Congestion in crowded Annapolis waters

[ferrailleur]

Am I to sensitive or too difficult?

Just took a sailing class on a Beneteau 37 for my ASA 103 certification on Annapolis waters with

https://www.annapolissailing.com/

t

the area was so crowded with all type of craft/motor/sailing boats that I was

almost scared to navigate in such close quarters.... forget about initiating a

man overboard maneuver.

your thoughts?

[rockDAWG]

Yeah, it is a mad house in the Weekend, especially in a long weekend. One must learn to share. Of course, there are always bad apples among us...... . But once you get out further away from the marina or Annapolis, you will still find quietness. Still Chesapeake Bay is a great place to learn and practice your sailing skills before you jump to your sailing paradise.

Taking 5-day sailing course is often preferred. The instructor will often have more opportunity to go thru all required materials plus more. You will get more out of the course at the same time you learn how to work as a team. It is an important seamanship skill.

[jkleins]

It was crazy on Saturday with several races in the area and the little afternoon thunderstorm causing everyone to hurry home. I would not have wanted to learn to sail in that. Hard enough for someone who has been doing it for 30 years.
It would be good practice after you were feeling comfortable for awhile. Everyone needs to experience that sort of thing.

Jim

[30yearslater]

My son lives in Arbutus, Md and we took in the fall sailboat show in 2017. That place is a zoo all the time and when they let the animals out of the cages I can't imagine a worse place to be. The idiots can't drive on a highway without wrecking (695) so the water has to be even more ridiculous from what I observed. On the plus side, once you are comfortable on the water there is nothing more fun than watching the chaos when someone uses sound signals with hundreds of boats going every which way and they are all trying to figure out who is signaling whom. Glad you made it and glad my harbor was nuts but manageable. In short, it's not you.

[ferrailleur]

Originally Posted by jkleins

It was crazy on Saturday with several races in the area and the little afternoon thunderstorm causing everyone to hurry home. I would not have wanted to learn to sail in that. Hard enough for someone who has been doing it for 30 years.
It would be good practice after you were feeling comfortable for awhile. Everyone needs to experience that sort of thing.

Jim

thanks.... it was THAT Saturday.... not a very good day to steer my borrowed Beneteau 37 under the watchful eye of a great skipper.

https://www.annapolissailing.com/

[Suijin]

Holiday weekends, south of the bridge and north of Thomas Point, yeah it's a madhouse. The rest of the week it's relatively sedate except for Wed. and Fri. night races.

I see how it could be unnerving to a novice sailor, but conversely if get to a point where you're comfortable in those conditions you're pretty well good to go when it comes to sailing in waters congested with lots of other sailboats virtually anywhere.

To get your comfort level up, start volunteering as crew on boats in the races. There's nothing like fast 40'ers charging the start, six feet apart in 15 knots of wind to put things in perspective. Sort of like going skydiving to cure a fear of heights lol. Look for crew positions in the Spinsheet rag or hit up one of their "crew finder" parties at the Maritime Museum, usually sponsored by Mt. Gay. They're fun.

[danielamartindm]

Don't be discouraged. You're absolutely right, at this stage of your learning you need to be able to focus upon fundamentals, and the pressure of traffic makes that more difficult. When you're comfortable with sailing, you can return to busy waters to test yourself; but for now, find a smaller nearby school in a less busy area.

[roberthowell]

Will always remember the well dressed guy by himself sailing his beautiful little hampton class boat maybe 20 ft all wood in and out though the anchorage in the center of ego ally what beauty what grace