Education; ASA, US Sailing, and others...

[oded kishony]

I learned the basics of sailing in college in the 1970's But never really got much more than that in the way of formal. organized training. I read as much as I can. Recently, I've been thinking about taking a sailing/cruising course (ASA103)
Anyone have advice and or experiences about learning to cruise safely?

Oded Kishony

[Captain Smollett]

For me personally, I prefer self-learning via books, discussions with other sailors and by doing.  When I was first starting out in sailing, I did take a one-day 'course' with a private instructor just to see if I was on the right track, and it was a very helpful and enjoyable day.

If you've been sailing since the 1970's, I would suspect the ASA 103 course would be all review.  However, I will say that one of the most important 'skills' one can have is confidence (the good kind, not the bad, overconfident kind), so if taking such a class will boost your confidence level, go for it.  That part is psychological, and no one can really answer that for you.

Just my $0.02.

[Adam]

I'll second Smollet's advice... learn by doing in safe conditions, you'll quickly get a feel for what does what and why it does it. Also, just having an experienced friend along will help you, as they will point out possibly obvious things that you're doing wrong (or could be doing more easily another way). And also, there is a plethora of decent books out there. Besides, the physics of sailing is very intuitive...

8)

[xroyal]

Amen to the replies.

As well, kicking around some docks with a careful ear will probably lead you to competent skippers who may be glad to have you along as crew for the hands-on variety.

Best of luck!

[Zen]

I was going to ask the same type of question of sorts. I was wondering who took formal classes and who just picked it up from whereever.

In my case I had someone take me out after I had purchased the boat to show me the ropes.  :D From there I read a lot of bools and just did it!. I took a powersquad safety course so I would not do anything stupid. From then on I just sailed for a while. Later I joined a singles sailing group and went out with several good sailors and got some tips. However...
Now I am starting the ASA courses this coming weekend. For one of two reason, one I want to safely travel overseas, and to take the passage making class you need the basic classes first. Second I want to teach as a certified ASA instructor to give me some clout, when opening my school. That is part of my retirement goals. I could do all of it without it, but, why not have everything going for me a can.

I guess it all comes down to want do you want to get out of it.

[AdriftAtSea]

I originally learned via the seat of the pants method.  I've been sailing on various boats, from dinghies like a Sunfish, up to larger keelboats in the 30-50' range.  Last year I decided to buy my first big sailboat, so I decided to take some sailing courses to help refresh my skills.  Before last year, I hadn't sailed in about a dozen years, so a refresher was a good idea.

I'm pretty happy with the results, and think that it was a good idea to take the ASA courses I did.

[s/v Faith]

My opinion is that instruction can be a good thing.

  Seat of the pants serves the majority of Sailors well enough to move the boat through the water.... however.......

  Sailing (IMHO) is one of those persuits that one must continue to study and refine.  Like most things in life, only the truly ignorant believe they have 'arrived'.

  Sailing your own boat around, especially without others aboard (as we often do in small boats) does not provide many opportunities for learning.

  Sailing with others aboard, especially friends who also sail, is better.  Better yet is sailing against others in a regatta.  Nothing will make you doubt your sail trim like getting passed by another boat.   I was reluctant to race, as I am not a very competitive person but I will say I have learned quite a bit by going around the marks. (my standings have borne this out). :) 

  I took a course with US Sailing, more so I could encourage my wife as she took it then for anything.  I can not point to any specific knowledge that I gained, but I recall having to study for the test..... so there must have been something.

  I regularly take others to sail with me.  I invite them to point out things they do differently.  I do not always agree with their recommendations, but sometimes I do.  Something as simple as how they stow a line, may be an improvement over what I am doing.

  I would like to take more courses, and recommend them to others who I come in contact with (Dock walkers especially).   Especially useful are courses that have you sailing something other then your own boat. 

  It is much harder to learn some things in a bigger boat like sail trim, steering puffs and lulls, and the effect of sailing between the waves.  A sunfish, or similar craft magnify the effects of small inputs so they are more evident. 

  US Sailing courses are held at my marina.  I get to talk to the folks going throught them.  Most everyone seems to take something away from them. 

  I guess it just boils down to the belief that it is good to be open to learning from others.

