NauticEd’s sailing courses cover a wide range of sailing education. They cover from beginner information designed to help a new sailor become familiar with the goings on on a sailboat all the way to extremely advanced information like what to do if your mast breaks 1000 nautical miles off shore. All the courses are online and [...]
NauticEd Blog
This weekend I visited a very special and historically significant celestial navigation place. It’s called Mercury Bay and it’s in the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Cooks beach lies on the edge of Mercury bay and is thus named after lt. James Cook, the famous world explorer of the 1700’s. Cook visited Mercury Bay in [...]
NauticEd Blog
If you ever thought of checking off a dream sailing vacation in Tahiti from your bucket list this is the opportunity to get that one taken care of. Announcing the 2012 NauticEd Post Graduation Sailing Adventure If you’re a NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master or plan on being one before June next year, then come celebrate your [...]
NauticEd Blog
Where were you over the holidays? Sailing? If you tried to email us over the holidays, you would have gotten a polite “out of the office notice”. We were busy catching up with our Canadian friends who have been sailing the world with their three kids for the past four years on a 42 ft [...]
NauticEd Blog
While all sailboat designs are different and will sail optimally at different heel angles and reef points, there are a few generalities that we’ll cover in this sailing blog. General reefing point number 1 through infinity: Don’t scare the beegeebees out of those on board by heeling the boat over too much. While you may [...]
NauticEd Blog
At NauticEd Sailing School we’ve been collecting student reviews on our sailing courses few quite some time now and we’ve got to say a big thank-you to our students for submitting them all. It’s been awesome to see all the NauticEd reviews come in. By and large most all of the NauticEd reviews on our [...]
NauticEd Blog
If you enjoy an outdoors life, and are an experienced sailor, you may like to consider teaching people how to sail. Learn to sail on Sydney Harbour or become a sailing instructor and teach others how to sail on Sydney harbour, what a great place to understand what it takes to become a sailing instructor.
Think carefully about the teaching process itself, and whether you have the right personality, abilities and interest level for the task. All too often, experienced sailors forget how long it took for them to learn what they know, and only when they begin teaching do they realise what a lot is involved. Take time to plan things properly before you start teaching people who want to learn to sail.
The right personality and temperament is needed to instruct people how to sail, especially when teaching children. For instance, you will definitely need a lot of patience – it took you years to learn what you know, so you cannot expect your students to become experts within only a few lessons.
You will need to be flexible. Bad weather, a damaged yacht, faulty gear, students who don’t turn up for lessons, may put paid to plans you have made for the day. Also, your students will learn at different rates so you will have to adapt your time and plans for the lesson accordingly.
As everyone learns in their own way, you will need to be creative as well. Some people learn better through reading, others by speaking about what they are trying to learn. There are those who excel with practical things and those who are stronger with theory and academic subjects. You will need to change your approach from student to student, to get them to understand what it is you are trying to teach them.
As hard as it will be for you, you will need to trust your students. They will make mistakes, but you must let them try on their own, but be on hand should anything go wrong. Also, by showing that you trust them, your students will try harder to perform the task properly, and when they succeed, it will build their confidence.
As much as you want your students to know that you trust them, safety must remain a priority. Accidents can happen, especially when excitement or stress builds up. As an instructor you will need to be aware of everything that is going on during a lesson and be able to anticipate events before they happen!
To learn to sail Sydney harbour is a fantastic location where the Pacific Sailing School has been operating since 1977. It has trained over 20,000 people to all levels of sailing, Contact the Pacific Sailing School at http://www.positionmeonline.com/14781.htm to learn sailing, safety and fun on the world’s greatest harbour!
Did you know that you should fold your mainsail, Genoa, or jib sailboat sails at least once every sailing season. If you sail on a racing sailboat, each sail should be folded at the end of each race. This will increase sail life and save you big $$$s in replacement costs. Follow these five simple learn to sail tips to success.
All sails are coated with a layer of resin. Cruising boat sails have a softer feel–called “hand”–and use less resin than racing sailboat sails. This makes cruising sails easier to handle, more durable, and allows you to stuff them in a sail-bag while cruising.
Racing sails are much less durable. They come with a heavy surface coat of resin, or use one of the high tech fibers like Mylar. These stiff surface coats help sails hold their shape better in light to moderate winds. But they will break down fast if not cared for.
