WA State New Guy...

[CSY Man]

. 6. Dream about boat diagrams and components. Wake up in a cold sweat and the realization I need to learn to sail. Start reading manuals, learning about basic boat design and operation, subscribe to sailing mags, lurk on forums, and taking free online 'courses'.

Nah, don't worry about learning how to sail, that is fairly easy.
Boating in general needs learning but that can be done on your own with friends and studying up on books: Rules of the Road, basic Seaman ship, etc.
Plenty of printed or online lessons.

(Get a chart, learn how to read a chart, find reefs and shallows, stay away from reefs and shallows)

As for boat handling in tight quarters: It takes experience to be good at it.
The basic rule is: Slow is cheap.. If you are going to hit something, do it at slow speed.
Wind and current is your biggest enemy initially, try to mentally always calculate how it will affect you in close quarters, anticipate how you could be blown sideways and being caught in currents.
Then practice, practice and practice.

Been there, done that.
Never owned a boat in my life, never sailed a day in my life, then I bought a 44' Bermuda Yawl in the Virgin Islands, moved aboard and learned how to boat and how to sail.
Steep learning curve, but every day was exciting.

[h011yw00d]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Nah, don't worry about learning how to sail, that is fairly easy.
Boating in general needs learning but that can be done on your own with friends and studying up on books: Rules of the Road, basic Seaman ship, etc.
Plenty of printed or online lessons.

(Get a chart, learn how to read a chart, find reefs and shallows, stay away from reefs and shallows)

As for boat handling in tight quarters: It takes experience to be good at it.
The basic rule is: Slow is cheap.. If you are going to hit something, do it at slow speed.
Wind and current is your biggest enemy initially, try to mentally always calculate how it will affect you in close quarters, anticipate how you could be blown sideways and being caught in currents.
Then practice, practice and practice.

Been there, done that.
Never owned a boat in my life, never sailed a day in my life, then I bought a 44' Bermuda Yawl in the Virgin Islands, moved aboard and learned how to boat and how to sail.
Steep learning curve, but every day was exciting.

Much obliged for the advice!

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[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by CSY Man

Nah, don't worry about learning how to sail, that is fairly easy.
Boating in general needs learning but that can be done on your own with friends and studying up on books: Rules of the Road, basic Seaman ship, etc.
Plenty of printed or online lessons.

(Get a chart, learn how to read a chart, find reefs and shallows, stay away from reefs and shallows)

As for boat handling in tight quarters: It takes experience to be good at it.
The basic rule is: Slow is cheap.. If you are going to hit something, do it at slow speed.
Wind and current is your biggest enemy initially, try to mentally always calculate how it will affect you in close quarters, anticipate how you could be blown sideways and being caught in currents.
Then practice, practice and practice.

Been there, done that.
Never owned a boat in my life, never sailed a day in my life, then I bought a 44' Bermuda Yawl in the Virgin Islands, moved aboard and learned how to boat and how to sail.
Steep learning curve, but every day was exciting.

I would agree with CSY Man but would add you do need to learn how to deal with your engine and how to anchor, may be not perfect but enough. You absolutely need to learn how to restart your motor if it dies (clogged filter, run out of fuel, etc.). Not too hard to learn but it's good to know. Stuff like that always happens at the worst time. Docking scared the p**s out of me for many times but never ran into anyone and your knees will stop knocking after a bit. Seems to be directly proportional to the size of the boat. And can be hard on relationships....

I had to learn how to sail as I went. You can too. Go do it and have fun.