Great Training Experience

[capcook]

Just finished up ASA 101, 103, 104 & 114 this week, it was a great learning experince and kudo's to water sailing">Blue Water Sailing School in Ft. Lauderdale for a fine program.

Anyone one thinking/dreaming of the cruising lifestyle should take this course. For me it was an eye opening experience and has probably impacted my plans. I was surprised at how unstable a Lagoon 410 is in 3-5 ft seas (and a few 8's I think) on a Close Reach/haul. We were heading pretty much N with 17-20kt winds from the East. It wasn't a whole lot better on a Beam Reach either... I suppose running would proabably have been OK.. but we could not prepare lunch on the close haul/reach. I was under the impression going in, that Cats were so stable you had to look out windows to know you where sailing :-) Ha... Will for sure the Wife and Ks are not going to handle that and I don't think I could see doing it for 20+ days 24 hrs a day... Maybe you get use to not being able to move around but it was surprising for me. Still the CAT faired better than the Mono's on the same trip, those guys kept getting "poop" on and can came back soaked, while I was totally dry on the CAT.

I also know now that I need a BIG head So a master version of at least a 44' is going to be required... call me soft, but I can't see making that kind of compromise after spending $300 - 500k on a boat.

So lot's of learnings and I managed to smoke the 4 courses...I highly recommend the training.

Cheers

[cchesley]

You have discovered one of those dirty little secrets to cruising! Small boats (<100') bounce around a lot. It's not really a stability issue. Cats are stable, but not immovable. I describe the motion as "active"! It doesn't really matter how many hulls one has under them for the motion issue. The types of motion vary but they ALL have it.

But isn't it nicer to know this before buying? Congrats on your course success. You now have 'knowledge', keep on getting out there and you'll begin to accrue 'experience'.

[SkiprJohn]

Congratulations on completing the courses. Every sail is a new experience.
regards,

[fishwife]

Congratulations If you get into the cruising lifestyle there WILL be days when things are lumpy but there is the upside as well. Unless you're a masochist, most cruising is with the trades, running with the wind astern or on the aft quarters, which is a lot nicer

I hope you have a great New Year exploring more of the sailing life.

Paige

[capcook]

Thanks Folks... I appreciate the congrats.

I guess maybe I understand now why the mono's are rather preferred by many sailors. They must be easier to get around in when the boat is bouncing a lot. The CATs with the large spaces are kinda of difficult to move around in under those conditions as hand holds are not easy to reach, unless you have really good balance. I also now understand why they call it "beating" to the wind cause you will feel beat up after a day or two of that...

Next outing will hopefully be on an Orana 44 in Chesapeake Bay this summer... Will see how that goes then decide if sailing is in my future.

Cheers

[Glenn C]

Hi Capcook, totally agree with you regarding Blue Water Sailing School.

My wife and I have just completed the 1 week Blue Water Sailing School course in the Bahamas. It was great. We did the ASA 101, 103, 104, 114 and 114 catamarans all in the week. It was pretty intense, but we had an excellent and knowledgable skipper and instructor in Alex Hill.

We did have a couple of days of winds around 25kts, which was actually good for boat handling and practicing reefing etc in real conditions. We were on a Prout 44. This boat was about 12 months old and the first one out of the Thai factory. Very well appointed, but also it was quite heavy, so the strong winds were welcomed. We did spend most of the time within the Sea of Abaco, as the cuts were too dangerous to get out. So the boat was very stable in these conditions. 2nd last day we got out, with Alex taking us through the cut in the reef, with some pretty large waves until we got out into the Atlantic. We still had about 15kts, and the sea was still lumpy after several days of high winds. The cat was reasonably stable, with only a couple of items falling to the floor......nothing had been specially secured before we went out.

Anyway, BWSS and Alex are thoroughly recommended. The course has given my wife a lot of confidence. We will likley do the advanced coastal cruising next year before getting our next cruisng boat.