Sailing: Day 2. Am I a Sailor Yet?

[tkeithlu]

I do hope that you will hug your older daughter and then remind her that she DID get back to shore on her own. She faced a stressful situation, at the edge of her envelope, overcame it, and the next time will be easier. Then coach her to sail up wind from the shore.

You might try a dive shop for used wet suits, or go on ebay. Here are some ebay children's sizes:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...&_sacat=159136

[chris mac]

As you are discovering, sailing is different things to different people, and different to you based on conditions.
My wife and I did the dingy course. 1 day.
It was fun, but wet and cold(canada) after that we tried keel boats and discovered that we enjoyed sailing more. Now we live aboard a catamaran and love it.
Discover the aspects that make it the most enjoyable for you and your family.
When all are smiling, you know you are doing it right
Keep at it, you are doing great!

[LittleWing77]

Hiya Ali,

That sounds like an absolutely respectable start and SUPER first season!

Tell your daughter the first time I went out in a dinghy in 12 knots of breeze, I capsized her FOURTEEN times (yes, we counted), so she's doing fantastic. Happy Halloween!

You don't want to: (a) bite off more than you can chew; or (b) scare everyone off sailing altogether by going out in winds that seem daunting to all of you now (someday 15 knots will seem like nothing but fun, fun, fun, believe me). Sounds like a perfect place to pause until the weather warms up in the Spring/early Summer 2021.

So now, just take a moment to take stock of what you've learned so far! Let's see if I've managed to capture it:

(I) rigging, de-rigging (and related halyards, knots and shackles and their uses) launching and landing a dinghy;

(Ii) how to capsize and right a dinghy;

(Iii) sailing upwind (tacking) and *almost* getting the hang of gybing (you are very close!);

and most importantly,

(Iv) enjoying being out on the water as a family!

Good time to take a pause and have some family birthdays and Christmas and - look towards the Spring!

I think you can happily say you've joined the ranks of us salty dawgs now.

Congrats! and...
Thanks for the Update,
(Maura) LittleWing77

Oh, and by the way? One time I got up on a windsurfer out on Lake Joseph up in Muskoka and the winds were big and the sailing was fine... as long as I was going in one direction <a-hem> but I didn't know how to tack the windsurfer! I was ignominiously picked up a couple of hours later by the family's speedboat when I hadn't arrived back. See? We ALL have stories like that...

[Superseapig]

About a year on from day one, I feel like I’m back at day one. Took out a sunfish a week ago, tacked once, then promptly lost control and went over. Rescued it just before the sail hit the water but a little gun shy after that. My husband managed to tack just fine but I think the seas and winds and my near-capsize made him nervous. He did a couple of good tacks then packed it in.

My oldest (who didn’t end last season on the best terms) had a good day on the water. Took a friend out and cruised back and forth in front of the sailing club for hours until the water started filling in with power boats waiting for 4th of July fireworks.

This weekend was yet another with heavier weather than a sunfish is comfortable with. Or at least heavier than I am comfortable with. Winds forecast to be between 5-10 mph (PERFECT) ended up being closer to 15. The kids’ class did better than expected with the Optis. Youngest had her first solo sail beyond the “harbor” and has now really got a taste for it.
When the kids were done, one of the instructors offered to take me out. The whitecaps in the bay had me hemming and hawing until I finally decided to take advantage while it was on offer.
It turns out the tiller was all I could handle. It was hard enough to keep going straight without having to deal with the sheet and sail too.
“Are you ready to tack?” he asks.
“No,” says I.
“Okay, well just keep going out.”
“No! I’ll tack!!!”
So we tacked. And it was fine. Because I didn’t have control of the sheet [emoji12] But I felt more nervous than I really want to admit.

Two things happened yesterday that made me feel better:
One seasoned sailor (with a 41’ boat that he sailed from NC to TX) kept capsizing.
Another that has only sailed larger boats got stuck in irons and had to be rescued after 40 minutes of struggling to recover.

The oldest goes off on a gap year program next Sunday, and a lot of prep to do before then. But another sailing day will happen in the coming weeks. Holding out hope for some calmer weather.
Ali

[waterman46]

Your experience with Sunfish and observations of "experienced" sailors not being able to control one, is typical. You did well. In such small craft, reaction times must be very quick, and automatic. This is why all sailors should begin in small dinghys or even Sunfish since it develops those automatic reactions and a feel for the boat, the waves, the wind that cannot be duplicated in larger sailboats.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Your experience with Sunfish and observations of "experienced" sailors not being able to control one, is typical. You did well. In such small craft, reaction times must be very quick, and automatic. This is why all sailors should begin in small dinghys or even Sunfish since it develops those automatic reactions and a feel for the boat, the waves, the wind that cannot be duplicated in larger sailboats.

I don’t actually agree ( as a former cruising instructor )

Sailing a conventional AWB keel boat is really a very different experience to sailing a racing dinghy. Very different decisions are needed , safety is different etc.

