Sailing Basics

Archive for the ‘Guide’ Category

Here are a few hot tips when learning to sail that will make your boating not only enjoyable but safe too.

1. Be Wise to Read the Weather
You must be wise enough to check the local weather before you depart for boating. Radio, TV, and coast guard forecasts are sure source of information. If you notice, rough and volatile changing winds, darkening clouds, or sudden dip of temperature, it is an indication for you to play safe with the weather. Watch the barometer readings for sudden changes if you have one on board.

2. Adhere to the Pre-departure Checklist
Being prepared for any eventuality in the water is a way of maintaining proper boating safety. From tips on fueling up to compliance with the fire safety regulations, checking the pre-departure checklist is the best measure to be sure that no points regarding the safety are forgotten.

3. Apply Common Sense
Using your common sense is the most important part of boating safety. Always be alert of small watercraft and large vessels that can be hindrance to your boat. You need to operate at a safe speed always. Always be pay heed and respect the navigational aids and buoys. These aids have been placed there to ensure a safe passage.

4. Make Sure You Have an Assistant Skipper
When you venture out to the water, it is ideal that you have one more person who is familiar with all aspects of the boat. The assistant skipper must be familiar with the operations, handling and various safety tips. In case of an injury to the primary navigator, a presence of an assistant skipper, he or she can safely navigate the boat to the shore. Instruction on the operating of the VHF Radio is essential.

5. Chart out a Passage Plan
Always inform people about your passage plan and register it with the coast guard or your local marina staff. Passage plan is the course of the route you will be taking and the number of days you are intending to be out at sea. A typical passage plan consists of: Your name, your address, your phone number, and the phone number of the trip leader. It must also have the phone number of the passengers along with their other details and name. You must include the type of boat you are in the registration information, the itinerary, the signal and safety equipment in the boat and other types of communication means on board. Do not forget to de-register your passage plan with the coast guard or marina staff on safe arrival at your destination.

6. Make the Use of Lifejackets
Most victims give up their life in water because of the lack of proper knowledge of using the life jacket. Prior to departure, try your life jacket on, as they are then adjusted properly ready for use in case of an emergency.

7. Avoid Alcohol
Safe boating also involves a sailing that is free from alcohol. When there is alcohol involved the chances of accidents double. The affect of alcohol exacerbate under the external factors such as wind and sun.

8. Learn to Swim
If your profession involves being in and around water, it is very necessary that you know how to swim. Many organizations offer you swimming lessons for all ages of people. In case you do not know how to swim, take a lesson as early as possible.

To be able to sail, you must understand the wind. Sounds simple? But by knowing from where, and how strong the wind is blowing, you can react to the conditions around you when you’re on the water.

Direction – Winds are named from the direction they blow from. A wind blowing from the north to the south is a north wind. But the wind never flows in a steady direction so you need to keep track of what its doing and change your behavior accordingly.

Clues are all around you – waves are pushed along by the wind but it is the ripples on a waters surface that show the direction of the wind. Look for leaves, sand or anything that can be blown. Moored boats will swing to point into the wind, unless influenced by currents. Light shallow boats are the best indicators. When all else fails, face the direction of the wind, turning your head slowly from side to side. You’ll soon notice the sensations on your skin. Practice this technique and it will soon become second nature.

Terms – The world of a sailor is divided into two halves: everything toward it and everything away from it. Looking into the wind is ‘upwind’ and turning your back on it is ‘downwind’ – up and down, or ‘windward’ and ‘leeward’.

Anything upwind of you begins with the word ‘weather’. Anything downwind of you is prefaced by ‘lee’. Sailing on the wind means you are in a windward direction. Sailing off the wind means you are heading in a leeward direction.

Different winds – There are two types of winds in sailing, true and apparent. A true wind is what you feel when sitting on a moored boat. The wind you feel when moving, is what is called an apparent wind. The wind indicators on a boat when it is sailing is apparent wind. You can adjust your sails to the apparent wind but not true. – Forecasts Most sailors will rely on forecasts from the Met Office. These forecasts are broadcast on the radio. Gale warnings are broadcast at the earliest opportunity, and radio 3 and 4 broadcast inshore waters forecasts. Imminent means within 6 hours and good means visibility over 5 miles. Quickly means a barometer dropping up to 6.Omb in 3 hours. As wind is so unpredictable and immediate, these weather reports should not be relied on 100%.

Sailing into the wind – A sail boat cannot sail into the wind, but it can get there indirectly. By sailing close to the wind in one direction, and then changing course to sail as close to the wind as possible in the other direction, you can zig zag to your destination. This is known as ‘beating’ or ‘working to windward’. Changing direction is known as ‘tacking’ or ‘coming about’.

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Sailing is a fantastic sport or hobby, one that provides participants with exercise, adventure and enjoyment in equal measures.  It has a rich history- spanning over 2500 years.  It currently allows a person to escape the mundane drudge of everyday life to get out on the water where one can be a master of their own destiny, subject only to the whims of the waves and the wind.

Sailing has been known as a fantastic hobby due to the fact that everyone can do it (believe it or not, it is not nearly as expensive as most non-sailors might imagine it would be), but where do you start? After all, it must be obvious for even the most determined landlubber that sailing a dinghy is going to require some skills and abilities and it hardly likely that you can learn these skills and abilities out of thin air, is it?

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Let me give you some examples so you can judge the quality of the information available in ‘How to learn to sail’.

Firstly, there are some basic do’s and don’ts, simple things that are really little more than common sense of which are nevertheless need to be aware. As an example, whilst on the one hand the book recommends joining a sailing club to learn the ropes, it advises against booking a sailing holiday if you have no idea whether you are likely to enjoy it or not.

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Happy Sailing!