[sirtang]

Can anyone make recommendations of sailing clubs that would take a novice in the CT area?

I am planning on taking ASA courses this spring, but after that I was thinking to join a club but I don't know what to expect exactly?

What I imagine is that you join a club and socialize, make contacts and sail on teams for races but I'm not really clear on what is involved.

Google searching turned up really only one possibility, windjammers sailing club, windjammers.org

Is this an option for someone that doesn't own a boat yet? I looked at a yacht club, Niantic Bay Yacht club (nbyc.org) and it looks like they have one design fleets by class. I imagine that they all crewed by members, but I don't have a real clear idea of how it works.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[CLucas]

You may be interested in a place like Sound Sailing Center in Norwalk. They have a fleet available for members' use, offer a lot of courses as well as several racing series. They have a number of membership tiers. No firsthand experience with them, but it's an interesting option to consider. Sound Sailing Center | Long Island Sound Sailing School and Membership Club.

The other alternative is of course to join a more traditional yacht club and offer yourself as crew. If there's any racing going on, you'll be able to find a ride almost anytime you want. Some people are only interested in highly experienced crew and others will take anyone with a pulse. Many/most are open to having people who show a genuine interest in learning. Good crew is tough to come by. Basic prerequisite is not being a jerk, stick around to help put the boat away and be a fast learner.

 

[RobGallagher]

Sail The Sounds in Mystic, CT. They are also a sailing club with different plans available. They are a private/for profit company, but, last time I looked it was fairly reasonable with decent boats.

Last time I checked you could have access to a fleet of Hunter 240s for less than many people pay for a mooring. They also had bigger charter boats.

I took my ASA classes about 15 years ago. I was happy with what I got.

YMMV

Edit, I think they may have closed up shop. They have a facebook page but....

 

[sirtang]

CLucas thanks, this is what I was looking for. I don't know why it didn't come up on my google search for me.

 

[justified]

Sirtang
Check out Duck Island Yacht Club Westbrook.. They have a lot of racing going on and you can join as a social member without a boat..Duck Island Yacht Club - DIYC
Alot of the yacht clubs have social member status.

 

[paulk]

Yacht clubs are often eagerly recruiting new members. Many have club-owned one-design fleets that are specifically set up to offer lessons or seminar sessions in order to attract people who want to learn how to and/or improve their sailing. Owners are also often looking for crew, so showing up somewhere at the right time can get you aboard. From Hartford you can easily reach Essex or Westbrook. Niantic, Mystic, Noank, and Stonington aren't far. Check out the clubs in those towns and see what they offer that might work for you.

 

[sirtang]

Yacht clubs are often eagerly recruiting new members. Many have club-owned one-design fleets that are specifically set up to offer lessons or seminar sessions in order to attract people who want to learn how to and/or improve their sailing. Owners are also often looking for crew, so showing up somewhere at the right time can get you aboard. From Hartford you can easily reach Essex or Westbrook. Niantic, Mystic, Noank, and Stonington aren't far. Check out the clubs in those towns and see what they offer that might work for you.

I figure I'll complete the US Sailing intro to keelboat course and by way of that find more about how to contact clubs. It looked like the Niantic Bay Yacht Club has the most comprehensive racing program on their website on the CT shore.

I have never been interested in racing but if it gains me experience and lots of opportunities to sail then I might go that route.

 

[hellosailor]

I have never been interested in racing but if it gains me experience and lots of opportunities to sail then I might go that route. "

It will, it does. There are some type-A screaming maniacs, and some totally laid back folks, just depends on who you find, where.

Best of all if you are just cruising and you'd really like to make it to the next stop in time to grab their last dock slip and dinner reservation? You can draw on that racing knowledge to tweak boatspeed.(G)

 

[ScallywagSailor]

I have a related question on this thread -- we're new to the Norwalk/LIS area and are a bit worried about all the shallow water. We'd love to go out for a day with a more experienced sailor to get some local wisdom on the lay of the land, beyond what we can read in charts.

We used to have marina friends who would do this kind of stuff with us, but we don't know anyone in Norwalk at our new marina. Anyone have a suggestion of willing sailors or clubs to contact who might want a day sail in exchange for showing us the area? We'll also try the sailing center, but they charge for private instruction.

