Whoohooo!

[David M]

Originally Posted by Red Charlotte

Cindy and Minggat, thanks for the words of encouragement.

Bash, it's hard enough to get excited about learning how to sail without all of the people who will try to keep you down. The tone of my thread was obviously positive, please keep your negativity away from a sailor who is just learning.

I'm glad you see that a couple bad experiences others have had with a sailing instructor does not mean all sailing instructors are bad. I think a bad sailing instructor is the rare exception, especially if they come from a really good school.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Starbuck

Yeah, but can rocket scientists pilot sailing yachts?

I have a neighbor who actually IS a Rocket Scientist.
He DOES NOT know the first thing about handling a boat.

His 17' Boston whaler fishing boat (stern drive) is a lethal missile every time he tries to dock.
He comes in hot (downwind) with the bow at a 30 degree angle to his dock and shuts off the engine about ten feet away.
Next, he walks up to the bow before the boat gets close, JUMPS frantically to the dock, pulls the bow over as the boat is caught by the wind.
Then he muscles the boat's stern upwind until it's parallel to the dock.
Next, while holding the boat with one hand, he ties the bow line with the other hand. Finally, he goes hand over hand to the stern, ties it (no spring lines ever) and finally puts out the fenders!

He also bought a neglected 43' center cockpit boat. He's doing a lot of work on it, and it's got a long way to go. He's convinced that this year he'll get it away from his dock where it's been for several years.

The next chapter will be teaching himself how to sail the thing.
That should be interesting. He's never sailed a day in his life.

I'm just glad he's a couple docks away from my boat.

Steve B.

[David M]

Sorta like this?....

[sailorboy1]

I think lessons are just great as it gives you more info for your own doing. After yesterday's exercise of going to the the dock to get water I'm thinking it might be time for my wife and I do arrange some docking lessons. I'm not saying lessons are any end all, but they help for you to determine the best way for as a couple etc. to go about things.

[captain58sailin]

Good on you Red Charlotte, enjoy!

[First Mate]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

I have a neighbor who actually IS a Rocket Scientist.
He DOES NOT know the first thing about handling a boat.

His 17' Boston whaler fishing boat (stern drive) is a lethal missile every time he tries to dock.
He comes in hot (downwind) with the bow at a 30 degree angle to his dock and shuts off the engine about ten feet away.
Next, he walks up to the bow before the boat gets close, JUMPS frantically to the dock, pulls the bow over as the boat is caught by the wind.
Then he muscles the boat's stern upwind until it's parallel to the dock.
Next, while holding the boat with one hand, he ties the bow line with the other hand. Finally, he goes hand over hand to the stern, ties it (no spring lines ever) and finally puts out the fenders!

He also bought a neglected 43' center cockpit boat. He's doing a lot of work on it, and it's got a long way to go. He's convinced that this year he'll get it away from his dock where it's been for several years.

The next chapter will be teaching himself how to sail the thing.
That should be interesting. He's never sailed a day in his life.

I'm just glad he's a couple docks away from my boat.

Steve B.

just proves that normal people can do normal things - we don't have to be brilliant. I'm glad I'm normal.

Red Charlotte - have you docked the boat yet?? Inquiring minds want to know.

You will be just fine (unless you're a rocket scientist and haven't told us - in which case you may need additional instruction).

[Cheechako]

I met a very nice family in the Bahamas who had just embarked on their dream cruise. He was a shop teacher in high school. (maybe now days its: industrial arts?) You would have thought of all people he would have a handle on the mechanical stuff on their boat, but no, they had made it to Georgetown, had a lot of problems, electrical, lost anchor and chain etc. I helped out sometimes, they were on the morning net looking for help a lot. Simple things like tracking down blown fuses etc were an issue. Anchors were attached with grossly bad or undersized shackles, no seizing etc..I believe they returned to Florida soon. I guess the point is you cant necessarily assume a rocket scientist will understand the mechanics of a foil shaped sail!

[sweetsailing]

Good for you Red Charlotte, I am secretly jealous, I could use a few lessons myself. I have docked our boat quite a few times and I do pretty well in calm conditions. I tried just the other day with a cross wind and it wasn't pretty and Mr. Sweetsailing had to take over. More practice.... I also don't yet feel comfortable with backing the boat. It's easier for me to bring the boat into the slip in calm conditions but I seem to have difficulty in backing out of the slip, even in calm conditions. I can't seem to remember which way to turn the wheel. Our boat is a little more complicated in that we have an outboard that is not attached to the rudder, so at times to make a tight turn, I need to turn the outboard in addition to turning the wheel and rudder. Too much to think about, when there is a dock in front of me. I am not giving up however. Our 17 year old daughter seems to have learned a little quicker than me however, she is pretty proficient at taking the boat out by herself without a problem. I figure if she can do it, the rest of us ladies should do just fine.

[Ashoreschool]

When Marilyn and I were in class learning dock, I was her biggest handicap. My job was to tell her when to turn into the slip, unfortunately I didn't completely understand when I were suppose to tell her turn. She would have been much better off with a one-on-one lesson with the instructor covering docking. Fortunately we repeated it until we both learned our jobs. Enjoy your class but I recommend that before you start a task such as docking, to be clear of what is expected, it will make it a lot easier for every one.

Good luck