[Pixie Dust]

I was introduced to sailing on a 34' boat with all the bells and whistles.  I sailed with a friend on her for about 2 yrs and I asked lots of questions.  I wanted to learn and be an active part.  I then went to the BVI's and took an ASA combined course where you stay on the boat.  I picked up a lot of basics there.  I bought PD Sept of 03 and spent a lot of time trying to learn and figure it all out.  I love having knowledgable sailors on board because I learn so much.  At times, I just watch what they are doing and pick up tips and ask questions to understand the whys and hows.  I am not at a public dock, so I do not have access to lots of experienced sailors.  There is so much to learn and I feel like I probably missed out on a lot by starting out on a big boat with all the instruments as opposed to a smaller one that requires you to feel the wind and act accordingly.  I guess I was a gadget girl from my first training.  :)

[oded kishony]

I fist learned to sail on a gaff rigged  Chesapeake Bay skipjack ! but later sailed Lasers, Rhodes 19, Ensign keelboat, O'day 23(my fist boat) and now my Paceship PY26. For a time I had a sailing buddy. We used to relish when the weather turned nasty, going out to practice heaving to and reefing. I now go out with my family, which has caused me to become much more cautious.
I recently bought a useful book "K-I-S-S guide to sailing" (keep it simple series)
it covers a lot of ground with just the right amount of detail (for me)

Lots of time spent sailing, solid information, a reliable boat, all contribute to cofidence building. There was a useful article in Good Old Boat some issues ago about how to deal with 'awkward' situations. Shortly after reading that article I fouled my prop in some line. The engine stalled, we were at the mouth of the harbor with a breakwater behind us and the wind in our face. We quickly raised the jib and sailed off the lee shore onto a beach where I spent the next hour and half cutting the tangled line off the prop and shaft. We felt good about our response in what could have become quite a messy situation.

Oded

[CapnK]

Good thread.

I larnt sailin' from readin' books - well, mostly "book" - "Colgates Basic Sailing Theory", it taught me the basics and what was behind them. Noone in my family sailed - or ever had, as far as I know - when my own interest blossomed. Thus, before I ever actually sailed, I had a good working knowledge of what needed doing, and when, on sailboats, although I'd never applied these theories. That was good, because the first time I ever captained a sailboat was purely by accident.

I used to hang out/surf at a sailboat ride/rental operation on the beach. By being friendly and helping drag boats up and down the beach on occasion, I got to know the guys who worked there fairly well, figuring that someday I'd start getting some free rides or instruction. One windy day when the seabreeze had stranded a couple boats a couple miles out at sea with some inexperienced sailors, the manager of the place said to me "You know how to sail, right?". Well, I *did* know how, even though I'd never really done it, so with bravado I said "Yeah...", like it was no big deal. I could talk the talk, obviously...

But then he responded "Good! We need to rescue those folks out there, and all my guys are busy. Will you bring them in?".

:) Oops. :)

I was like 17, so I went ahead and bluffed my way through it, told him "Sure.". One of the working guys took me to the boat via a jet ski, dropped me off, and I figured out on-the-fly how to put my book-larnin' to practical use, and got the boat back in without too much effort or extra distance sailed. After that, I had the confidence to ask to borrow boats from time to time, got in some sailing time and became known as someone who was an avid sailor, and by the next year I was working there. :)

A couple of years later, I became the official Windsurfing Instructor at this place. This taught me the value of taking lessons, when I compared how fast students of mine learned, versus how long it took for *me* to learn the same basics principles on my own.

I was self-taught in this sport, too, I'd figured it out during slow times at work, and become somewhat proficient. When offered the position as instructor, part of the deal was that my attendance at a Mistral Windsurfing Instructors School was to be paid for by the business owner. That program gave me a structured format for the classes I taught, and I still recommend to this day that anyone interested in that sport 1) read up on the basics, then 2) take a beginners class. It makes a *big* difference in how fast you'll learn. My lessons were 3 hours in length, and I never had a student who wasn't able to at least perform the basic functions needed to sail by the end of the first 1.5 hours of instruction. Compared to my own 3-4 *days* of trying to get those basics down, it showed me that sometimes lessons are invaluable. :)

[Cmdr Pete]

I sailed for many years and didn't really learn anything. I just kept doing the same things year after year.

Then I started reading, experimenting, getting out on other boats, racing. Realized how much I didn't know.

You have to take some lumps. There are going to be mishaps and breakdowns.

Since I'm a visual learner, I rented a number of sailing instructional DVDs from Netflix over the winter. 

The videos are mostly terrible. Really awful. But, I'll watch anything if sailing is involved.

The best so far is the 5 disc "Annapolis Book of Seamanship" series, also "Heavy Weather Sailing" and "Sailing With Confidence."

They also have some GPS instructional videos.

Don't expect much, but every little bit helps.

They have the "Latitudes and Attitudes" TV series too. Its bad, but what the heck

[Oldrig]

My story is probably typical of many. Like so many on this board, I learned mostly by the seat of my pants.

My family spent summers on the Cape Cod side of Buzzards Bay since I was 3 years old, so I can say that I effectively grew up on the water. (I'm 58.)

