat before leaving the dock. By doing this, once I get out in the open water and wind and waves are kicking, I can hoist my main right away and get under sail.

I have a certain routine I now do when I single hand and I have it running smoothly doing this. I think a lot of my success in learning on my own has to go to my boat (and all the helpful people on this forum) because its just in such good condition inside out. Everything works well and its just easy to handle. I sometimes just go out and drop my anchor to watch and film the sunset. I once even had the nerve to anchor, put my swim ladder down and go swimming. No big deal but seems kind of crazy when you do it solo. It was a calm pretty day though and I was able to go around my hull with a spong and wipe the bottom of the hull. Oh and no, no sharks here :laugher I remember thinking, the boat looks huge when I am out of it swimming around it. Talk about scary if you can't get back aboard for some reason. Anyone ever seen open water 2? :laugher This is why just for extra safety, next time I decide to take a solo dip, I will put 2 swim ladders down just incase. Anyway, as I mention in another post, it is learning how to do general maintenance, fixing, or working on the boat that was and still is difficult for me. I am going to get a manual for this that I heard was really good. At last, been there, done that and doing well so far. Hopefully I will be taking my first mini cruise this October which will be a big step for me.
 
#38 ·
That idea sounds great GeorgeB but even me being in the sail capital of NC have had a hard time to find a mentor. I do how ever sail my boat alot and think I'm learning thru experiance. I get from point A to point B with most of the fun is getting there.

I'm not blameing anyone but myself, I have a group sail comming up. maybe I can find someone to crew for/or crew for me.
I hope to have many years to learn more, but the fumbling thru is fine.
 
#39 ·
I taught myself to sail over 45 years ago when I was serving with Search & Rescue in Comox on Vancouver Island. I bought a 16-foot clinker rowboat with a rotten transom for $25, and over the winter I cut away the rot and converted it into a 14-footer. Using books from the library as inspiration, I riged it into a sloop with lumberyard materials and a cut-down canvas tarp. Later I added a small mizzen way aft and sewed-up some lighter cotton duck.

I couldn't get it to sail very well as a sloop, and as a yawl, it did only a bit better, but it was a start. However, from the experience I learned the three basics of sailing: keep the pointy-end to the front, keep the stick pointing upwards, and keep the water out. I'm still learning.
 
#40 · (Edited)
I learned how to sail on a lateen-rigged Sunfish style boat as a 9-10 year old boy. Sailed through my early 20's on a variety of boats large and small, crewing for friends in races, etc. Sailing was simply a part of life where I grew up on Lake Michigan. Haven't sailed much in the 20 years that have transpired since then though. We just bought a Nor'Sea 27 and are going to be getting back out on the water. Hopefully my skills haven't gotten too rusty! But I'll be learning a new boat and new waters here in Alaska. My big issue is whether or not to try to teach my wife to sail myself (I'm thinking that's NOT the best idea!). I'd like to get her to take a dinghy sailing course - that's the best way to learn how to sail IMO. Ideally she'll learn the basics and then we can learn our new boat together.

Dave
Juneau, AK
 
#41 · (Edited)
I read David Seidman's The Complete Sailor cover to cover half a dozen times, and crewed on a 3 day offshore trip with an experienced sailor/racer. After that, I had no problems sailing my C22.

I still look at the book at least once on every sailing trip to look at a knot, etc- it's an amazingly good book! It's very visual- lot's of really detailed pencil sketches which illustrate points far better than the glossy photos most books use.
 
#44 ·
That's why I recommend this book over every other one out there... :D
 
#45 ·
My beginning is only slightly different. I sailed and raced radio controlled model sailboats off and on for 30 years before buying a boat. That helped with a little understanding of what was happening and why. Last fall, after much Internet research, including this forum, I bought an O'day 23. I also read a couple of beginners books from US Sailing. I had the good fortune of meeting an experienced sailor on launch day. He was kind enough to help get the boat set up properly and take my son and me out for the first sail. Since then, it has been a trial and error learning experience. Some frightening incidents have occured, but I've learned from those. My wife and I sailed in our first race this summer, and I think that has been one of the better learning experiences. It is QUITE different to try to sail a line, as opposed to just keeping the boat moving. I would recommend racing to any beginner with a little experience. Don't plan on placing very well, but it's a great classroom!
Most of all, pay close attention to wind and water conditions. Don't get in over your head. If you're worried at all, wait for a better day.
Go for it and have fun. As someone else posted, it ain't rocket science.
Mike
 
#46 ·
The guy who bought my boat this past summer was mostly going to teach himself how to sail... he sank the boat a few weeks ago. Just depends on your attitude toward learning. You have to respect the possible outcomes of not knowing what you are doing.
 
