learn to sail

I’ve been taking part in the Topper challenges and doing the odd bit of sailing since the course so Jenny [head instructor] has had the opportunity to assess my “5 essentials”. She didn’t tell me though!
So I can finally tick this one off.
Sailing is now very much a part of my life and I definitely recommend it. I just hope that my progress reports here can be useful to anyone who is considering taking this goal on.

Got the results of my theory test back. You needed 70% to pass. A couple of people didn’t.
I got 98.5%. I think their marking is on the generous side. But I’m happy with the mark.

We had a delightful time doing a few laps of a triangle of buoys. This time I got the tiller I wanted. Did get a boat with a missing hiking strap though. However it was a bit calm this morning at least initially so there wasn’t a lot of hiking to be done around the buoys.

For lunch we went out to the big sandbar and had a picnic. Then we sailed back. It was a beam-broad reach for most of it and it was so nice to sail in a straight line! And to do some decent hiking out.

I felt I sailed well. The wind had swung around from an easterly-soueasterly to a westerly. Did much better with my sail trim and centreboard position today.
One catch, they didn’t manage to complete all of the assessments including my formal 5 essentials assessment :(.

Friday nights they have Topper challenges so that is an opportunity to grab Libby and complete this.

This goal gets ticked off when my logbook gets the final stamp!

and the remainder of the fees. I am now a member of the Darwin Sailing Club!

And while it wasn’t super easy it wasn’t hard either. So I should pass the thing.

More importantly, next Saturday we finish our assessments and go sailing out to the sandbar where our group will have a picnic.
Sounds great to me!

So it was more sailing practice and the assessments started…

I wasn’t completely ready for my knots but I said to Libby to test me anyway as I would have the option of having another go next week if need be. Libby got me when she asked me to tie a bowline around the trailer as I had only practised doing them as nooses. Oops. And I kept trying to add an extra turn to my clove hitch and rolling hitch – Duh.
But I still passed that section [although I want another go to ‘upgrade’ my mark LOL].
I’m pretty good at my parts of the boat and my rigging but I got caught out on the gudgeon. I knew it started with a “guh” sound but gunwhale kept coming into my head and I knew it wasn’t that.
We did some more Man overboards and I picked up the crate both times so I passed those – Yay! Launchings and sailings were also completed.
Just have the points of sail to complete. I found today a bit tricky. The tiller extension on the rudder I grabbed was the one that didn’t have a foam handle with a ball on the end ie it was smooth metal. Not good with wet hands. It was quite gusty with ‘bullets’ and the tiller extension was driving me a little nuts at times. So the tiller would slip from my grip when I didn’t need it too and then I’d start to stuff up my sail trim and inevitably end up in irons. Then I’d get annoyed at myself. So my centreboard work was not great this week. In some respects last week was better. One capsize on a gybe when I got caught in a gust with my weight still to leeward and unable to hike out. But everyone seemed to capsize at least once today.
I was pleased about my landing. It took a while to sail into shore as we had to sail upwind and the breeze kept dropping out. One of the guys opted for a tow. Thankfully I finally managed to get the boat into a good patch of wind and there were no problems there as we had a nice NE breeze so it was very easy to stop gracefully.
So next week I’m going to wear gloves and get the good tiller extension.

Brenda, one of the people helping out, is very involved with the Sailability program they are trying to establish up here so she is busy trying to recruit volunteers for that. I’ve put myself on the email list for that.

So some frustrations but still a great day overall.
To pinch a line from the fishing programme on my local radio station: “A bad days sailing beats a good day work every time”

More worksheets on points of sail, port and starboard tacks.
Some stuff on tides. We have 7m tides here so those spring tides can be quite impressive.Towing and the safety brochure…

THE EXAM IS NEXT WEEK!!!

Over the next 2 weeks they will be doing assessments during the practical. We’ve already all passed our capsizes with flying colours LOL.

Today was different in that we had an onshore wind so everything seemed a bit backwards as every other week it has been offshore. Another triangular course that involved running to a buoy, before hardening up onto a beam reach to the next buoy and then tacking back to the first buoy. The wind was lighter than last week but increased as the morning progressed. Tacking and gybing is definitely getting better although the helmet did cop a couple of whacks. We had to consider the Five Essentials: Sail Trim, Boat Trim, Boat Balance, Centreboard position and the most efficient Course.
We also did Crew Recovery Drills using a milk crate. So Man Overboard, head onto a beam reach, tack around once you have covered 5-8 boat lengths, let go go of the mainsheet and coast in aiming below “BOB” so that he is windward of you as you come to a stop and hove to.
First go, I underestimated the distance needed. Second time I ended up turning into irons for some unknown reason. Third time, I rescued BOB.
No capsizes this week but I almost miss them!

Crew Recovery Drill aka Man Overboard!
Launchings and Landings
More Right of Way stuff…

Our third practical session and I really felt like I was sailing today.
Rigged the Topper up in no time flat with the boys so that did the strength training for the day with carrying the masts and booms our of the shed.
It was a really windy day [and mornings are notorious for no winds] so it was an opportune time to tell us about reefing in the sail ie winding it around the mast to decrease the sail area. So we set that up while we were still on land so I got to fiddle with the outhaul and vang. Today’s new knot was a clove hitch.
They started us off sailing between two buoys and then added a third one upwind so we had to get used to hardening up the sail and sailing a zigzag course into the wind. So there were more than a few tacks.
Now last week my tacks were hopeless and my gybes were much easier. Now I know why. I was not being aggressive enough with the tiller on the tack and pushing it out fast enough. Hence I would get caught in irons. Now with gybing it is best to hold back a bit so my lack of confidence was working in my favour.
So today’s tacks and gybes were a lot cleaner. And I seemed to be better prepared and have my body parts in the right spots at the right times.
That doesn’t mean that I didn’t capsize. With so much wind we knew we would get a lot of practice and sure enough I even managed to turn the boat turtle twice. At least I had made sure my centreboard was firmly secured so that my centreboard didn’t fall out making it impossible to right the boat. Did one really spectacular capsize right in front of the motor boat. I was hiking way out, leaning way back and next thing I find myself hitting the sail. Not even just falling out between the boom and the hull. I suspect I will have a few extra bruises to show for that effort tomorrow!
The most fun part though was our instructor Libby constantly encouraging us to look at our sails to make sure they weren’t luffing [the front of the mailsail flapping around] and to keep pulling that mainsheet in and hike out when the boat started leaning over.
Hiking is that classic leaning out over the side of the boat. Hiking straps are a wonderful thing!
Now with wind, speed, a leaning boat and hiking there usually comes a point where you are racing along really smartly and then you can feel yourself tipping over too much…so you learn to hike out even more, then release a little of the sheet and, if that still doesn’t work, to push the tiller down and away from you [feathering]. Sometimes you capsize. But as the morning progressed there were fewer capsizes and more near misses. Which really felt like an achievement.
So it was a bloody good morning. Heaps of fun and things are starting to come together.
I’m hooked. Small boats are great.

This stuff is getting harder…
Lots of terminology worksheets and new terms such as hardening up and bearing away.
The give way rules. Sailing into the wind. This is going to be an interesting weekend.