Twenty/twentyfive yrs ago I sailed Rebel 16's and a Venture cat. Then it was katie bar the door. Full sails and don't worry. Today, I sail a Hunter 26. I am finally "learning" to sail. I am "learning" on Lake Amistad, near Del Rio, Texas. This lake is treacherous and known for it's fierce winds. So far I'm confident but I'm learning nothing about tides and swells. Let alone marine navigation. (I'm a pilot) Please suggest a school or course or plan of action. My plan is to sail in the Sea of Cortez to gain experience before launching for Tahiti. I do not plan to cast off for Tahiti in my 26. Which brings me to my next question. Length wise, what is your preference for extended crusiing. In the Hunter line, which is the minimum boat would you choose to sail from La Paz to Tahiti, (after you went to school)? Thanks for your time. I have enjoyed all of your replies. Bill
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School bound
Good evening Bill, I think your plan of attack sounds real good. There are several good programs for sail & navigation. On the commercial side Chapman's runs a good program. Many of the local Coast Guard auxilary programs are very good; esp the more advanced courses. In fact we use similar leesons & worksheets in our USCG Captain's Prep Courses. The Power Squadan courses can be good as well. The instructors for these courses are mostly volunteers, so you might ask around about the local branches before taking the course. In any event their price is right. Regarding the best length, go with as small as you can comfortably live aboard and enjoy your own standard of living. Personally for two people, I like the 40 - 45' range. They are small enough for two people to handle, but large enough to get away from each other. They also provide enough storage space for food, spares & etc. I know, the Pardey's have been doing it on their boats for many many years. Two major differences, I don't like camping (haha), and their boats have all had very deep bilges and small open spaces below creating much more space for spares. Keep the boat as simple as you are willing living to live with.. The less stuff on the boat means the less spares you have to carry, the lower your cost to sail, and the fewer things that will break. And they will!!!!! As you have no doubt read in my other posts, the Hunter is good coastal cruising yacht, but her flat bottom, large spade rudder and sloop rig, do lend itself to a very comfortable passagemaking vessel. You may want to charter a 40 - 45 and sail her hard for several days non stop through all kinds of weather before making your final purchase. As I have indicated before, the boats will talk much more than we will. But when we get tired, bruised and worn out, is when we make mistakes out there. Be careful & have fun.. Good luck with your training.... dave
Good evening Bill, I think your plan of attack sounds real good. There are several good programs for sail & navigation. On the commercial side Chapman's runs a good program. Many of the local Coast Guard auxilary programs are very good; esp the more advanced courses. In fact we use similar leesons & worksheets in our USCG Captain's Prep Courses. The Power Squadan courses can be good as well. The instructors for these courses are mostly volunteers, so you might ask around about the local branches before taking the course. In any event their price is right. Regarding the best length, go with as small as you can comfortably live aboard and enjoy your own standard of living. Personally for two people, I like the 40 - 45' range. They are small enough for two people to handle, but large enough to get away from each other. They also provide enough storage space for food, spares & etc. I know, the Pardey's have been doing it on their boats for many many years. Two major differences, I don't like camping (haha), and their boats have all had very deep bilges and small open spaces below creating much more space for spares. Keep the boat as simple as you are willing living to live with.. The less stuff on the boat means the less spares you have to carry, the lower your cost to sail, and the fewer things that will break. And they will!!!!! As you have no doubt read in my other posts, the Hunter is good coastal cruising yacht, but her flat bottom, large spade rudder and sloop rig, do lend itself to a very comfortable passagemaking vessel. You may want to charter a 40 - 45 and sail her hard for several days non stop through all kinds of weather before making your final purchase. As I have indicated before, the boats will talk much more than we will. But when we get tired, bruised and worn out, is when we make mistakes out there. Be careful & have fun.. Good luck with your training.... dave
We're heading to Tahiti the easy way
Chartering in Tahiti in November . . . if you'd like, I'll tell you if its worth while going there . . . as if that was necessary. Our Caribbean sailing experience suggessts a minimum of 40 feet for the open seas.
Chartering in Tahiti in November . . . if you'd like, I'll tell you if its worth while going there . . . as if that was necessary. Our Caribbean sailing experience suggessts a minimum of 40 feet for the open seas.
ASA or US Sailing or local sailing clubs
Both American Sailing Association and US Sailing offer begining, intermediate and advanced keel boat sailing (by different names). Both programs appear similar, though I think US Sailing is geared more to racing than cruising. Check Sailing or Cruising World for adds. Most of the charter companies run schools, so you can sail for a week in the islands and learn the ins and outs of the boats. Combine a vacation and a class (in a week you do 2 or all 3). There is probably a local sailing club that has weekend races somewhere in your area. Although they won't want green crew on a race, they may be able to offer information about local resources. How much is enough? Everyone eventually wants 5 extra feet. Still, I like my 37 footer....big enough to be comfortable, small enough to handle the sails.
