[CallmeChris88]

Ok so I just signed up today on here and I am fascinated by sailing, I love the ocean, I love traveling, and i want to make sailing a for sure thing. I would like to live aboard a boat and travel thats my goal, but I lack the skills of sailing. If there is any-one out there willing to help me out and throw me some pointers, I would like to join a crew to help teach, in exchange for working on a boat, or maintaing that would be amazing. I live out in CO but am willing to travel anywhere given prior notice to pursue my dream/future. If this catches anyones eye that is interested in taking someone under thier wing let me know or email me at,

[email protected]

Thanks
Chris anderson.

 

[weremeer]

Well. living in Co you need your skies now. You know that you cannot ski up a mountain. You cannot sail into the wind. You can go about 50 to 30 degrees into the wind. learning to sail is like learning a new language, and you need to go to school for that. Either sign up with a yacht club for lessons or go to a sailing school and they will teach you to tack and jibe, pull the halyard or the sheets, starboard or port and good luck.

 

[Stillraining]

I have been told that I an a very good Skier...I have never paid for a single lesson ..just hung around great skiers and copied what they did...I suggest the same thing with learning to sail...hang around some club sailors and you will become one...

I had know one to tell me you could get on a boat as crew when i was young just by asking around on the docks..I thought you had to be a rich kid to get near a race boat... I missed out on a lot of free learning I'm now having to figure out.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

We also lived in CO but just bought a Cat and moved to TX. If you are in the mountains there is a great sailing school at Lake Dillon where you can learn the basics. Not sure about the Denver area but can imagine there are schools there as well. Too cold to start now but you can always sign up to crew for a week or two. On the cruisers forum it seems there is always someone looking for crew even without experience.

Good Luck!!

 

[sailingdog]

Chris-

First, you shouldn't post your e-mail address like that, unless you like a lot of spam.

Second, I'd highly recommend you spend some time sailing... first take some ASA courses, lke the ASA 101-learn to sail course... and figure out if you can deal with being on a sailboat. Also, spend some time sailing, either by joining a club or crewing for other people on their boats.

Third, Welcome to Sailnet. I'd highly recommend you read this POST to help you get the most out of sailnet.

 

[xort]

It's not brain surgery!

 

[bobmcgov]

Hi Chris. While taking lessons and ASA/US Sailing courses is one path, Colorado only has one or two places to do that. (Dillon has instruction.) You'll find most sailors are friendly under their gruff demeanor and will happily initiate a person who seriously wants to learn. Offering to help with their boat chores in return is considered good form.

Whereabouts in Colorado are you? We're in southern Wyoming and would be glad to take you out if distance permits & schedules coincide. When the ice melts. If the lakes get water. Next June.

 

[CallmeChris88]

Xort, don't have to be a dick!!

Bobmcgov: yeah i am from Summit and i have a few friends that are a part of the Dillon yacht club so that may help out a little bit. but I am in Gunnison now going to school at Western state so southern WY isn't that far at all. That would be awesome to go out with some one next year once the ice melts for sure. thanks for the offer.

 

[TrevC]

When we were first starting out, we didn't bother with lessons. The cost of 2 people going through 'beginners' and 'intermediate' courses was about the same as buying a decent dinghy and trailer. We ended up with an old but nice National-E dinghy. Timber hull, all rigging and sails in pretty good shape. It even had a spinnaker. It was about $2200AUD total for everything.

We did read sailing books before hand, and our first couple of outings were fairly disastrous/humorous, but we learned everything very quickly this way. By our 3rd time out we were really enjoying it, and actually getting to do some exploring. We only capsized once the whole time we owned the boat. Before we knew it we were filling up the boat with beer and going on little adventures around the Broadwater from early morning till later at night. I can still remember the sound of all the empty beer cans rolling across on each tack! Good times.

I think Xort meant well when he mentioned that "it's not brain surgery". I couldn't agree more. Lessons would be a lot more structured, and maybe even not as fun. You also don't have nearly as much time to simply mess around and learn everything about your boat and how to handle different conditions.

If you have any friends that know anything about sailing, even more reason to ditch the lessons. Sailing lessons at the intro level kind of remind me of those businesses offering "surf lessons". Sometimes it's better to just buy a cheap board and paddle out, even if you do get the snot kicked out of you the first few times.

Hope that helps

 

[sailingdog]

I don't think that Xort was trying to be a dick... he's got a valid point, in that learning the basics of sailing aren't all that difficult. One book I'd highly recommend you get and read is Dave Seidman's The Complete Sailor. IMHO, it is probably the best written sailing primer that covers a broad swath of subject matter.

Xort, don't have to be a dick!!

Bobmcgov: yeah i am from Summit and i have a few friends that are a part of the Dillon yacht club so that may help out a little bit. but I am in Gunnison now going to school at Western state so southern WY isn't that far at all. That would be awesome to go out with some one next year once the ice melts for sure. thanks for the offer.

 

[smackdaddy]

Xort, don't have to be a dick!!

Heh-heh, you tell him Chris.

I learned to sail about a year ago. I paid for a 4 hour charter/lesson over two weekends. We sailed a Hunter 30, and by the end of the 4th hour, and after docking it myself, I felt I understood enough to get a sailboat from point A to point B...at least on the lake.

We then rented an O'Day 25 for a weekend, then I bought a C27 soon thereafter. Been sailing and working on the boat ever since.

