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dickfred · 04-03-2020, 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

Every boat I've ever been the call has always been "Lee-ho" or "Gybe-ho". Lee-ho refers to pulling the tiller to lee.

Talking Australian, and I've always preferred pushing.

SunnySky · 04-03-2020, 19:07

You're brave to take on a such a challenging undertaking, there's a lot to try to fit on one page and different people learn differently...

Where you have the parts of the boat or points of sail I would clarify "port = left and starboard = right" if that is not already clearly understood by people visiting (because "sailing on port tack"/"sailing on starboard" tack on the diagram sides requires knowing what port/starboard are..)

I would also add basics of trimming sail based on jib telltale (I want to say Chapman's has a nice picture if you were permitted to use it..)

Also, it doesn't hurt to recommend guests bring their own small drybag for stuff they really care about keeping dry (even if you have your own dry bags to lend them, unless you have enough dry bags you can lend them out for the duration of the trip...

Cheers

Tillsbury · 04-03-2020, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by dickfred

Talking Australian, and I've always preferred pushing.

English, not Australian 😀

Lake-Effect · 04-03-2020, 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by mijagourlay

Hello,

When I sail, I frequently bring folks who are novices but who want to help. After going through a beginner crew briefing a number of times, I felt it useful to provide a study guide ahead of time. I wanted everything to fit into a single printed page (front and back):

https://sites.google.com/site/mijago...aelGourlay.pdf

I'm open to feedback: correctness, usefulness, formatting, whatever.

Thoughts?

Interesting idea, and you've done a good job.

It might be intimidating to a total n00b to receive this. "Boy this looks hard... will I get yelled-at if I don't know it all or mess up? If sailing is as hard as this suggests, maybe it's not for me..."

Having reviewed what you've done (and again, nice job!), it might be more useful overall if it was two sheets (or one sheet double-sided). Sheet 1 shows some info specific to your boat - location of emergency stuff, how to use the head, location of sheets and halyards, basic rules about moving around... and Sheet 2 has the points of sail and other very basic sailing theory.

Sheet 1 could also be laminated and posted somewhere near the companionway.

I was a basic sailing instructor for a while, and we were taught that there are 5 or 6 different ways in which a person learns. Terminology, locations of things, points of sail... these can be conveyed very well by studying learning materials, but actions are often best taught by example: I'll do it, then you do it. Knots, securing to a cleat, trimming sail are examples

Our boat is small and simple. I'm in the habit of putting a n00b on the tiller almost right away, and I just chatter away while playing with other stuff - raising sails, sheeting in, raising the outboard, etc. It usually kickstarts their interest and confidence.

Keep us informed about how the sheet works and what changes you try!

thunderhoof · 05-03-2020, 00:03

I don't endorse handing out a sheet. There should be a 'Safety First' briefing followed by assignment of indiviiduall simple take for each person. Those of a more decorative persuasion should be told where to sit and not sit. Also, a detailed description on how to use the head is suggested.

slug · 05-03-2020, 03:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Interesting idea, and you've done a good job.

It might be intimidating to a total n00b to receive this. "Boy this looks hard... will I get yelled-at if I don't know it all or mess up? If sailing is as hard as this suggests, maybe it's not for me..."

Having reviewed what you've done (and again, nice job!), it might be more useful overall if it was two sheets (or one sheet double-sided). Sheet 1 shows some info specific to your boat - location of emergency stuff, how to use the head, location of sheets and halyards, basic rules about moving around... and Sheet 2 has the points of sail and other very basic sailing theory.

Sheet 1 could also be laminated and posted somewhere near the companionway.

I was a basic sailing instructor for a while, and we were taught that there are 5 or 6 different ways in which a person learns. Terminology, locations of things, points of sail... these can be conveyed very well by studying learning materials, but actions are often best taught by example: I'll do it, then you do it. Knots, securing to a cleat, trimming sail are examples

Our boat is small and simple. I'm in the habit of putting a n00b on the tiller almost right away, and I just chatter away while playing with other stuff - raising sails, sheeting in, raising the outboard, etc. It usually kickstarts their interest and confidence.

Keep us informed about how the sheet works and what changes you try!

If you use Many words with crew they go in one ear and out the other

With a new crew I find it best to give them a job on the boat that requires them to stay alert and gives them time to read documents and familiarize themselves with the new world

I seat them in the nav station and make them the navigator log keeper

Inside the chArt table and on the nav station book shelf are all the relevant ship manuals and cruise guides of the area

The new. Crew keeps the log entered and reads manuals

After a few days this crew knows the layout of the boat and the geography of the region

Once this is mastered they can come on deck an begin sailing

Normally I make them helmsman because very little instruction is needed and they get to watch the maneuvers as they happen

thomm225 · 05-03-2020, 04:03

Just have them study this "points of sail" chart.

