Sailing lessons

[bobflshmn]

Well I bit the bullet the other day. Signed myself, and the 1st mate up for sailing lessons. I felt I was not doing a good job of teaching her, and want her to be comfortable in her abilities to handle the boat alone should the need arise; captains have been know to "fall" over board. Plus I know I could stand a tune up!

If anyone else has done this can you give me an idea as what to expect. The class is a 2 day mostly on the water US Sailing basic keel boat training with certification. The class will only have the 2 of us in the boat for the training. Must be off season, but I didn't know we had an off season in Ca.

[NiceAft]

captains have been know to "fall" over board.

Behave yourself, captains have been known to be PUSHED OVERBOARD ALSO

Ray

[Todd]

Well I bit the bullet the other day. Signed myself, and the 1st mate up for sailing lessons. I felt I was not doing a good job of teaching her, and want her to be comfortable in her abilities to handle the boat alone should the need arise; captains have been know to "fall" over board. Plus I know I could stand a tune up!

If anyone else has done this can you give me an idea as what to expect. The class is a 2 day mostly on the water US Sailing basic keel boat training with certification. The class will only have the 2 of us in the boat for the training. Must be off season, but I didn't know we had an off season in Ca.

I totally understand....my boat was doing too good of a job teaching me lessons so I thought I would go a kindler gentler route and did the same thing. Heading to Florida Friday for a 3 Day-er!
Enjoy the class! Worst case you will get to go sail

[Highlander]

Well I bit the bullet the other day. Signed myself, and the 1st mate up for sailing lessons. I felt I was not doing a good job of teaching her, and want her to be comfortable in her abilities to handle the boat alone should the need arise; captains have been know to "fall" over board. Plus I know I could stand a tune up!

If anyone else has done this can you give me an idea as what to expect. The class is a 2 day mostly on the water US Sailing basic keel boat training with certification. The class will only have the 2 of us in the boat for the training. Must be off season, but I didn't know we had an off season in Ca.

Well if u r lookin for more crew & willing to pay my way u can sign me up too !

J

[PAWSEIDON]

Bob,

Where about's in Ca are you? Am considering something similar and would like to hear how you felt about the training.

[sailboatmike]

A great idea, nothing like building your confidence in your abilities and building those of yourself and your crew.

I would love to do one but prices here are prohibitive to say the least, the peak body of sailing here seems to be more intent on raising money than building participation and promoting safety by offering reasonably priced training.

Other sports here are doing really well and are growing and building participation rates by offering low cost options for training, its a real catch 22, they get more government funding by having larger participation rates but they seem happy to miss out on this funding in order to charge a small fortune to attend these courses and thus the sport just isnt growing, even the the really rich whos kids are not really interested in doing much but play with their IPads anyway as staying away in droves

The future of our sport is directly related to the already dwindling participation numbers.

[bobflshmn]

Bob,

Where about's in Ca are you? Am considering something similar and would like to hear how you felt about the training.

I am in southern Ca. We sail out of San Diego mostly. We found our deal through Groupon, $132 per person which included certification, regularly $350. Could not find a better deal anywhere. I will post an update once we complete the class mid March.

Thanks to others for the words of encouragement. "Nice Aft" she would probably done that already if she thought she could get the boat back to the dock. Might be shooting myself in the foot with the lessons! She won't need me anymore!.

[PAWSEIDON]

I'm just South of San Francisco. Similar here, but the local sail school only does a 4 day course.

Price: $795.00
Description: Basic Keelboat 1 and 2 are combined into a 4 day course. This 4 day class is held from 9:30 to 4:30 each day and generally runs Saturday and Sunday for 2 weekends or Monday through Thursday midweek. Weekend classes can be split between alternate weekends if necessary. This class includes ASA text, supplemental handouts, certification and 1 year membership with the American Sailing Association.

[Todd]

For those interested I completed the course in Panama City FL with the sailing school down there. I had 3 days with much of it on the water then a 4th where I rented the boat and took my better half Lisa out with a captain for 5 hours. It ended up being a 4th day of lessons with no other students which was great.

ASA101 and 103-- ran about $950 plus the books.

Very happy with the pre-study then structured learning which fits my learning style when combined with a bit of submersion.
The Captain that taught the course to me and another gentlemen on a O-Day 27 was very knowledgeable about the physics of the sails and related boat handling. We were able to practice no engine maneuvers in the marina, higher wind docking on a nearby pier and lots of bay sailing learning to trim, it was great.