It's really not as difficult or intimidating as many people try to make it out to be...basic sailing that is. And it's a freakin' blast.

That said, we plan to take the ASA combo course in the Gulf this spring to prep us for chartering next year.

So - just do whatever you have to do to get out there an learn. You'll understand the basics in a few hours. Then just sail and have fun.

In the mean time, Sailnet is pretty much the best resource I've ever come across for learning about everything sailing. All you have to do is ignore the dicks.

 

[Sabreman]

Nope, definitely not that difficult to learn the basics. The rest will take a lifetime to learn... when I've learned everything, I'll be sure to let Sailnet know. In the meantime, I'll just keep reading and asking and doing.

My first job at 14 was in a small boatyard. We rented sunfish and small daysailors in order to get people hooked into sailing and hopefully buying something larger. Using this business model, the yard was quite successful as a Catalina dealer. My job was to give 20 minute lessons to people who came to rent boats. I must have "taught" a couple hundred people the basics and with very few exceptions they all made it back to the dock without us having to go tow them back.

My father bought a sunfish when I was 6 and he learned by reading and flipping the boat (lots). When I was 9, he built a GP-14 and I learned to sail by tending the jib and eventually by steering. We eventually got bigger boats, I began to race in HS and college, etc. It was a progressive thing.

The point is, start small. Get a cheap, small boat that can be easily fixed and go sailing. When that gets a little boring, get a bigger boat and expand. You can follow your destiny, but you don't have to do it all at once. Good luck, have fun.

 

[bobmcgov]

Xort, don't have to be a dick!!

Bobmcgov: yeah i am from Summit and i have a few friends that are a part of the Dillon yacht club so that may help out a little bit. but I am in Gunnison now going to school at Western state so southern WY isn't that far at all. That would be awesome to go out with some one next year once the ice melts for sure. thanks for the offer.

Love Gunnison. Funky little town. We should make plans to meet on Dillon or Granby next spring. We took the SJ21 to Granby this autumn and had a good time, despite the most freakish winds I've ever seen. Okay, we're perfectly accustomed to bizarre alternations of calm and 30 kts, with 120 degree shifts. Noooo problem there. But Granby had puffs ... really furious puffs ... that came in units the size of a tennis court, no kidding. You'd see this little disk of whitecaps shuttling across the water toward you. WHAM! Gone.

Then one of the isolated T-storms that had been sweeping down RMNP caught us square and (stupidly) unprepared. Sixty mph winds with the dam to leeward. It was a packed fifteen minutes, lemme tell ya. The mountains are not the easiest place to learn sailing, just because the wind never sets in one place. OTOH some good sailors come out of them, because you learn to read the shifts.

 

[CallmeChris88]

Yeah i would be way down to meet up next spring, it would help out a lot. yeah i am form the summit area and was a pr snowboarder for 11 years and just got bored and wanted to learn other things, and i have always been fascinated by sailing and the thought of going out alone or with someone for way on the water. but i understand what you mean by the winds changing in all sorts of directions.

and Xort was a dick, i am here to get opinions and guidance of what my first step would be to getting started not snobby little remarks like "it's not brain surgery." that Crap doesn't help me out in any way what so ever.

thakns everyone for the info!

 

[xort]

callme

thanks for your opinions and assumptions.

you decided to assume that what I said was automatically meant to be condescending and rude.

nice way to start out here

 

[CallmeChris88]

cause you were dude,I could use a suggestion or guidance of where to start, not a remark like "it's not brain Surgery." and it was rude man. cause a comment like that doesn't help me out at all.

 

[farmboy]

Chris
I'll second the book that the dog recommended. I got it last year and it has helped me out a lot. I've been sailing for a few years now and I've never had any formal instruction (lots of help, though) and this book really helped fill in the gaps. Easy to read and understand. I found the knot section a little lacking, but you'll probably want a book just on knots.

 

[Brucerobs2]

WSC summer school

Chris,

Funny to run into a WSC student on this board. I was there from 88-91, and still work with one of my roommates. I lived in Smt Cty for a while, then Denver, and now living near and sailing on the Chesapeake. Blue Mesa is a good sailing lake. Check the WSC summer school sched. as they used to offer a sailing class when I was there. Might be a good place to start, and cheap.

If you are not in Gunni next summer, the racing scene on Lake Dillon is pretty active, just find out what night/days they race, walk the docks, introduce yourself, and ask if they need crew. Be honest about your experience, ask lots of questions, do what they ask of you, buy the beer, most of them will be glad to have you around, and you'll get invited back.

Enjoy whats left of fall in Gunni, read "The Complete Sailor", as mentioned earlier, and ski hard this winter for those of us that still wish we had CB in our backyard....then go sailing when the snow melts.

 

[xort]

cause you were dude,I could use a suggestion or guidance of where to start, not a remark like "it's not brain Surgery." and it was rude man. cause a comment like that doesn't help me out at all.

and calling me a dick and rude is a good response?

you sure get up in arms when you don't get the answer you want and demand. you'll do real well here :laugher :laugher :laugher

Fact is I was offering that as a statement to illustrate that it really isn't hard to learn how to sail. Many others have already offered help in regards to local courses, books, etc. My statement was meant to be a positive, but you had to assume it was negative because it didn't fit your template of what you insist the responses be.

Thanks for jumping to conclusions.

 

[smackdaddy]

Chris do you ski a basin much? Man I miss living in Evergreen. Have a great winter and keep digging around here. You'll learn a ton.