morgali, Well, welcome aboard, mate.
Been sailing professionally for about 35 years or more. U.S.C.G. 100 ton.
This is from the view of someone who has professionally and for fun, been around sailing and
motor vessels for a long time.
Some very strong suggestions : Some have already been mentioned, all are important.
1. Go to a qualified sailing club or
school and go thru their entire sailing program. Take it very seriously and study, and learn and get come experience.
2. Thru this method you will also meet other students, and people who are qualified sailors for you to share sailing with, on your boat as well as other sailing club boats.
Make new and long lasting friends. Friendship is precious Cargo.
3. Get out there and sail, and become somewhat proficient. THEN TAKE YOUR
FAMILY SAILING. If you just leap on your santana which is pretty quick, by the way, it will be a disaster in more ways than one. You will actually be dangerous to yourself and others, and that could be a instant end to your sailing dream.
4. Your lessons should include, basic , intermediate and advanced in that order. There may be different course numbers assigned, but they will correspond to the above.
5. Go to the
marine supply store and pick up book on basic sailing. A professional sailing course will come with the appropriate instruction manual. Read, study and be pre prepared for your on board lessons with instructors.
6. Even after your lessons, and qualification check outs, get out sailing , but you might take a fellow sailor out with you, before you take on
single handing on your own.
Also, learn how to handle your vessel or any vessel in all conditions, and that mean
professionally being able to depart the
dock under sail and return and
dock under sail as well. and maneuver in close quarters, under sail and under
power.
7, Also be prepared with
deck shoes, local chart, nav tools, sailing gloves, visor or hat with a chin strap, foulies, extra line, sunscreen, hand bearing
compass, etc.
8. A coastal piloting course (
navigation ) is also very important as well as a
marine weather class. Also, know
fog procedures, sound signals, and signal lights and day shapes of vessels and of course nav aids, and what they are telling you.
9. There is so much to learn about sailing,
navigation, winds, seas and
weather that actually most of us never stop
learning, and we feel good about that.
Lastly, we all started out with that dream to sail off to the islands. Well before that happens I needed to learn to be a
skipper and seaman. And get lots of experience sailing my local ocean and off shore islands.
Then, progress to bare boat chartering, in the
caribbean, and
south pacific, and
Australia , as well as other areas along our calif coast and
mexico.
You have your dream, LIVE YOUR DREAM . And eventually, as you are anchored off Bloody Marys in
Bora Bora, you will sit back and remember when you got your first boat and had no real clue. And now you are sipping on a Hinano
Beer to the beat of polynesian
music. Manuia ( cheers) . Good stuff.
Know that as
skipper, your primary responsibilities are to your crew, passengers, self, other vessels, and your own vessel. That is all on your shoulders, 100%
Gotta get, it is veterans day, and I am headed to a special veterans day ceremony in a few minutes.
Fair winds and following seas.
And E komo mai ( Welcome )
days will be pretty grim too lol) but..... that's life.
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