#47 ·
First time on a sailboat, someone told me to grab a sheet. I thought "What? Nap time already".

I immediately took the CYA Basic Cruising, bought and read everything I could find. I hate being ignorant (insert smart a*s retort here).

Vastly easier to learn if you go sailing with someone [who knows how to sail] first. Then you get infected with love of the three Ss: Sea, Sailing, Spending.
 
#48 · (Edited)
As a sportfisherman for over 40 years, I bought a 25 foot sailboat and the book Sailing for Dummies... I took to the water, had a few friends who had just bought a sailboat too and we taught each other... The book was very valuable. Having prior knowledge of rules of safe boating, navigation, etc was a plus... It's 4 years later and I finally did Blue Water Coastal sailing this summer...

It wasn't a no brainer... but when I look at things, I can usually figure them out... as I did with Sailing... It's great fun and I like the sound of no engine on the boat...

By the way, I had sailed once before in 34 years ago on a rented Sunfish... I was doing fine when the craft became sluggish and flipped on its side. As I righted it, I saw a slice in the bottom about 6 inches long with water running out... I righted it but couldn't go anywhere... I was towed back into the dock as I sat in the "bathtub". My rental fee was cheerfully refunded and my experience lasted about 15 minutes...

Every Sail is a learning experience, everytime you set out...
 
#49 ·
who taught themselves how to sail

I did/am

Bought the colgate sailing in 3 days book. read some, went to the boat, read some, went to the boat. Continue this process forever and maybe you can put your sails up when people are watching in a month or so.

I go out beyond when people can see me and make a ton of mistakes but most importantly I am having the time of my life.

plenty of offers for lessons etc, I just ask those people if I can come with the occasional list of questions.

Just do it and be extra cautious and you will be fine.
 
#50 ·
I sailed when I was younger in the Boy Scouts, but not very much. About enough to get the merit badge. Just a few months ago, now at the age of 37 I bought a small day sailer a Siren 17 and I've been slowly teaching myself. I read as much as I can including "The Complete Sailor" and I invited a mroe expereince sailor out on my boat with me one day. I'm slowly learning yet trying to be safe all the time. I still have a ton to learn and figured joining this forum couldn't hurt either.

Chris
 
#51 ·
I sailed board boats when I was young, then, at 52, bought a Mirage 5.5, which I traded in for a Hunter 26 by the end of that summer, sailing on a lake. I went from that to moving aboard my present boat, with a few sails on Clear Lake, TX before heading out cruising.

I read, listened, and experimented my way to this point, learning I always have more to learn.
 
#52 ·
Teach yourself?

Old but cool topic!
The learning never stops.
That's why we're all here?
Guys have learned to "sail" in a bunch of ways. Yes, maybe some guys can learn about stuff by trying to sail alone. Most guys started slow and have never stopped learning. Talking/reading about "stuff" is all part of it.
Here's a thing:
How do you know you're a sailor?
You know how to get home.
You know to stay close to your comfort zone.
You know that part of it is avoiding bad snit. (WHAT THAT MIGHT BE)
You wanna learn any way you can.

Any basic sailing book can get a guy started - sailing a dinghy/warm water.
If you wanna learn basics on a bigger boat (alone), it's more complex.
I'll skip details.

"Learning to Sail" is ........
Awesome
Not hard
Available at any age (US)

Mentors are out there.
I love getting folks hooked on sailing. I love to see that amazed look in a persons eyes when they first realize - "Wow - No engine, 7kts, wind and sails only?". When they ask "how does this work", "what's that do?", "Are we safe?, seems kinda tippy", "what's with the little red things?"
As they're steering my 40' boat and know they're learning new snit.

I Smile and tell them:
You're doin a great job.
I will keep you safe. No worries.
It's only wind. Yep, 7.0 kts, but I bet we can get her to 7.8 -if you care.
I tell them how it works.
I tell them about the wind and tell tales - if they care.

No one really teaches themselves. Obviously, if you're reading this you know that.
Ya. Read books, ask around. Guys will teach you, if asked. It's fun and not crazy hard. Knowing basics is a thing.
I'll teach anyone, in the hood, basic stuff. Free -if they ask. I'm thinking there are guys in your hood willing to do the same?
Safe Sailing
Max
ps what do I gotta do to add a pic? The pic needs a URL?
 
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