Can you learn to sail on Cruiser's Forum?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I watch the questions posted here on CF. They seem to form patterns. A good deal of the sailing questions were answered when I was on the water...sailing.
Which leads me to ask the question- can you really learn sailing from CF, or from books for that matter.
Or do you just have to sail?

Well, my ex-BIL has been sailing his whole life and he is literally the worst sailor I know. Has no mechanical aptitude whatsoever (literally, none, it's astonishing) and absolutely terrible judgement in matters of seamanship.

So experience does not guarantee competence.

That said, you can learn a lot from these forums, but experience is the best teacher and there is no substitute for it. But perhaps you can learn enough here to know what NOT to do as you learn.

It's not unreasonable for you to get a cruiser and learn as you go. It's just knowing how far you can go with what you've learned to that point which is important.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I watch the questions posted here on CF. They seem to form patterns. A good deal of the sailing questions were answered when I was on the water...sailing.
Which leads me to ask the question- can you really learn sailing from CF, or from books for that matter.
Or do you just have to sail?

You need to sail. Take a bunch of what you read on CF with a grain of salt. Most is well intentioned and some is from folks that have never sailed in . their lives. Some is great advice. Doubt you will ever learn without sailing just be on the safe side. JMHO

[John_Trusty]

Originally Posted by KetoNomad

OK so serious question: ....
want formal training and international certification but my work schedule and preference for winter boating and not spending a week at a time with a bunch of people I don't know make that unlikely to happen before I buy my next boat. Do you think I would be foolish to buy a small cruiser and learn on my own assuming an application of common sense (not sailing in rough weather right away or in busy spots and never too far from re-supply to motor?) .

A few people I've met in real life thus far have scoffed at the idea of me paying "Yachties" nearly two thousand dollars to go sailing for a week so I guess I can't be the first guy to contemplate this.
...

What do you think? Am I an idiot? Haha.

You are absolutely not an idiot, you seem to be comfortable on the water from your other sports, and you're asking good questions. As the rest of this thread states, you can't learn to sail from the free advice here (most good, some silly), or from a book, or other passive learning, but these things do help. You really need to try, fail, and correct, to learn anything. Hopefully the failures are not dangerous or expensive

Formal training, or reading, will help you with the theory, which is really useful for correcting when you make those mistakes. Using driving as an analogy, if you corner too sharply and hit the curb, will you know what you did wrong and correct it next time, or will you wonder why the car is bouncing around so much. If you don't know what it should look like (or sound like, or smell like...) how will you know that the flapping sound is wrong, or just part of a normal tack?

The certifications are nice, if you want to charter and they ask. The actual education may not be worth two-grand, but they are letting you use the sailboat for the week as well as the guy's time. BTW: For most of those courses, you can test out of the basic courses, if you know your stuff. I suggest getting a book (or a local sailor), and a little board boat - best way to learn to sail.

[desertsailor]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I watch the questions posted here on CF. They seem to form patterns. A good deal of the sailing questions were answered when I was on the water...sailing.
Which leads me to ask the question- can you really learn sailing from CF, or from books for that matter.
Or do you just have to sail?

S/V Beth, Are you bored or just like stirring up the pot? Having crewed for you, I know you knew the answer before your issued this post.

Good Sailing to you.

[boatman61]

Whats wrong with crossing oceans with an AP.. the way some of you talk it sounds like one sets it and goes below.. leaving the AP to set and trim the sails.. reef.. navigate.. blah blah..
Hell..!! you may as well say you can't learn to sail if you've got someone standing at the helm..

[leftbrainstuff]

No you need a boat and water

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[jeepbluetj]

I'm with boatie here. I'm sure I've learned when the boat is on autopilot. What does hand-steering teach you? How to hand-steer? That's not even all that tough. You'd learn that in the first 20 miles or so, and then wish you had an autopilot. Otto tells me if the sails aren't balanced by the sound. I'll pop off the clutch, hand steer for 30 seconds, pop the pilot back on, and balance the sails. So even that I wouldn't necessarily learn from standing back there with the wheel.

I'm a self-learner mainly. Only thing I learned years ago when I took the ASA stuff was how to back and fill. Good knowledge sure, but I would have figured it out.

A copy of "Sailing for Dummies,", a cheap sailboat, and some time - most anybody can learn to sail. Docking? Docking is much harder than sailing.

Racing? Great way to learn about sail trim if the skipper isn't an agro yeller type. Terrible way to learn anything if he/she is.

[thomm225]

Not really, but you can on one of these especially if you race and YOU are the Skipper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO0LkUDALNk