First day in the boats... what did we learn?

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This afternoon the "old salts" put in some work getting their FJs ready to sail; the newbies were introduced to Oday Javelins and continued to learn basic boat stuff.

You Gotta Know The Ropes (link) ... One of the things we learned is HALYARDS pull the sails up/down and SHEETS pull the sails side-to-side.


None of us actually went sailing today, it was planned as a ground-level lesson in the basics. Not only that, but every beginner had the chance to learn & reinforce his/her new knowledge in a calm & safe & controlled environment. It's important to become familiar with the basic actions before throwing the cadets to the lions out into the real river.




Navy sailors will be familiar with the phrase "milling about smartly." Well this mob just got off the bus, a few moments later they were turning to.

Today was a good experience of how much work it is to go sailing. Everybody had to carry sails or spars or gear, everybody had to help rig up the boats.



Every sailing session, every lesson, includes SAFETY. Almost all of our life jackets have whistles attached, today we learned why (and the coaches need to put a whistle on one more PFD). What's another safety lesson we put into practice? Think, you can probably come up with several.

Sailboats are relatively simple, but they do take some work to get ready. And everything has to be put together properly, which means you need to learn how.

Getting ready to put on the sails, but first we need to lower the centerboard and put on the rudder... better pump out the bilgewater too. So we'd better know a little about the HULL and the stuff that goes with it (link).

This is a lot of fun, but it's also a serious class. Today we gave out a written assignment (you could call it a TEST if you like, yes it will count for a grade) and the class is moving forward quickly. In fact, in two sessions we have covered the first 3 basic lessons (our sailing lessons on-line (link)).

Next week, we will get underway for the first time... really sailing!

... posted by Assistant Coach Douglas King



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