Then all they will need once aboard is to figure out where the wind is and which "rope" to tighten or loosen

Ken Pole · 05-03-2020, 07:20

Suggest you have it laminated for warer-proofing; most copy centres can do that at reasonable cost.

mijagourlay · 05-03-2020, 11:14

Thanks for all the feedback. All of it makes sense to me, including those who think handing out a sheet might not help. I don't want to scare off anybody. I might boil this down to "what to pack" and skip all the actual sailing stuff.

A few responses:

On my first post, I tried uploading the PDF but it didn't work the first time I tried. I successfully uploaded to other forums, but failed on this one. I probably just did it wrong. I tried again in this reply; we'll see if it works. Fingers crossed.

"jibe" versus "gybe" -- Appears to be regional. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jibe . I'm fine with either spelling but the marina where I usually go (Shilshole Bay) has a cafe literally called "Jibe Espresso Bar" plus the Wikipedia page is called "Jibe" so I went with that, even though in my brain I spell it "gybe".

I added a top-down view indicating "port" and "starboard".

The "one-pager" is meant to be printed double-sided so it's one sheet of paper with two pages, technically.

I pondered handing out a little knots kit that has a tiny plastic cleat: https://www.amazon.com/ReferenceRead...dp/B07VHLK5GJ/

I just bought 50 sheets of waterproof paper (TerraSlate 4 mil) and I plan to give that a try.

I don't own a boat. I am a member of a club that has a small fleet. Each one has different instructions about, for example, whether and how to deal with the transmission (whether to put it into reverse while under sail). All the lines are already labeled.

Safety briefing is key. I'm out of room on the sheet so I'd have to remove something else. I'll ponder how to cope with that. (I did add a PIW line.) For sure, I cover safety procedures during the crew briefing before we cast off, and then again while under way.

For my first draft, my thought was this: Every single word on that sheet will get said, and every operation will happen, on every sailing trip. The intent is for people to get that sheet before they arrive on the dock. So if they read that sheet a few times before they get on board, then their brains will have been primed. For people who learn by reading, they'll get a pass at that before they engage in the practicum. But I do not expect people to look at the sheet once they're on board. Maybe most people will ignore it. Maybe they'll use it as a souvenir. Maybe they'll only read the "what to pack" part. I'll find out. I'm open to discovering that this is not helpful.

I definitely am prepared to single-hand. I assess, for each passenger, what fraction of time they want to lounge versus be active. I'm fine with a crew of all-loungers. But so far I've mostly had people who mostly wanted to do something active. So I was hoping this would help.

Thanks for the book recommendations. I will add a section for those.

"Don't clog the toilet" and "Don't hang out in the companionway" -- Awesome. I will add that somewhere. I might have to replace the Queeg quote at the top to make room

Alternative terminology: Even among my instructors and racing teammates there seems to be large variation there. I personally mix it up (when among seasoned sailors who will know what I mean) to try on each one. I haven't settled on a fixed set yet. I do like the "Stand aside or loose a limb!" approach -- does not require any special knowledge. I'll ponder it further.

Sail trimming -- I like the idea of including that but if I had to remove something to fit that in, I don't know what I'd remove. Plus, I wonder if trimming is better learned by doing because I doubt I have the Word drawing skills to represent the nuances of telltale motion. If I run across diagrams that I think convey the process, I'll take inspiration from them. I'll look up the Chapman reference. Thanks for that.

Dry bag -- I updated to mention that along with the line about using a collapsible duffel.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

If anybody tries this with other people I'd love to hear learnings (including "people hated this" or "people ignored this".)

hamburking · 05-03-2020, 11:23

Nice looking "cheat sheet". However, as I've found out through many years of guests, sailing is 90% knowing where things are, and 10% knowing what to do with them.

My guests are always interested in HELPING...themselves to my food and drinks.

If they are truly interested in learning, they will educate themselves with the vast knowledge (and video channels) available to them online BEFORE they come aboard.

If they really want to help, I let them steer. Its the simplest job, but seems important...especially when going slow. Let them master "port" and "starboard". I also let them write in the logbook...which is actually really nice and promotes much good discussion about where we are/were and the boat words to describe our sailing actions.

IMHO, many guests don't really want to help, they either just being polite or want to see themselves as "sailors" not just the ballast they really are.

mijagourlay · 05-03-2020, 13:40

My second attempt at attaching the PDF also failed. The doc pointed to is updated, though.

Trying one more time. Also uploading a PNG.

Fingers crossed.

Lake-Effect · 06-03-2020, 06:14

The new version seems neater (is that a word?). Getting better for sure.

A question I should have asked earlier: is this for n00bs just coming along with you for a daysail, or on a multi-day cruise?

Siberianhusky · 06-03-2020, 08:25

Don't like things like this, above all I want peoples first day sailing to be fun. Basic safety rundown and off we go. Answer questions as they come up, if they want to"sail" give them a simple job and don't get too technical.

eg: Tighten up that rope until those little strings on the sail are blowing straight back....
Baffle them with B.S. or stories of doom, gloom and certain death and they won't be back.
I also stay close to the marina incase somebody gets sick or the weather changes, nothing says fun like beating to windward for 4 hours to get back home while your date is barfing their guts out and the wind keeps rising.