Crew Communication

[Slrman]

Crew Communication

I first learned to sail when I was in my mid-twenties.  I'd been on a friend's eight-foot pram and was hooked immediately.  Two weeks later, I went sailing again; this time on my own boat.  Pogo was a 12-foot home built sloop I bought from a local businessman.  Pogo was under powered and overweight, much as I've gotten to be.  This was a good thing as it made her very forgiving of beginner's mistakes.  It was a really good thing.  It probably saved my sailing life, not to mention my physical one.

Not having any sailing instructors in our small Indiana town, I did what I usually do.  I bought a book.  I carefully read all the instructions and memorized all the salty nautical terms of sailing. 

On about the third sail on Pogo, there was some decent wind.  I had my wife holding the jib sheets as I steered and maintained a death grip on the main sheet.  Cleat them off?  What cleats?  "We don' nid no steenkin' cleats."

Eventually, we heeled enough to bring the lake alarmingly close to the gunnels.  I knew from my extensive experience (reading the book) that one way to correct this was to spill some air from the sails, so I said, "Let out the starboard jib sheet."

My wife casually replied, "What?"

"Let out the starboard jib sheet!"  I calmly shrieked.

"Huh?"  Water was slopping onto my foot.

"Drop that #@$%&ing rope!!"

"Why didn't you say so?  You don't have to yell."

[sailfarther]

Haha! :D Style of communication sounds very familiar, I can relate. Good one, sailorman!

[CapnK]

"calmly shrieked" ;)

LOL, glad that *I've* never done that...  ::)