After cruising or racing, remove the sails from your boat. Follow these five steps to keep your sails in tip top shape:
1. Remove Leech Battens
Before you fold a mainsail, remove traditional or full length battens. Although you could fold these into the sail with care, a batten will stress the sail.
2. Find a Flat, Clean Surface
Lay the mainsail or headsail onto grass, the pier, or a clean floor space. If it’s windy, move the foot of the sail upwind. This will help control the sail as you fold it.
3. Fold the Sail like an “Accordion”
Have a partner help you. Each person should hold one corner of the foot. Reach up along the edge of the sail. Grab the edge and pull it down to the foot of the sail. Now, hold the corner of the fold, reach up and grab the edge again and pull it down over the first fold. Continue this process all the way to the head of the sail.
4. Roll the Sailboat Sail
With the mainsail, move to the edge with the tack. Roll the mainsail from the tack to the clew. With a headsail, move to the edge with the clew. Roll a headsail from the clew to the tack. Mylar or high tech sails should be stowed flat if possible. If you don’t have room and need to roll them, start at the foot and roll to the head.
5. Bag with the First Attachment On Top
Slide the sail into the sail-bag so that the first attachment point lies on top when you open the bag. In the mainsail, the clew should be at the top of the bag. On a headsail, the tack should be at the top of the bag. This makes the sailing crews job faster and easier when they bend on sails the newt time you want to go sailing.
Now you know five valuable sailing tips that will breathe new life into your sailboat sails for many years to come. This will save you money and your sails deliver maximum performance in power and speed–wherever in the world you choose to go sailing!
Captain John teaches sailing skippers the skills they need to set sail for a day, a week–or a lifetime! Get his popular free report “Ten Tips to Save You 00s on Your Next Small Cruising Boat” at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.
John offers free sailing tips, articles, sailing videos and newsletter at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.
Did you know that most squalls, gales, or storms at sea take sailors completely by surprise. Learn to sail with skill and confidence in heavy weather with these seven “storm preparation” secrets from the pros
In his book “Maximum Sail Power”, master sailmaker and experienced ocean racer Brian Hancock says “My experience is that storms take people by surprise, and that is when they do their most damage.” So how can us mortal sailors better prepare for Nature’s wrath. Assume the worst will happen to you and your sailing crew sooner or later. Make these seven preparations now to make things much easier when tough conditions cross your path
1. Prepare Your Sailing Gear
When was the last time you dropped your roller furling Genoa and checked it for chafe and wear. Luff tapes take a beating, as do the sacrificial leech cover. Have your sailmaker make repairs to these two critical areas before you head offshore.
Check every inch of the furling drum line for wear. Replace all of the line if you find a single spot where chafe has taken over.
Inspect stays and shrouds, including terminal ends, turnbuckles, turnbuckle sleeves, cotter pins, and deck chain-plates. Before you cast off, order a die penetrate test on turnbuckles and end-swages. Replace any fittings found with hairline cracks.
Replace worn sheets. Carry plenty of canvas, old split fire hose, and marline for chafing gear to protect line from chafe. Check running rigging like boom vangs, mainsheet, traveler control lines, and reefing lines for worn spots. Replace any lines you suspect may fail in heavy weather sailing.
2. Carry and Hoist Storm Sails
Lots of folks carry a storm jib (also called a “spitfire”), but have never attached it to a stay. Sloops with a single stay covered by furling extrusion gear and a rolled up Genoa need to make special provisions in order to attach and hoist a storm jib.
If you own a sailing sloop and are going offshore, rig a second collapsible inner stay. This gives you a place to bend on the storm jib and keeps the foredeck crew off the end of the bow. Cutter-rigged sailboats should use the inner forestay for storm jibs.
Vessels that carry storm trysails (a small, triangular, loose footed sail that replaces a deep reefed mainsail) should use a separate external track. Have your crew raise the trysail and lead the sheets through the blocks aft so that they all understand the unique set of these sails.
3. Conduct a Reefing Drill
Jiffy reefing can be done in a jiffy in ideal conditions. It’s another deal altogether on a heaving, pitching deck, trying to wrangle a 470 square foot mainsail down a 63 foot mast, find the second luff reef cringle, and set the reef.
Make reefing the mainsail one of the first drills you do with any crew–novice or old salt. All boats are different and a reefing drill will clear up any confusion. Lower the sail to the first luff reef cringle. Use a pencil and mark a big “1″ in a circle on both sides of the cringle. Do the same at the leech reef cringle.
