Sailing Lessons

[JW Smoove]

My wife and I signed up and we have been out near the Ravenel Bridge



2 times - 5 more lessons over the next 2 weekends.

Taught by The College of Charleston and using their boats, single masted 2 sails, main and jib, and maybe we can use (I doubt it) the bigger front sail before it's over, but it's not about racing, it's about just enjoying the time on the water. It's been a bit of work but really fun.

Stock photo, but these are the boats



So, for those that sail we have done tacking and Jibeing/Jibing - one is left turns and the other right? Or is Jibing more about speed turns maybe tighter, faster?

It's tough work rigging the boat, learning the knots and where/when to use them, and post sail take down. I think I still prefer to be a passenger, but I at least know more about the whole thing, 5 lessons to go.

Feel free to add anything that might this old guy get it better/faster - that is learn not sail (faster).

 

[wadesworld]

Tacking is turning across the wind when into the wind. Jibing is turning across the wind when down wind.

I used to to do a lot of sailing so happy to answer any questions I can.

If you don't already have them, get some gloves (most people use the fingerless style). Handling the lines a bunch you can rip your hands to shreds if you don't have gloves.

 

[JW Smoove]

Thanks - that sounds more like what they said, it's hard to hear them sometimes over the wind and noises from the boat/sail/water etc and lot's of other boat traffic. But it was not as simple as you made it. Thanks!

 

[dhartmann34]

I've never had sailing lessons or even been sailing. I'm sure it's wonderful... But all I can think of is this movie

 

[wadesworld]

Thanks - that sounds more like what they said, it's hard to hear them sometimes over the wind and noises from the boat/sail/water etc and lot's of other boat traffic. But it was not as simple as you made it. Thanks!

No problem. Enjoy it. Sailing is an absolute blast. I always enjoyed it much more than power boating.

 

[captaincaution]

I raced on Lake Michigan for a number of summers with a bunch of friends. Was a boat full of engineers and an attorney

I'm with @wadesworld on good sailing gloves. I was partial to those with full fingers on the ring and pinkie only. Easier to tie and untie knots with the three other fingers.

Always be alert when you're aft of the mast, especially when heading downwind. Keep your head down!

 

[JW Smoove]

Tacking is turning across the wind when into the wind. Jibing is turning across the wind when down wind.

I used to to do a lot of sailing so happy to answer any questions I can.

If you don't already have them, get some gloves (most people use the fingerless style). Handling the lines a bunch you can rip your hands to shreds if you don't have gloves.

Gloves, yes, i think I’ll have to see how that goes if we continue classes or get some cert so we can just rent a boat and have at it. Then I’d be in 100%

 

[JW Smoove]

I raced on Lake Michigan for a number of summers with a bunch of friends. Was a boat full of engineers and an attorney

I'm with @wadesworld on good sailing gloves. I was partial to those with full fingers on the ring and pinkie only. Easier to tie and untie knots with the three other fingers.

Always be alert when you're aft of the mast, especially when heading downwind. Keep your head down!

I’m 6’2” I’m always head down and watching that thing. Don’t need a boom to go boom.

 

[mikefrench]

Have fun - location looks amazing.

I'm on the south coast of the UK, and the kids sail. I used to but just didn't have enough time or enough opportunity with everything else going on (mainly it seemed at the time ensuring the kids could get out). Used to have dinghy catamarans.

Tacking is turning into the wind (tends to be a slower, more controlled turn)
Gybing is turning away/off the wind (typically faster - needs care especially in a larger yacht like that !

Depending on the wind direction as to whether you are left or right

Have an amazing time for the rest of your lessons - and if it is anything like here people always need crew (read: passengers with jobs) - quite often WhatsApp/Facebook/sign-up groups where yacht owners can contact willing crew.

Edit: Took me a while to write this and wadesworld got ahead of me - so apols for the repeat and yes gloves are an excellent shout. Very easy to ruin your hands with rope burns. Also care if you wear a ring/rings - ideally remove them or at least cover them - catching them with the rope (de-gloving your finger) can be a really nasty injury.

 

[JW Smoove]

Have fun - location looks amazing.

I'm on the south coast of the UK, and the kids sail. I used to but just didn't have enough time or enough opportunity with everything else going on (mainly it seemed at the time ensuring the kids could get out). Used to have dinghy catamarans.

Tacking is turning into the wind (tends to be a slower, more controlled turn)
Gybing is turning away/off the wind (typically faster - needs care especially in a larger yacht like that !

Depending on the wind direction as to whether you are left or right

Have an amazing time for the rest of your lessons - and if it is anything like here people always need crew (read: passengers with jobs) - quite often WhatsApp/Facebook/sign-up groups where yacht owners can contact willing crew.

Ha! I’m 64 this month. My potential crew days are long past!

It is fun though, both my wife and i love the water, so we are trying to take advantage.

