Second Sailing Class Today

[boatgirl123]

well i think i just might be the girl in the sailing books that have the black bar across her face and it says don''t do this in the sailing books. lol. got yelled at a lot today. i was feeling my heart in my throat with the winds today before i even got to the the dock. i guess its a good thing that my teacher showed up today again. when i saw him he said that he has never slept so well than after yesterdays private class with me. like passed out on the couch slept so well. i wonder what that meant. did i wear him out? he said we would be going out today in the winds even though it was probably for the 2nd level classes and not mine. i am always game for a challenge. now you expert sailors im sure are laughing at my apprehension of 20 knots and 2.5-3ft seas. well again its daunting for us newbies. first thing that happened was my instructor was showing me at dock the 4 stroke outboard motor and how all that works. i started it and began to motor out of a very narrow space with a docked sailboat on my starboard side and a sea wall on port and ahead a row of million dollar or more yachts and had to make a hard right turn out. no problem. i got this. oh and i think yesterday my instructor did mention that usually with the students they pull the boat out of the tight spots and get it in the clear and then have us take over. somehow i did not let go of the tiller. so i was on the sb side of the tiller and moved in front of it to get to the other side. well the darn life jacket got caught up in the mast lines (halyard?) and i got focused on getting me unhooked. well i soon heard dean yelling at me to steer the boat that we were headed straight for a yacht. he then promptly came over and quickly corrected it and said there are no distractions like that and that i could have unhooked myself later just to steer. ok got it. duly noted. will not happen again. so we are underway and under motor going out of busy port, then coast guard boat and sheriffs boat come racing by us and we hear on the radio a single handed m/y is taking on water and two freighters are also coming in. and we are in the middle of reefing the mainsail before we get out beyond the jedi and start sailing. heart in throat again. we get the mainsail reefed and ready and are cruising to end of jedi and boom i feel the winds, kills the engine and we are sailing. a lot different today. so i am having a hard time finding the groove, i am sailing close hauled and i am either too far into the wind or heeled over. so i struggle to find that sweet spot. instructor tells me to let out the traveler a bit. well we were so far heeled over almost standing, got the tiller and the main sheet in my hands and i just couldn't let go of anything to release that traveler a bit. after he yelled at me a few times and wouldn't help i finally did it and was proud i could do it after all and felt immediate relief of the heel. jeez hats off to you sailors. then we practiced tacking. easy job for me right? just make the turn and cross over the boat and pass tiller behind you and go to the high side. i was like a cockroach on the bottom of the boat trying to keep control of the tiller and climb to the other side of the boat. my knees are bruised from crawling around and look like a corner hookers knees from a busy Saturday night. so we did it again and again until i got better at tacking while at the helm. ok so then its time for me to work the jib. why do i have such a hard time just letting go and releasing that jib sheet. i feel like they are gone forever if i just let it go. silly me. and instructor commanding me to trim it tighter and tighter, gotta work on upper body strength, dont like it when he says to give him the sheet he will tighten it. next class is COB maneuvers and practice practice practice. learned to tie square knots, clove hitch, cleat hitch, round turn with half hitch and bowline. ill start a blog someday so as not to make these posts so long. i would love to read others stories of people too that are just starting out because it seems like everyone knows so much and its nice to see not everybody does and we all have to start somewhere. sailing enchantress

[Dos Gatos]

jetty

not sure why the instructor would yell. better to take control and keep things calm. it's hard to learn under pressure and most people get brain lock when they're overwhelmed. hearing/comprehension goes on vacation.

what kind of boat?

As an instructor, I would demonstrate the choreography while at the slip so the movements are more ingrained in muscle memory. no need to be on your knees.

other than that, sounds pretty normal.

I'm sure you are already practicing visualization. play the movie in your mind of how it should look.

a few more sessions and all of this will be history.

[Teknav]

Not a bad day at all, BG. I can relate, in a different capacity. When I was learning how to fly in a 4-seater, a few decades ago, I used to hold the yoke (steering wheel) and the throttle (gas lever) very tightly; afraid that the plane might stall and falls off from the skies. Until I quickly learned how to "trim" the plane. Once trimmed, a slight finger adjustment was needed to control the plane; nothing had to be held tight since! Hang in there, you'll be fine!

Mauritz

[Carolina Blue]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a great day on the water, despite the knees. Whats a COB maneuver?

[SkiprJohn]

You did it!!!
Congratulations. I too feel that the yelling part is not necessary even though my best instructor when I was a Newbie yelled a lot and even made some of his female students cry. Some students just plain hated him. I learned a lot even with the yelling.
I've never yelled at my students unless there was an extreme emergency.
Good luck to you in the many sailing opportunities you'll have in the future and hang in there.
kind regards,

[Teknav]

Let me see...COB in medicine, means Complicated Obstetrics...ummm, a woman with a problem baby delivery. On here, probably Crew Overboard...used to be "man overboard"; politically correct phrase.

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[fishin4bogey]

I had a flight instructor who did the same thing. An absolute genius when it came to airplanes, but an impossible human being. Once I got rid of him I had a guy who was a captain on a 737 in Brazil and waiting for his FAA paperwork to clear. The best instructor I ever had. Explained every system and why it did what it did.

[boatgirl123]

In all fairness he is not really yelling horribly at me just being stern and I had told him in the beginning of class I learn better in a setting like that more hardcore and not to baby me at all. He is great teacher and is patient and explains everything very well and wants me to visualize the commands and maneuvers he is asking me to do. He also runs through the sequence before in case I have questions. So all is good there and I think I will continue to certify through them for further classes. Thanks for all your words of encouragement.

