What I Learned in My First Year of Sailing – By Tradewinds Member Joyce Y.

I took my first sailing course at Tradewinds just over a year ago, after wanting to do so for years, thanks  to varied seeds of inspiration — my dad’s old boat detailing shop when I was a kid, going out under the Golden Gate Bridge on someone’s sailboat (that they lived on) at sunset over fifteen years ago, an overall love of water activities, watching white sails against the blue bay, and reading about sea voyages (even adverse ones) and sailing methods. Since BKB class, I’ve skippered often as a Tradewinds fleet member, recently completed BCC (ASA 103), and will take 104 next month. The opportunities to crew, or otherwise sail with others, has also been invaluable.

I’m still learning lots, but what a difference a (first) year makes! Each time out on the water grants me more confidence and experience, which adds up. On my early outings, I worried about: having too much wind, docking smoothly. Now, I worry about having enough wind to get there and back, tracking big ships nearby, and docking smoothly. My sailing diary offers up many tidbits of amusement and edification. Dear readers, the following circumstances did not all occur on the same outing, and in no way reflect on the excellent TWSC instruction I received.

Foibles, i.e. memorable lessons. I’ve learned that proactive communication all around helps avoiding at least some of these!

(1) On one Capri, I opened the halyard clutch to douse the mainsail and whomp, the whole sail falls down. “Well-oiled” in its mast slot?  Solution: if predicted to happen, and if there’s no halyard winch to help moderate this, I use one foot as a brake on the halyard while at the mast, to drop it gradually while flaking it.

(2) While beating upwind slowly in very light air and in a big current, through the Potrero reach along Brooks Island, I exited a tack and our Capri lost all steerageway, soon rotating nearly 180 degrees while pushed around by current. Solution: Ensure enough speed when beginning the tack to have enough ending it, to preserve steerageway.  Or just wait to put up sail closer to the entrance to the reach, if the wind is better there.

(3) Having my friends (i.e. hybrid guest/crew) throw dock lines for the first time when we are actually docking. Now, they get to practice at the dock before we cast off for the day.

(4) My crew, bless their heart, ably threw the dock line, then secured the Capri’s bow so tightly to the dock that I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t bring the stern end to the dock.

(5) Yep, I grounded. See my earlier TW blog post. Solution: Maintain situational awareness!

(6) At recent anchoring practice, we reviewed the steps beforehand and inspected the rode, but at the actual moment of dropping the anchor, I struggled to free it from the anchor roller; the jib roller furler wedged against it didn’t make it easier. My crew helped by releasing the roller’s cotter pin, gaining wiggle room to free the anchor. Solution: at the outset, check how easily the anchor will release.

(7) Line spaghetti became a tripping hazard. And, a loose loop of reef line below the boom dangled a noose for the unwary! Solution: Lines stay coiled or dropped through the companionway as much as possible. Watch your footing; some line spaghetti is inevitable.

(8) Accidental jibes, usually heading homeward with the afternoon westerlies. I try to avoid sailing too close to dead downwind, esp. with variable gust direction, and to keep mainsheet in hand ready to uncleat and haul in quickly if a gibe starts. (That said, if the wind is amenable, wing-on-wing is fun on the homeward stretch in the Potrero channel).

(9) Wind shadows near Red Rock/RSR Bridge, or before reaching Angel, caused loss of speed and made us tack to find wind again. Solution: Get clues by watching the headings of other boats, or changes in the water surface ahead (haven’t yet learned the latter well).

(10) I forgot to clip the halyard onto the mainsail. “Let’s hoist the sail now – ah wait…!”

(11) Didn’t orient myself to the reefing setup. I pulled on what I thought was a slab reefing line, and found it’s for the reef clew only. Went forward to the mast where the reef tack cringle (or ring pendant) was waiting patiently to be hooked onto the “ram’s horn” (reef tack hook on mast).

Other things not worriedaboutabout till they happened, and then we learned:

Before a sail. Everyone does things differently.  I learn from others and create my own preferences and habits, hopefully good ones and flexible for improvement.  Some of what I’ve learned and choose to do:

Systematic orientation before first sailing an individual boat. Being a fleet member allows me to sail different types of boats (yay!). On morning I sailed Knot Free for the first time after sailing just Capris, and ended up bothering the TWSC staff by phone, as I hadn’t fully oriented myself to the boat and couldn’t find something. Now, I record each boat’s particulars at the outset. Beyond the useful info imparted at “checkout”, I take photos/videos, including of the boat details in the binder. I come early the day of the first sail. When you sail different fleet boats, you may forget which is which, and the pics will help you re-orient yourself beforehand each time, at least the first few times. I take a blank checkout sheet and make notes on it (where is coolant checked? where’s the oil dipstick?) Note the boat’s quirks that the checkout covers, as well as those you notice.

Things that matter to me, some of which are not on the checkout sheet, are:

– Winches may be one- or two-speed. Test them out. A boat can have a mix of one- and two-speed winches. Make a note to tell your crew, it may save them some arm effort.

– What side of the boat is the waste/holding tank on, and the water tank fill? May affect how I dock at pump out.

– Engine covers that are hard to remove. Oil dipsticks that are hard to access.

– Where does the exhaust cooling water come out? It could be midships.

– Sail ties, sail cradle, lazy jacks? Affects crew orientation for hoisting and dousing the mainsail.

– Does the depth gauge work, and where is the sensor located, i.e. is it showing depth below the the keel, or below the hull? Do other instruments work?

– The VHF is where? If in the cabin, definitely bring my handheld VHF and keep it on the cockpit.

– Take note of which of the spare dock lines to use for pump out. Their lengths vary; 20’ may be too short for inexperienced crew to use well.

– Was the boat left less than clean? I do aim to leave the boat as clean or cleaner than I found it. (Sometimes, I have forgotten to do something and then I’ll call and leave a message about it, eeks.) Give TLC to our fleet boats!

The morning of every sail, things I find myself thinking and doing are:

While still at the dock (and switched from shore to battery power/boat batteries):

While sailing. Again, everyone has their own preferences and tricks.  I’m still learning so much.

I was going to end this piece talking about the Fun Stuff I’ve learned and discovered while sailing on the Bay. However, the above is already long, and the Fun Stuff so substantial, that I guess I should submit it in another post. (Even better, Tradewinds could put out the call for all the fun stuff its members know about, and compile them!) Thank you, Tradewinds, for making my first year full of memorable experiences on the water!

Joyce Y.