Sailing is such a peaceful and quiet sport … except when it isn’t. Unfortunately, when it isn’t quiet nobody can hear anything! For those situations, have hand signals set up. At Tradewinds, everyone is taught to use hand signals while anchoring. Some other common situations that might benefit from hand signals include:
- Approaching a dock or slip
- Sails that are luffing and/or over trimmed
- Raising and lowering sails
- Picking up a mooring
What hand signals you use is entirely up to you and your crew, however, they should be fairly straight forward and understandable.