[Andrew B.]

Being more afraid of ones instructor than what's going on around one isn't always a bad thing...

serenity=remembering to grab a bucket and start bailing when you get a hole in your boat...


focus, focus, focus...

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by boatgirl123

well i think i just might be the girl in the sailing books that have the black bar across her face and it says don''t do this in the sailing books. lol. got yelled at a lot today. i was feeling my heart in my throat with the winds today before i even got to the the dock. i guess its a good thing that my teacher showed up today again. when i saw him he said that he has never slept so well than after yesterdays private class with me. like passed out on the couch slept so well. i wonder what that meant. did i wear him out? he said we would be going out today in the winds even though it was probably for the 2nd level classes and not mine. i am always game for a challenge. now you expert sailors im sure are laughing at my apprehension of 20 knots and 2.5-3ft seas. well again its daunting for us newbies. first thing that happened was my instructor was showing me at dock the 4 stroke outboard motor and how all that works. i started it and began to motor out of a very narrow space with a docked sailboat on my starboard side and a sea wall on port and ahead a row of million dollar or more yachts and had to make a hard right turn out. no problem. i got this. oh and i think yesterday my instructor did mention that usually with the students they pull the boat out of the tight spots and get it in the clear and then have us take over. somehow i did not let go of the tiller. so i was on the sb side of the tiller and moved in front of it to get to the other side. well the darn life jacket got caught up in the mast lines (halyard?) and i got focused on getting me unhooked. well i soon heard dean yelling at me to steer the boat that we were headed straight for a yacht. he then promptly came over and quickly corrected it and said there are no distractions like that and that i could have unhooked myself later just to steer. ok got it. duly noted. will not happen again. so we are underway and under motor going out of busy port, then coast guard boat and sheriffs boat come racing by us and we hear on the radio a single handed m/y is taking on water and two freighters are also coming in. and we are in the middle of reefing the mainsail before we get out beyond the jedi and start sailing. heart in throat again. we get the mainsail reefed and ready and are cruising to end of jedi and boom i feel the winds, kills the engine and we are sailing. a lot different today. so i am having a hard time finding the groove, i am sailing close hauled and i am either too far into the wind or heeled over. so i struggle to find that sweet spot. instructor tells me to let out the traveler a bit. well we were so far heeled over almost standing, got the tiller and the main sheet in my hands and i just couldn't let go of anything to release that traveler a bit. after he yelled at me a few times and wouldn't help i finally did it and was proud i could do it after all and felt immediate relief of the heel. jeez hats off to you sailors. then we practiced tacking. easy job for me right? just make the turn and cross over the boat and pass tiller behind you and go to the high side. i was like a cockroach on the bottom of the boat trying to keep control of the tiller and climb to the other side of the boat. my knees are bruised from crawling around and look like a corner hookers knees from a busy Saturday night. so we did it again and again until i got better at tacking while at the helm. ok so then its time for me to work the jib. why do i have such a hard time just letting go and releasing that jib sheet. i feel like they are gone forever if i just let it go. silly me. and instructor commanding me to trim it tighter and tighter, gotta work on upper body strength, dont like it when he says to give him the sheet he will tighten it. next class is COB maneuvers and practice practice practice. learned to tie square knots, clove hitch, cleat hitch, round turn with half hitch and bowline. ill start a blog someday so as not to make these posts so long. i would love to read others stories of people too that are just starting out because it seems like everyone knows so much and its nice to see not everybody does and we all have to start somewhere. sailing enchantress

If you are getting yelled at you should demand your money back and find another sailing school.

FIRST lesson and they yelled at you?

Go see my blog for newer sailors. It's just not right -- you're working so hard and you should be getting praise and suggestions.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Carolina Blue

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a great day on the water, despite the knees. Whats a COB maneuver?

I think she meant MOB maneuver. She's new, doesn't have all the terminology perfect yet.

[denverd0n]

COB is the politically-correct, non-gender-specific version of MOB. I think it's silly, but my guess is that her instructor is using the "new" term, and that's why she's using it. Soon enough, people will decide that the term "crew" is too judgmental and we'll start hearing POB--for person over board. Or perhaps HOB to refer to human over board. But that's probably too narrow-minded also. Maybe eventually we'll need to get to LCOB for living creature over board.

In any case, hang in there, GG. Sounds like you are learning a lot.

[boatgirl123]

This is not fair to the instructor he is not yelling like to be mean or anything. I don't like to be babied or coddled I personally learn better with stern or hardcore environment. I am harder on myself and he does praise and give positive feedback for sure. He knows that I want the most out of time with him and I'm certainly not going to be small talking and sweet talking with him. And the new correct term is COB and also another one that they are trying to change is "kill switch" on the outboard motor. I forget what the new term is but that is a bit over the top IMO

Thanks for all your positive energy. Xo

[Khagan1227]

Sounds like a typical day learning how to sail.

Don't worry, after a while you won't even think about what you are doing, it will be all natural. The practice, practice, practice, turns into habit, habit, habit..

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

COB is the politically-correct, non-gender-specific version of MOB. I think it's silly, but my guess is that her instructor is using the "new" term, and that's why she's using it. Soon enough, people will decide that the term "crew" is too judgmental and we'll start hearing POB--for person over board. Or perhaps HOB to refer to human over board. But that's probably too narrow-minded also. Maybe eventually we'll need to get to LCOB for living creature over board.

In any case, hang in there, GG. Sounds like you are learning a lot.

I could live a whole lot more with the PC stuff if THEY WEREN'T YELLING AT HER!!!! That's well beyond PC to abusive.