Next will be 2 person kayaking.

After that maybe some power boating.

Then maybe (big maybe) join one of the rent a boat clubs. But, that’s the 2-3 year plan.

 

[JW Smoove]

Gloves, need to rethink this. Just noticed 3 nice cuts, sort of paper cut like but long and clearly new - I have no idea else could have caused them, but whatever. I play golf Thursday, if not healed by then - thus Sailing affecting Golf - there will be gloves in the mix. And, about 3 or 4 of the 10 students and 2-4 instructors have and use them as well.

 

[Duffer Seamus]

Tacking is turning across the wind when into the wind. Jibing is turning across the wind when down wind.

This ^^^^^ is the correct answer.

While you have to be careful with either maneuver (they don't call it a "boom" for nothing), jibing (or gybing) can result in a much more forceful motion and, because, when you're sailing before the wind, or running, the boom is usually a good deal further out, it has a lot further to move across.

It's important to do a controlled jibe. That's where, as you jibe, you get the wind dead astern and use the mainsheet to move the mainsail over. The other way is an uncontrolled (usually unintentional) jibe. Those can break things (up to and including demasting the boat) and kill or injure people. You want to avoid those.

The captain (often, but not necessarily the helmsman) is at all times in complete command of the boat. Nobody but the captain calls out orders. Ever. Non-sailors won't understand the absolute necessity for this, but it is absolutely necessary.

When preparing to come about (tack) the captain will call out "prepare to come about," the crew will do what the crew needs to do (incl. making absolutely certain all lines and sheets are clear to run free), will (all) respond "ready," the captain will call out "coming about" or "helm over," and the tack is executed.

When preparing to jibe the captain will call out "prepare to jibe," the crew will do what the crew is to do and call out "ready," the captain will call out "jibing," the helmsman will bring the wind over the stern, the main will be brought across, then the jibe will be completed by bringing the helm to the new course and letting the main out.

In both cases whomever's manning the jib will be, well, taking care of bringing the jib across and setting it

If you don't already have them, get some gloves (most people use the fingerless style). Handling the lines a bunch you can rip your hands to shreds if you don't have gloves.

Absolutely! Also good, grippy boat shoes--which you never wear ashore.

Also wear at least quality auto-inflating PFDs while the boat is underway. Self-inflating PFDs are usually only Class III, at best, and they have been known to fail to auto-inflate, but they're comfortable and unobtrusive. So, while a Class II or Class I PFD is much safer: Better the PFD you're wearing than the one you're not because it's bulky and uncomfortable, IMO.

Your instructors should teach you how to execute MOB (Man OverBoard) maneuvers from both into the wind and while running. (These maneuvers are not intuitive.) But, unless the sailors upon the boat are very, very good, it's not something that can be executed with a crew of less than two. So if it's just you and your first mate, and one of you goes in the water while under way, you want to make certain they can stay afloat for a good long while, because the remaining crew member will probably have to drop the sails and get back to the crew in the water under auxiliary power.

A fun story. My wife and I took a course to get our ASA 101 through 103 certifications. One day we're out training with a crew of four + instructor. Beautiful, sun-shiny day. Perfect air for sailing--neither too light nor too heavy. We'd already done several MOB drills where the instructor would unexpectedly throw a ring over the side and call out "MAN OVERBOARD!". He was sitting on the stern, leaning back against the stern pulpit, when a gust of wind caught his hat and overboard it went. "Damn!," he said, "That hat meant a lot to me." The crew glanced at each other. I happened to be playing captain at the time, so I called out "MAN OVERBOARD" and we executed a MOB maneuver to get back to the hat.

We rescued it

Our instructor was both very pleased and quite impressed. "I guess you guys know the MOB maneuver well enough," he said.

A lot of people, even some sailors, will say this is being unnecessarily anal, but I always felt it important to learn and use the correct terminology for the bits, locations upon, and the maneuvers executed on a sailboat. Doing so removes all ambiguity.

You'll probably get a lot of this in your sailing instruction (or at least I hope so), but I believe it important to also learn COLREGs (Collision Regulations.) As with the using proper terminology on the boat, it's important each vessel upon the water knows which vessel should do what at which times. Otherwise Bad Things may result.

(Note: While sailors aren't always guiltless, IME powerboat operators were far less likely to know the "rules of the road" than sailors. Learn early not to trust what a powerboat may or may not do.)

Knots. Get some shorter pieces of two or three different sizes of rope, learn several types of knots (I had a "knot toolbox" of twelve knots I could tie in my sleep), and practice the hell out of them. You do not want to be struggling to remember how to tie a particular knot when time is of the essence. You do not want to be thinking you know how to tie a particular knot only to find out, the hard way, you got it wrong and it either comes apart (upsets) at the worst possible time or can't be undone short of using a knife.

Sailing is a lot of fun. I miss it. Enjoy!