Advice for a New Apprentice

[Berke]

Folks, i have been building a 40ft steel motorsailer over last 16 months and i have been to courses, few practical lessons and a lot reading about boat handling. you Will think its kind of ceazy/funny to start building a boat with Limited experience..but i wanted such start... my boat Will be on water this week and first week i âm going to Sail with an experienced captain. Based on your experiences, how long would it take to handle the boat alone, considering its a heavy 17tons steel motorsailer ?

[Hydra]

Berke,
It depends on you, how gifted and motivated you are: it will take a few days, a few weeks, a few months or a few years...

I feel 17 tons is a bit heavy for docking alone in less than ideal conditions. If you fail a manoeuver, you could do some damage on other boats.

Alain

[Cheechako]

It's a learning curve that never ends..... You'll pick up most of it in the first year if you sail a lot.....

[Celestialsailor]

First of all congratulations on completing what most folks can't do...and that is complete a home built let alone even start one. Use the same "go get em" attitude you used to bulid the boat and apply it to learning to sail it.
As Cheechako points out. We are all apprentice on Mother Ocean. Sure, you'll read a lot of blow-hearts and heartess's on the forum but just do it and always play it safe.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Berke

Folks, i have been building a 40ft steel motorsailer over last 16 months and i have been to courses, few practical lessons and a lot reading about boat handling. you Will think its kind of ceazy/funny to start building a boat with Limited experience..but i wanted such start... my boat Will be on water this week and first week i âm going to Sail with an experienced captain. Based on your experiences, how long would it take to handle the boat alone, considering its a heavy 17tons steel motorsailer ?

Wild guess - 2-4 weeks of supervised training and about 4-5 months of local/coastal sailing to gain experience and shake down the boat.

[Tony B]

Take the boat out as often as you can. Read a few books, they all say the same thing. You will learn very fast that way. Sailing is easy. If no one ever showed you, you would figure it out by yourself in a short period of time. It does not require much knowledge to get from point A to Point B if you are not in a hurry. Lots of knowledge required for racing where pinching every 1/1oo of a knot faster counts.
The only thing you will definitely need some help on is docking in a small slip with a single engine. If you had the guts to build a 40 ft steel hull boat, sailing will be a piece of cake. Bigger boats are easier to handle and sail - they react much slower than a smaller boat.

My first sailboat was a 25 ft MacGregor. Neither me nor my girlfriend had ever even been on a sailboat before. I work offshore, I went to the library, got out several books on sailing. Went for my 2 weeks offshore. read all of the books in 2 days. Call up GF and told her than when I got home she is to take a 2 week vacation. I got home and just really wanted to go and go now!. I needed to mount a compass. Didnt want to spent the time. We stuck the compass in a tennis shoe in the middle of the cockpit and left. We went from Gulfport, Ms to Dauphin Is., Alabama the first day and night. Anchored out. The next day we made it to Pirates Cove, Al. The following day we made it to Ft. Walton Beach, Fl. stayed a few days and then on to Panama City, Fl. and eventually back to Gulfport, Ms. What great memories. We sailed part of the way on the ICW and part of the way in the open Gulf of Mex.

[maxingout]

If you have a big engine in your motorsailer, you should practice your maneuvering in close quarters. After you get that under your belt, the rest of the sailing stuff is usually forgiving and should be a piece of cake.

You just don't want to make a mistake when maneuvering in restricted spaces as a 17 ton battering ram could do some real damage.

[captainKJ]

Glad to hear that you finished you boat. I have meet several people who started building them but gave up. Enjoy the sailing. Take your time in learning, lots of info on the net,,,, youtube has videos that will help you out with sailing and docking. Above all just keep posting questions,, CF members are always glad to help out

[Steve Thompson]

Berke
Great acheivement building and launching in 16 months.The rest is easy . A few pointers from an exp skipper and away you go its all practice.
Cheers Steve

[jongleur]

Yes, wide open sailing is a piece of cake. Close quarters maneuvering is the real test.

Never come alongside going downwind and be careful with docking when the wind and current are at odds.

Learned that in an 8 foot sabot. No damage but seared into my memory.

[Berke]

Thank you all! Great comments!! all advices are very insightful, very helpful.. earned some courage reading them..
The boat is Bruce Robert's PCF40 sailing trawler..agree that it was a bold decision to start from building, but I have small kids and wanted to have a boat which gives comfort on the deck level, but not to compromise from sailing.. and wanted a comfort of a heavy displacement boat.. hope all will work out (fingers crossed)... as you all mentioned, process was (still) though but I learned a lot and good thing is I know the boat pretty well now, where all cranes, cables located, almost every single piece...

I recognize that the most difficult part is docking..I bought several buoys to simulate an imaginary dock & boats around, and in different positions..I will try to practice as much as possible with that..

[JoeDiver]

I don't have any advise to offer....but if you've actually built your own boat, start to finish....you will have NO PROBLEM learning to handle her!

Congrats....smooth seas.....have fun!

[mangomuffins]

Berke,

PICTURES MAN, PICTURES!!!!

mm

[mesailor]

First, you are my hero.

Docking
Consider using a mooring at first. Dock at the gas dock to load and unload. Port side. It is easier than a slip, padded and and usually at the end of a dock so there is more room.

Sailing
Shake down with a boat surveyor . You will learn a lot about sailing and have someone with experience tell you how your boat is performing at sea. It is needed for a new boat and probably and will be reviewed by you insurance company.

Safety
Consider a Safety at Sea seminar. In one or two days you will be exposed to all the safety and related issues that could take years to come across. As you plan your initial days on the water you will have a list in you head of all the things that could and may go wrong. Sailing in my mind is about prep and planning.

Experience
Variety is key. Sail with other people and different places. Doing the same thing over and over is not the goal. You need to experience may conditions and circumstances. In fact you could argue that mastery is overrated, or a fantasy.

Sail Handling
This is usually not what will limit your ability to use your boat. Learning to handle the sails can take a few days. The key is to do it in a very wide open area where you have no obstacles to contend with. Pick a beautiful day with about 10 knots of wind. Grab a friend and plan to make a lot of mistakes. Its ok you will learn from them. Failure happens in busy confined dark spaces where you have few options. One piece of equipment you should have is a boom brake. This will limit the danger of an uncontrolled jibe. Probably one of the most dangerous and surprising events on a boat.

Best of luck
Dan

[mangomuffins]

Boom brake.... very good.
Accidental gibes can kill.

mm