Mark the mainsail halyard where it touches the cleat. This will tell you how far to lower the halyard. On a black night with spray blowing, this will make your crew’s job much easier.
Lower the sail to the second reef and mark a big “2″ in a circle on both sides on luff and leech cringles. Mark the halyard. Repeat the process with the third reef.
4. Practice at Night
Make your first storm practice run right after sunset the first night out. Break out the storm sails, run the sheets, and hoist the storm sails. Work the kinks out now so that you are ready for the heavy stuff when it arrives.
5. Test Personal Sailing Safety Gear
Test harnesses and pay particular attention to tethers. On our last offshore delivery, we found two worn out end-clips that stayed in the open position. They would not have held crew to the jackline, which could have resulted in an overboard emergency or injury.
Check flashlights, decklights, and jackline integrity. Tape lifeline pelican hooks shut. Require all crew to wear inflatable vests with harness after dark and tethers in foul weather or when going forward in foul weather or at night.
6. Learn How Your Boat “Heaves-to”
Many racing or cruising sailboats have been damaged or lost when running before the wind in storm conditions. Boats that are properly hove-to have ridden out storms for centuries in relative comfort. Instead of running ahead of an oncoming storm, heaving-to keeps you in an almost stationary position, and the storm will pass you by faster.
Learn how your vessel heaves-to. Many modern rigs need just a reefed main and lashed tiller or wheel. Others may require a small storm jib, backed to the wind. Practice now in different wind strengths. Keep a log of what you find so that you can duplicate the same sail settings when a real blow comes.
7. Reef Before Sundown
Exercise prudence and reef the mainsail to the first reef just before the sun kisses the horizon. Squalls often come up at night and with a reef already set, you are one step ahead in your steps to prepare your small sailboat for heavy weather.
Follow these seven steps to learn to sail in heavy weather with more skill and confidence. You and your sailing crew will be well prepared for the tough stuff–wherever in the world you choose to go sailing!
Captain John teaches sailing skippers the skills they need to set sail for a day, a week–or a lifetime! Get his popular free report “Ten Top Boat Safety Checks for Cruising Boat Skippers” at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.
John offers free sailing tips, articles, sailing videos and newsletter at Learn to Sail at Skippertips.com.
Sailing is an activity enjoyed by families, friends and even lovers as it is available for all ages and both for male and female. Though some assumes that sailing requires strong arms and physiques, sailing is really not that physical and even a child at the age of five can already contribute their strength to help sail a yacht. Sailing helps more on your mental and spiritual health than your physical fitness.
Learning how to sail would be costly only if you are planning to take it to a professional level. If you are planning to learn how to sail for plain fun activity then learning could be really cheap. The key to spend less in learning how to sail is to look for standard equipments and appropriate clothing that are not very expensive. You can even try to rent or borrow equipments for your first few sails then purchase your own by the time that you plan to sail regularly. If you have love-ones who suffer from disabilities like impairment of vision or such, you can accompany them to experience the sport.
Just make sure that you have enough knowledge on the sport to keep them safe from any potential hazards that you might encounter on your sail together. To start learning how to sail (it depends on the boat types you are going to sail), you can approach a sailing club that offers services for beginners and take you as a novice crew or seek advices and techniques on the internet or learn the basics from books before joining a sailing club.
On your first ventures, it is advisable that you avoid sailing during peak hours or when harbors are crowded. It is a little distracting to practice on a crowded harbor as you would have to keep your distance from other vessels to ensure safety. It is also very important that you keep a slow pace while you are still learning. It is very redundant that you practice with speed and could only result to accident. Keep in mind that safety is far more important than learning how to sail and sailing would only be enjoyable when you are sailing safely.
Sailing experts recommend the use of a small boat with a light boom for starters to practice your control of the boom which is very important to keep a safe and smooth sail. It is also advisable that you learn how to swim before learning how to sail. It does not have to be at a professional level; just make sure that your knowledge in swimming is sufficient to keep you confident and safe in the water as there is always a chance that you end up in water whenever you sail. Sailing or going for recreational boats is definitely a fun activity that you can enjoy with your friends or your family while you learn some sailing history.
Visit ExpertsTown’s Sailing Blog for more information about sailing.
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