While many skills transfer many do not and sone of the most problematic crew I’ve had were dinghy sailors.

The two sports are similar but different

[LittleWing77]

Alright, Supersea! Keep on truckin'!

Glad you took the opportunity to go out with the instructor for a spin. Those kinds of experiences will translate well to coordinating your crew (family) before executing a manouvre. "Ready about" - "Ready" - "Hard A-Lee". That sort of thing.

I mean, right now, you're in Sunfish, but eventually you'll graduate to small boats like maybe an Albacore or J 24 where each of you will be doing separate jobs: (one helming, one main, one jib).

I'm sure part of the "overwhelmingness" of your initial forays into sailing is that you're doing all of these separate tasks yourself while trying to simultaneously coordinate. I'm sure it feels like a lot at the beginning.

Please do keep reporting back - and we'll keep cheering.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[Auklet]

I think what you and your family are doing, and most of the rest of us, is actually yachting or boating. Not as “sailors” per se but as yachtsmen and yachtswomen, etc. Maybe even as yachties although I hear most folks refer to themselves as “boaters.”

If someone drives a race car a few laps is that person a “race car driver?” Likewise, if someone sails a boat around a few buoys is that person a “sailor?” It’s advanced reading, very dated as in historical, and not terribly interesting through most of it I admit, but there’s a book that offers some perspective on your question:The Making of a Sailor by Frederick Harlow. Ultimately, as with most serious activities, it shows that becoming a sailor is a life-long pursuit! Glad that you all are having the fun and enjoying the challenge of learning to sail!

[double u]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

(I think you may have been a sailor before you ever got into a boat...)

[Superseapig]

Yesterday my oldest flew to Oregon and will be gone for 3 months. She is doing conservation corps programs and will be camping the whole time. Before leaving, she wanted spaghetti for dinner, to take a few nice long baths, and to go sailing.

So sailing we went! As it happens, we had class 4 in the youth/kids series to go to. We got there to find 3 of 4 sunfish rigged for the class, and the third with a sail needing repair. She was disappointed but didn’t have to wait too long for some of the older kids to come in for a break. Grabbed boat, headed out.

She sailed and sailed and sailed. She sailed with her dad as a passenger. She sailed with her cousin as passenger. She sailed by herself. She cruised our little section of the bay like she had been sailing forever. She hit all the points of sail, she even jibed on purpose. It was wonderful to see and I couldn’t have been happier for her.

The 9yo had a good day too. She had a few good runs of short out and back that ended with a happy jump into the water instead of being tossed out and having to bail.

I have to take the joy from my kids sailing days this time. Too busy helping with the class to sail myself, and with a 4:30 wake up call the next day we had to pack it in earlier than usual, so no time to sail after. Next time out I’m getting in that boat no matter what.

[Tayana42]

Another great day!

[Rockinar]

Not a sailor. A Sunfish is a beach resort toy. Id recommend talking some actual sailing lessons. You can master a Sunfish but you still dont even know how to use a winch.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Rockinar

Not a sailor. A Sunfish is a beach resort toy. I'd recommend talking some actual sailing lessons. You can master a Sunfish, but you still don't even know how to use a winch.

Rockinar, find someone else to pick on.

In the immortal words of Flower the Skunk (Bambi), "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

P.S. What does a winch have to do with it? They've been learning the FUNDAMENTALS of sailing, for pity's sake!

Please take your negativity elsewhere.
LittleWing77

(Oh, and by the way... They ARE taking "actual sailing lessons", which you would know if you'd taken the trouble to actually read the thread, instead of just spouting off your nonsense.)

[mjscottinnc]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Rockinar, find someone else to pick on.

In the immortal words of Flower the Skunk (Bambi), "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

P.S. What does a winch have to do with it? They've been learning the FUNDAMENTALS of sailing, for pity's sake!

Please take your negativity elsewhere.
LittleWing77

(Oh, and by the way... They ARE taking "actual sailing lessons", which you would know if you'd taken the trouble to actually read the thread, instead of just spouting off your nonsense.)

Let’s all agree that everyone is allowed to express their opinion in there own way. You can disagree with the content, or even the phraseology. But let’s leave the cancel culture outside these forums.

There is some truth in what Rockinar had to say, in some parts of the world sunfish are beach toys. I learned on one when I was 8. I may not like how the message was worded, but telling Rockinar to leave is outside the pale. Let’s not starts that here.

[Tayana42]

I started on a Dolphin Sr, a lateen rig boat very much like a Sunfish. No, it didn’t have winches but it allowed me to feel the thrill of the wind acting on the sails, the effect of my weight as ballast and the basic maneuvers of tacking, gibing and moving the boat. It allowed me to start on a lifelong path and passion of sailing my own boats leading to my serious cruising boat. I know that not everyone starts learning to sail on small simple boats but it is one way to start. For me it was a great way. Superseapig, keep it up. Have fun. Enjoy every experience on the water.