Even though my father served in the Navy in WWII and commanded a small vessel in the Pacific, my family never owned boats. When I was 11 years old, Dad bought a Beetle Swan--a 12-foot Marconi-rigged catboat that's generally considered to be the very first fiberglass production sailboat. A neighbor gave my father one sailing "lesson," and Dad passed his limited knowledge onto me.

A few days later I watched my father capsize by holding tight to the mainsheet as he executed a flying gybe. I figured if he could survive that, so could I, and I started sailing on my own. When the little Swan got destroyed by one of the hurricanes of the 1950s, we moved up to a beautiful 18-foot racing catboat called a Hustler (a hard-chined boat designed by Phil Mower and still raced at a few clubs near Boston). I sailed that boat all over Buzzards Bay, under every condition imaginable, including violent storms when I shouldn't have been on the water.

I built a reputation as a really good sail-handler, and soon neighbors were inviting me to crew for them in Herreshoff 12 1/2s and Bullseyes that raced out of the local yacht clubs. (My parents wrongly considered the clubs snobbish, so we never joined.) I discovered that I knew lots about finding puffs and handling a mainsail--but had LOTS to learn about using a jib, getting the most speed out of a boat and, of course, racing tactics.

I've got to agree with s/v Faith that racing is a wonderful way to learn about sailing--unless you're on a boat with one of those skippers who turns into an adrenaline-driven Frankenstein. I was lucky, as I crewed mostly with friends or friends' parents, and they were not insanely competitive.

Later, I sailed an O'Day Mariner, and for some 18 years a Marshall Sanderling (an 18-foot gaff-rigged catboat). I've also crewed on bigger boats in races (a C&C 38) and on delivery trips (including one from Rhode Island to Nova Scotia directly across the Gulf of Maine). In every case, I learned something new.

Still, after all these decades on the water, I feel like there's more I could learn, especially since most of my sailing is now done singlehanded. Once again, I've got to agree with "Faith" that sailing alone in the same boat doesn't stretch your experience very much. I read lots of books, and experiment with new gear.

Some day, I suppose, I should take a real class.

--Joe

[Captain Smollett]

Some day, I suppose, I should take a real class.

--Joe

Or teach one.  ;)

[Zen]

Ta Da!!!!

I just returned from my weekend ASA keelboat class. I am now offically a captain  who knows what he is doing, in the eyes of the ASA and other offical types. Step 1 of the plan complete.

[Captain Smollett]

Congrats!   :) :)

[AdriftAtSea]

Ah Zen-

You have them all fooled.... Lady Zen told me how much she paid them to let you graduate. ;)

Congratulations... I hope you had fun.  I have one more course in my "Macro Cruising" program left to take.  Looks like I'll be taking it in August...

Dan

[Zen]

Ah Zen-

You have them all fooled.... Lady Zen told me how much she paid them to let you graduate. ;)

Congratulations... I hope you had fun.  I have one more course in my "Macro Cruising" program left to take.  Looks like I'll be taking it in August...

Dan

I hate it when she does that  :D

I'll be doing the next section in Aug. also. A good time to be on the water!

[Seadogg]

A long, long time ago, in a world, far,far away, I was a musician playing music for my living....

One of the places we would play at every year was Mackinac Island in Michigan.  It was here that I got my first taste of sailing!  Man, what a great introduction!  I instantly fell in love and swore that one day I would own and sail my own boat.

Fast forward twenty years...

Life is what happens to us when we're busy making other plans. 
However, I finally was able to take a step in the right directly and took sailing lessons at the Michigan State University sailing club.  Sailing FJ's, Scots, Hobie Cats, etc.  Loved every minute of it and I was on my way.

In the five years since then, we have owned a Hobie Cat and, most recently, a 22 foot sloop.  Still learning and having the time of my life.  The family quite enjoys it as well. 

Although I took a basic course, I am constantly expanding my knowledge by reading everything I can get my hands on, trolling the web for anything sailing related, and bugging all you more experienced types!!   ;D

And, of course, by sailing, sailing, sailing....

Fair winds,
Nick

[Pixie Dust]

I hear, feel and relate to your enthusiasm Nick!!  It is a passion that just takes over you.  I never feel more content, at peace and more clear with my thoughts than when I am on my little boat just allowing all my senses to take in all the wonderful gifts God has blessed us with. 

Of course that peace does get a little compromised if the floorboards are floating... heh Craig?   :o  :-\

Always enjoy the ride.   :)  I read something recently that said instead of hills and valleys in life, it is more like railroad tracks.  There is usually a track of good things going on in your life and beside of it is also a track of some bad things.  The bad would be the floating floorboards, the good is just being out there!!   ;)

[Seadogg]

There is usually a track of good things going on in your life and beside of it is also a track of some bad things.  The bad would be the floating floorboards, the good is just being out there!!   ;)

So true, so true.