Thanks!

 

[hellosailor]

Shallow water in LI Sound ??

Really, buy a big paper chart. Find the 10' soundings, trace the contour with a red hi-liter and circle any rocks the same way.

Unless you're rockhopping on purpose, it is pretty hard to hit anything in most of the sound!

Granted, a lot of the harbor approaches have rocks in them, but these waters have been SO well marked for SO many years, it isn't hard to avoid them.

Just don't try to fit it all on one big chart. Things like the "stepping stones" south of the light of the same name, just don't show up on the really big charts.

 

[ScallywagSailor]

Thanks HelloSailor, you make me feel better. While looking for marinas there were plenty of places our 6.5' draft just couldn't handle, as well as places they told us, "you're okay with sitting in the mud during low tide, aren't you?"

So you can see why we're a bit concerned! Sounds like chart homework will do the trick though.

 

[CalebD]

Scally,
Once you learn (or find) all of the low spots in your marina (I know some parts of Norwalk Harbor are shallow), just follow the channel out into the Sound the same as all the barges that deliver to the power plant just outside the harbor. You need to obey the markers tugs do until you know differently.
Once you get past the closer islands (Sheffield etc) there is a lot of open sailing water.
In general, the south shore of the Sound on LI is much sandier than the glacial erratic rocks that ring the CT coast.
I'd suggest either Huntington Bay or Oyster Bay as your first overnight objectives. They are nearly just on the other side of the sound, due south. In Huntington Bay I like Lloyd Harbor for it's natural scenery or Northport for it's boater friendly atmosphere.

Congrats on getting your boat in the water on the right coast.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Like Caleb said, if you shoot straight out the channel you should be okay. If you turn west and try and cut through the islands it can get really shallow. You need a good chart/chart plotter and depth finder and you need to know exactly where you are. Congrats, its a beautiful there

 

[ScallywagSailor]

Thanks CalebD, so helpful, as usual!

 

[sirtang]

ScallywaySailor, are you docked at Norwalk Cove? I ran aground there trying to come back in near the breakwater. Sailing at low tide a lot of places were less than 6 feet.

 

[ScallywagSailor]

Ack, yes, this is exactly what we are trying to avoid! Anything you can suggest to avoid running aground?

To be clear, we have a depth finder, but it seems like that won't do us huge favors with the tide changes in small specific spots.

 

[sirtang]

Check out my track from Sunday at:
Navionics Webapp

The track is hard to follow but the checkered flag is the stop sign and that breakwater right in front of it is where I ran into trouble. We somehow drifted in front of the breakwater and got stuck, no rocks, no damage just mud I think.

That app that I use, navionics is pretty good if you have an iphone. It will track your speed, distance, and trace your track.

In the channel we were getting about 8-12 ft if I remember, not a lot of play for you if you have a 6 ft draft, but we were out at really low tide. Otherwise our depth meter would alarm if we got to 3ft and it went off a lot.

My guess is that at low tide you will need to drive out in the channel and once you clear the islands you should be able to maneuver. I don't think high tide would be much of a problem, the tide swings 7 feet so you may be good even in the islands.

 

[hellosailor]

Scally-
While there are exceptional low tides that will bring you below charted MLW depths, you should be able to get advance warning on them. It doesn't hurt to keep tabs on the phases of the moon when you're a sailor.(G)

As the water warms up, you might want to calibrate your depth sounder, literally by anchoring someplace shallow (like 9-10') and then diving under the boat, with a string or a yardstick to measure just what the clearance really is. And then adjust the depthsounder offset to match.

There's also nothing wrong with, say, adding two feet to the offset, so the depthsounder says 6' when there's really eight, and just not sharing that with everyone. All depends on how you want to add safety margins.

If you know there's one particularly annoying shoal spot, take a dink and a lead line, and actually sound it out. In six or ten feet of water, that won't be hard. That way, you can also get a reality check on whose advice about depths really is or isn't accurate.

Remember that if you're loaded with full tanks, full crew, baggage for a week, you'll probably draw an extra six inches at one end of the boat or the other anyway. And there's nothing shameful about literally creeping ahead at minimal steerage speed, when you're not sure what the bottom may hold.

Anyone who doesn't like it? Can go overboard to scout.(G)