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In the water twice on first sailing lesson.


timnphx

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Well, I got my boat the, Lil Marauder, built with mast and sail last year, but only had it out with trolling motor or oars for fear of dunking her with no experience of sailing. So I started taking a sailing lesson from the Arizona Sailing Foundation called "Start Sailing Right". It started off with 2 nights of classroom discusions but then had our first session on the water with about a dozen people split up on 5 Capri 14's on Sat morning of 2-17-07. We were first towed by the main instructor to the east side of the Tempe Town Lake cause the west side was in use by rowing teams from ASU. We started out with basic tacking and jibing, with one crew on the jib sheets and one on Helm and main sheet in light winds of 2-6 knots with one instructor on board. After about an hour the main instructor who was on a motorized pontoon boat checking everyone's progress decided to switch our instructor to another boat. :? We got a 3rd student in place of the instructor now in the boat with a gal and myself. We worked a few tacks and then got dead calm for about 30 min. Finally we got some wind again and started doing a few more turns and the helm and main and jib controls. However the winds began to pick up we had 2 foot waves rolling our boats around and while I was at the helm got in a stiff one and could not steer out or let the main sheet go quick enough and over we went. :shock: Once got all back in and going again and winds got even worse and over again we went with the other more experienced guy at the helm. :oops: Our instructor told everyone to drop sails and tie off at sides of lake. It took a lot of help from others on sides fishing or watching to get all of us secured. The instructor said it was a wild gust that kicked up to about 30 knots for an hour on our first day on the water. :shock: My 2nd class on the water is this Sat 3-3-07 so I hope for a little less winds.

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Sounds to me like a good time was had by all! You learn more about sailing from the mistakes. Now you know what it feels like when a boat get close to the limits. Each boat is a bit different; however, your butt and stomach will tell you first. Oh ya, and don't sit on the main sheet :lol:

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Yes, I actually am looking forward to this next class so I can "get back on the horse" you might say. I am am also thinking that my boat when I sail her will not be the same and actually easier to let the wind out of her and such as she has a loose-footed main. :D

Tim

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I think you did pretty good for your first lesson! My first day sailing was in a laser - 10 knot winds, flat sea in Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Is. (Australia) - 3 capsizes in half an hour ("are we having fun yet?") in fairly "sharky" waters - i was hopeless! 2nd lesson i managed to pitchpole an 18' cat with the added indignity of being washed ashore sideways and upside down for the ammusement of all (except the owner that is!) I've improved a bit since then (i hope) but it's all good fun!

It sounds like your instructors know their stuff better than mine!

Keep at it and have fun!

cheers

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Sounds like you're on the fast road to success :P

My first time out wasn't bad. Just not much wind. Spent most of the time sitting or standing on my sheets :oops:

Second time out wasn't bad either....

Here's the log entry for the third ride:

Log Entry #1

Yuba Lake State Park

Sunday, June 18, 2006:

On a pleasant morning sail, Adla decides to call it a day and head for home. Wind immediately kicks up. My steering breaks. Probably due to slack in the line. Wind too strong to limp back to dock. Beached the boat to wait it out.

I apparently did not beach the boat well enough. Randy rights it after wind knocks it down. I tighted the steering shaft while I was sitting in the boat, on the beach, trying to decide how to get it to the dock in the strong winds.

The decision is made to attempt sail back to dock, since wind has died down. Randy opts to hitch a ride.

Steering malfunction reappears. Wind picks up. Having trouble tacking because of steering issue. Grabbing rudder box by hand to steer. Very gusty winds. Made very good progress, though, going across the lake in order to tack back to the ramp. Wind picks up even more.

Shroud #1 breaks loose on port side. Randy quick-fixes it with a loose sheet. Fix holds well.

Shroud #2, also on port side, breaks loose. First repair holds. Mast is not staying straight. No tools on board, no knife. Another quick fix by using the same rope. Laced through both chain plates, and up to each shroud line. Excess left hanging on aft shroud. Fix holds hard, gusty winds well.

Steering continues to hinder our ability to tack, but not completely. One successful tack, and we

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The truly nice thing about small sailboats is they will immediately reward you for every sail set and helm input (be them right or wrong). I did some sail instruction when I lived in St. Pete and small boat sailors make the best bigger boat skippers, but bigger boat skippers will capsize a small boat repeatedly, some never get it.

It's actually quite intuitive and natural. Your body will naturally want to lean against the heel, your hand resist the pressure on the helm. The biggest issues I tried to fix with beginners was to get them to stop thinking and just let their body learn from the input it receives. The basic handling information you have digested can be committed to memory easily enough, your brain will remember (most of the time) if you stay calm and react to changes to the boat or conditions. When you are panicked, you'll forget everything you've tried to absorb (class room work) and start honking on the helm or trying to cast of sheets.

Sail in light air and close your eyes. You can hear changes in the sounds of the boat as it passes through the water (you can even judge speed by this), the wind on the sails, rigging and your face (ears are particularly sensitive to this). Sail by sensation, which will teach intuition and this will breed confidence. Move to bigger winds as you feel better about your abilities, no sooner.

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Well now, the 2nd day on the water in my sailing class (Sat 3-3-07) I was a little apprehensive as we had some gusts recorded earlier in the day up to 29 mph, but when we got out there mostly 10-15 or less. It was a good day and stayed above water this time. :P We actually had 4 in a boat this time including the instructor but all went well. However, I may have determined that I need to re-design my tiller on my rudder on my boat for when I get ready to use it. The present tiller is fixed hard to the rudder, while the ones on the boats used in my classes (Capri 14.2) have tillers that can swing up and also have extensions. So I see that as a good option I should change to. :wink:

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