Hello from Northern VA

[Kickin Bears]

Hello all .. love the community! New to sailing, but not boating, here.

Been on the great lakes, many of the lakes in the KY / TN area (cumberland, dale hollow, laurel), and kayaking / rafting (tubing lol) rivers all my life ... and have a profound respect for the power of water and weather because of it. Ive piloted powered boats of all sizes, but never under power of wind. Not going to lie, the thought of that blue bitch rising up in anger while I’m on a sailboat intimidates the hell out of me!

I’m really looking fw to this adventure though. Really enjoying learning nominclature and sailboat boat design. I’ve reached out to ASA to begin working on small boat certification beginning March

Ive gotten the itch to pickup a sailboat too, and even have my wife playing along. I plan to make the Bay my home turf, south of Annapolis. My wife and I are exploring cruising around the Caribbean once we’re empty nesters in ~7yrs. Will see where the wind takes us!

Look fw to hanging out here! Thx for making space for those looking to learn!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kickin Bears.




Just so you know.

[Kickin Bears]

Figured I’d post progress on my journey here. Wish I could just edit the first post to track and allow for discussion

Library Additions:

Chapmans Piloting and Seamanship (68th ed)
Bowditch vol 1 & 2 (2017 ed)
Boatowners Mechanical and Eletrical Manual (4th ed) by Niger Calder
This Old Boat by Don Casey

Learning:

ASA free course on terms (very easy, knew most, but why not)
ASA 101, 103, 104 - Reached out to ASA school in Annapolis, MD area — wife and I are planning on taking 101 and 103 in 2019, possibly more pending time

Social:

Started researching meetups in Annapolis for folks looking for crew
Explored Annapolis, MD marinas and some more obscure marinas to the south

Boats:

Been looking at a number of monohull boats in the ~33-37’ range
Looking for bluewater capable boat, cruising/comfort focus (not in a rush, in-the-flow cruising)
Interested in (in no particular order) Tayana, Tartan, Island Packet, Hans Christian, Bristol, Hallberg-Rassy, Valiant

Dog has to pee ... be back at this to update at a later time lol ...

[Kickin Bears]

Yeah ... long dog break haha

Progress:

Bought a CapeDory 30C

Taught myself:
Sail basics (hoist/lower/furl/flake sails, sail trim, tacking/jibing)
How to heave-to (though admittedly I often time end up fore-reaching @ ~1kn or less)
How to re-run running rigging
How to run a preventer
Reefing
How to organize/coil sheets and line; I like an organized deck ..
Sailing in a variety of conditions; been through a number of SCA’s and dealt with T-storms
Anchoring; bridle, setting anchor
Overnights
Navigation planning
Fiberglassing

Concepts working on:
Sail balance
Sail shape
Using GRIB file data with surface analysis to plan navigation and weather windows

Since June I’ve taught myself, and family, how to sail. While laughable to you experienced cruisers, we’ve sailed over 300 linear nm and have almost a week of experience staying on the hook for overnights. I’m proud of this accomplishment and look fw to growing more over the next few years before setting off for the horizon ... plan in motion and on-track!! ;-)

**A note for new sailors reading this.** I would not recommend this approach for others. I have lifelong experience boating, and intensely studied a variety of material (text and video) for ~4 months prior to attempting. If you’re reading this and thinking of going this route, know that a mistake such as a crash jibe, putting yourself in a poor weather position, or having a man overboard situation (as examples) can lead to injurious or lethal outcomes.

I love sailing ... the moments aren’t always fun but the experience is always worth it!

PS - if you’re nearby (NoVA to Galesville, MD) and enjoy sailing, pm me. We’ve made many friends and connections!

[Kickin Bears]

Library additions / reads:

Modern Marine Weather by David Burch
Complete Illustrated Guide to Sailboat Maintenance by Don Casey
Marine Diesel Engine by Nigel Calder
Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum

Really enjoyed all of the above books. Nigel Calder’s material I keep around for reference / troubleshooting specifically (I downloaded both the owners and workshop manuals for the Volvo MD7A and read it cover to cover for base understanding); the rest above I’ve read cover to cover.

I highly recommend all of the material in my library so far to any new sailors out there. I have more additions in my giftster list I can’t wait to dive into

Also, created/updated my spinsheet in a continued effort to meet/learn from/expand my sailors network