Following My Dream-7 Years Out

[JPA Cate]

Hey, biker,

Push it away from you to come up, pull it towards you to fall off. Can somebody think of a catchy mnemonic for this? .......PRETTY PLEASE?!

ann

[Coops]

Ann, that depends on if you are sitting on the windward side or leeward. So that does not work.

Coops.

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by Coops

Ann, that depends on if you are sitting on the windward side or leeward. So that does not work.

Coops.

I thought you were supposed to sit on the windward side always- crap now I'm back to square one!
That damn brain tumor has done me in once again- good thing hubby is getting this figured out

[Coops]

No, not always. You may sit on the leeward side just for a comfort reason, ie. a change. In light airs to heel the boat slightly to assist it's performance. Or, you have just tacked and cannot be bothered to move.

Coops.

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by Coops

No, not always. You may sit on the leeward side just for a comfort reason, ie. a change. In light airs to heel the boat slightly to assist it's performance. Or, you have just tacked and cannot be bothered to move.

Coops.

always more to learn for sure- that darn traveler on the boat we're learning on IS a bit of a pain, seems to be right at the end of the tiller and always in the way and makes it tricky to change sides. I have most of the eight knots we have to learn down, at least I will be able to not loose the fenders
AND I docked the boat!!! I don't even dock our fishing boats so I was quite proud of that.

[a64pilot]

I brought up the counter steering a bike to show you that we learn to do thing intuitively without realizing it, and soon the tiller will require no thinking, it will be instinct, just like the bike.
I was attending the Ed Bargy road racing school when counter-steering was brought up, I didn't believe it. I had been riding bikes my whole life and thought that idea was absurd, of course when I got out on the track I realized I had been doing it my whole life, but never realized it.
A wheel and it's pedestal take up a whole lot of room in the cockpit, it's really in the way at the dock. You can take the wheel off or fold it, but the pedestal is still there right in the middle, in the way.
You'll spend more time in the cockpit than you might think, that was one of my big revelations, I thought big cockpits were a waste of space, until I got a boat, now I understand.

[biker6977]

So you're saying using a tiller is counter steering not steering steering? interesting concept but counter steering a bike involves a slight steer in the opposite direction you want to go and then leaning into the turn which then turns the front wheel back in the desired direction of travel.
I think I'm over thinking- I just need to push or pull the tiller in the opposite direction I want the bow to go. I'm thinking I might need to put a backward arrow on the rudder and just point that in the direction I want to go.

[a64pilot]

What I'm saying is that with practice, you'll just start doing it, without thinking about it. Right now you have to think about it.
When I first was learning to fly a helicopter, it came to me that when I pulled the collective up to generate lift, that took engine power and meant that I would have to increase throttle or rotor RPM would decay, reducing lift, it also meant that increased torque would require more anti-torque pedal to keep it from turning, but this required more engine power so it would decay rotor RPM, reducing lift if I didn't increase throttle, increasing throttle too much results in an excess or rotor RPM increasing both the lift and anti-torque, but reducing collective to lessen the lift, reduces engine load which results in even higher rotor RPM, which increases lift which is just opposite of what your trying to accomplish. I thought Damn I'm doomed, no way I'm smart enough to figure this out.
You just can't think fast enough to pull this stuff off, it has to become muscle memory or instinctual and nothing gets you there but practice, practice, practice.
Take the Jon boat everyday for an hour or two just to cruise around, before you know it, this tiller thing will just become instinctual, stop trying to figure it out, you just can't intellectually do it.
Learning how to ride a bicycle was about the hardest thing I ever learned how to do, but once it became instinct, I do it without thinking, same with the tiller, if i think about it, I'll screw it up

[biker6977]

Well that's good to know- one day I won't have to think :-)
I can do that!!!

[Hudson Force]

I like the "no need to think" idea. Habituation can do you well, but it can also lead to trouble.

Many years ago I moved my gearshift knob on my binacle from extending up. I mounted the knob 180* sticking down so it wouldn't interfere with a small table mount that I added. In this new position we had to pull the shift lever back for foward gear and push it forward to engage reverse. We adapted to this and after some time we maneuvered without thinking.

A few years later we were hauled out for a bottom job and I had the yard replace our control cables. The yard crew had returned our boat to a slip while we were away. During our next sail we had great difficulty getting out and back to our slip without damage to our boat and others.

The next time I saw the yard manager he asked, "Did you notice we fixed that gearshift linkage problem for you?

[a64pilot]

we have an aircraft tug at work, It has a horizontally mounted gearshift, fwd is reverse and pull it back to go forward.
It has been run into things more than once, People push the lever forward expecting that to be forward gear, but when it takes off backward, they are thrown forward which of course means they floor the accelerator pedal.
You can't make this up

[biker6977]

forward for reverse and back for forward I'd be in trouble!
Well things maybe changing again- isn't life fun?!
I had a phone interview with a local company that would put me back in management with a significant pay increase over the other position that I've already accepted . The interview lasted all of 7 minutes when they said they wanted to bring me for a face to face- recruiter said that was the fastest phone interview she'd ever heard of. I didn't really expect it to go anywhere since I've been out of that areana for a few years- it would make it so I don't have to move which means not getting live on a small boat but it would mean not having to move and leave the house for our 21 year old daughter to take care of . It would also mean being able to bank more $$$ to get a big boat and to be able to head out sooner.
Things happen for a reason so I'm going to go with it for now. I should know more next week. If this happens I'll join the sailing club where we're taking lessons and take our time finding a boat- we might just stick with the sailing club until we decide to get our "forever" boat. They have a 22, 26 and 39' boat so if we were to do that I think we'd get comfortable. I also plan to do the next classes in the BVI on a live aboard next year. So much happening ......

[biker6977]

We passed our first sailing certification- keel boat 101!!!!
It was totally awesome! First day winds were 8-10- perfect. 2nd day they were 15-18 with gusts to 25- there was a small boat advisory out- I took the boat from the dock and was first up- damn was it fun- but a little nervous with such strong winds but it was great! today 3rd day out was almost NO wind for the final sailing test but again it was ok, just much slower. I guess we are lucky we had a taste of three different situations- day one reefed main and jib, day 2 reefed main and no jib, day three, full main and jib. Passed the written test with flying colors- I was Admiral of the class hehehe.
I have an interview tomorrow that will determine if I take job A and move onto a live aboard or take job B and stay here and join a sailing club.
Hubby starts his new position Oct. 20 and will be moving 7 hours away which is a total bummer but will help us considerably on our way to getting on the water full time.

[Scot McPherson]

Well you are a lot farther along now than most people. You've really jumped in with both feet. Best luck

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by Scot McPherson

Well you are a lot farther along now than most people. You've really jumped in with both feet. Best luck

Thanks Scot. We have jumped in- once I decide to do something it's full steam ahead 110%! I guess that's why hubby decided to join me , he didn't want to be left at the dock

My plan started out at 10 years, then went to 7, now we're at 5 with a possibility of making it 3

If we didn't have this plan we would not be taking on new jobs which will separate us for long periods of time, but with the end goal in sight we know the time will go quickly. We will be doing the bareboat charter classes next summer- not sure if we'll do it in BVI or in FL. The place we just went to we really like the instructors- husband and wife- John and Kathy- they have a 39' Benetue (sp?) that my husband likes so I think it would be good to go there and get a feel for the boat while getting more instruction.