For me-- who skipped the moving up from a kayak with a sail progression through Lasers, Dinghys, sub 20-footers and went straight to the 26M it was a huge leap in training. It would have taken me about 20 lake trips to get that amount straight sailing in while managing the family and camping aspect.

[arknoah]

Bob,

Where about's in Ca are you? Am considering something similar and would like to hear how you felt about the training.

I am in southern Ca. We sail out of San Diego mostly. We found our deal through Groupon, $132 per person which included certification, regularly $350. Could not find a better deal anywhere. I will post an update once we complete the class mid March.

Thanks to others for the words of encouragement. "Nice Aft" she would probably done that already if she thought she could get the boat back to the dock. Might be shooting myself in the foot with the lessons! She won't need me anymore!.

I'm not in California, but that price seems outstanding to me.

[Herschel]

For those interested I completed the course in Panama City FL with the sailing school down there. I had 3 days with much of it on the water then a 4th where I rented the boat and took my better half Lisa out with a captain for 5 hours. It ended up being a 4th day of lessons with no other students which was great.

ASA101 and 103-- ran about $950 plus the books.

Very happy with the pre-study then structured learning which fits my learning style when combined with a bit of submersion.
The Captain that taught the course to me and another gentlemen on a O-Day 27 was very knowledgeable about the physics of the sails and related boat handling. We were able to practice no engine maneuvers in the marina, higher wind docking on a nearby pier and lots of bay sailing learning to trim, it was great.

For me-- who skipped the moving up from a kayak with a sail progression through Lasers, Dinghys, sub 20-footers and went straight to the 26M it was a huge leap in training. It would have taken me about 20 lake trips to get that amount straight sailing in while managing the family and camping aspect.

I applaud you for taking the class. I believe classes are a great way to get started and to upgrade our skill set. I give US Sailing level one, small boat lessons to kids and adults in my family and in my church. I have found them well received, and I really enjoy the structured introduction to sailing it gives the new sailor or the person who is returning to the sport after a long absence. Congrats!

[npsrangerchuck]

We are very fortunate to have an old salt/California and Hawaii racer who retired to West Virginia- He founded the Sewell Mountain Sailing Association and offers free (FREE!!!) lessons each spring and summer. He also happens to be quite intrigued by the and is looking forward to spending some time onboard with me and my family this spring.....as in private one-on-one lessons, onboard our own boat.

I admit to being stubborn sometimes but I freely admit, I have and will likely always have a lot to learn about the art and science of sailing.....

NEVER stop learning!

[bobflshmn]

Great feedback folks, thanks. The first mate and I take our classes this coming weekend, we are looking forward to it. We will give you an update next week.

[Bilgemaster]

I'm lucky enough to have Woodbridge Sailing School right in the same park I keep my boats in, so I'll take a lesson with them now and then, whenever the opportunity presents itself. Although they've got Catalinas galore, of various types, they're happy to take me out in the Mac--even helped me rig her properly. Frankly, I'd vastly prefer learning the ropes on my own boat or its type than another...So that's sort of the selling point with me. I haven't signed up for a proper full ASA course with them yet, but most likely will at some point.

Which brings me to something else I've been wanting to do, which is just go out as crew on someone else's 26X, just to see how someone who might actually have some clue of what they're doing specifically on a 26X gets it done. So, if anyone within an hour or two's drive of DC doesn't mind a little extra ballast one of these forthcoming Spring days, please do drop me a PM or email through this forum. In return, I'll happily take you out for a "spin and splash" in my Amphicar, just to add a bit of weirdness to your nautical resume.

[Todd]

Which brings me to something else I've been wanting to do, which is just go out as crew on someone else's 26X, just to see how someone who might actually have some clue of what they're doing specifically on a 26X gets it done. So, if anyone within an hour or two's drive of DC doesn't mind a little extra ballast one of these forthcoming Spring days, please do drop me a PM or email through this forum. In return, I'll happily take you out for a "spin and splash" in my Amphicar, just to add a bit of weirdness to your nautical resume.

I agree, it would be great to have someone on the that is familiar with its sailing mannerisms.
There are pros and cons to everything. An unexpected bonus on the O-Day class boat I sailed on is that it had been modified as a cutter rig with a Genoa out front on roller to the bowsprit and a jib/storm jib setup on the inside so he was able to show us how to use the pointing to help roll in and out the Genoa as well as how the different size jibs performed then even flew an huge drifter.

I can't wait until next week to try some tricks out on the