Both American Sailing Association and US Sailing offer begining, intermediate and advanced keel boat sailing (by different names). Both programs appear similar, though I think US Sailing is geared more to racing than cruising. Check Sailing or Cruising World for adds. Most of the charter companies run schools, so you can sail for a week in the islands and learn the ins and outs of the boats. Combine a vacation and a class (in a week you do 2 or all 3). There is probably a local sailing club that has weekend races somewhere in your area. Although they won't want green crew on a race, they may be able to offer information about local resources. How much is enough? Everyone eventually wants 5 extra feet. Still, I like my 37 footer....big enough to be comfortable, small enough to handle the sails.
Local Clubs are good
Bill, I have to disagree with debra a little bit. I am new to sailing also and recently bought a H25. Some sailing friends were kind enough to take me out and show me the ropes and point out the differences between it and a sunfish! But as club racing goes, I've found a great bunch of guys that race for fun every thurs night at my harbor. They are somewhat competitive but all have invited me aboard to race and man have I learned a bunch. So try and find a good bunch of guys and gals that just love to sail and strike up a conversation. Before you know it you could be out gaining valuable experience on your boat or theirs. Good Luck! Chris
Bill, I have to disagree with debra a little bit. I am new to sailing also and recently bought a H25. Some sailing friends were kind enough to take me out and show me the ropes and point out the differences between it and a sunfish! But as club racing goes, I've found a great bunch of guys that race for fun every thurs night at my harbor. They are somewhat competitive but all have invited me aboard to race and man have I learned a bunch. So try and find a good bunch of guys and gals that just love to sail and strike up a conversation. Before you know it you could be out gaining valuable experience on your boat or theirs. Good Luck! Chris
School suggestion, far away (but still in Texas)
I berth my boat at Cedar Mills Marina on Lake Texoma in North Texas. They have a ASA sailing school that teaches many courses, up through & including celestial navigation. They have been rated #1 in the country many years. I havn't gone to the school yet, but plan to before I move my boat back to the Gulf & "take-off" (if that ever really happens $$). Anyway, I know it's a long way from Del Rio, but apparently it is well enough thought off that I've met lots of folks from various parts of the country that come there & stay in one of the cabins for a couple of weeks & take several courses & get various certifications. The courses are not cheap. Again I can't speak to the quality of the instruction or instructors myself, but do know they have a really good reputation. BTW, the people who operate the school are also the builders of Valiant Yachts... one of the premier (& expensive) blue-water cruisers. You can do a free-tour of the mfg. facilities while there which is neat. If money is not an issue, you might consider a Valiant for your cruise to Tahiti. They are incredibly nice, & very seaworthy. Also beautiful. The main number for the Marina facility (punch thru voice menu for Sailing school info) is (903) 523-4222. I don't work for them BTW. If you go, I could probably be talked into taking you out on my boat for a cold beer.
-- Craig Coffman S/V "Winds of Change" H40.5
I berth my boat at Cedar Mills Marina on Lake Texoma in North Texas. They have a ASA sailing school that teaches many courses, up through & including celestial navigation. They have been rated #1 in the country many years. I havn't gone to the school yet, but plan to before I move my boat back to the Gulf & "take-off" (if that ever really happens $$). Anyway, I know it's a long way from Del Rio, but apparently it is well enough thought off that I've met lots of folks from various parts of the country that come there & stay in one of the cabins for a couple of weeks & take several courses & get various certifications. The courses are not cheap. Again I can't speak to the quality of the instruction or instructors myself, but do know they have a really good reputation. BTW, the people who operate the school are also the builders of Valiant Yachts... one of the premier (& expensive) blue-water cruisers. You can do a free-tour of the mfg. facilities while there which is neat. If money is not an issue, you might consider a Valiant for your cruise to Tahiti. They are incredibly nice, & very seaworthy. Also beautiful. The main number for the Marina facility (punch thru voice menu for Sailing school info) is (903) 523-4222. I don't work for them BTW. If you go, I could probably be talked into taking you out on my boat for a cold beer.
-- Craig Coffman S/V "Winds of Change" H40.5Corpus Christi Sailing Center
I sail a Catalina 250 on lake Travis in Austin. My wife bought me sailing lessons last year at the Corpus Christi Sailing Center (http://www.constant.com/sailing) and I completed their ASA 103 "Basic Coastal Cruising" class this past November. Since I already felt comfortable with my boat, I challenged the prerequisite ASA 101 "Basic Keelboat Sailing" by taking the exam during my ASA 103 course. Both the 101 & 103 classes use the same coursebook. The challenge didn't cost me anything. I can say from experience that the folks at CC Sailing Center are friendly and knowledgeable. Cap'n John taught my class; he was great! Two classes sailed together on a Morgan 46 and a Catalina 36. We spent three days sailing from the marina in downtown CC to an anchorage south of the JFK causeway bridge on the ICW, then to Port Aransas and back to CC. Although I spent most of my time on the Morgan, I also enjoyed time on the Catalina. I thought I would be moving up to the C320 one day soon, but I really like the C36. The lesson cost was very reasonable and I intend to go back for their ASA 104 "Bareboat Chartering Certification" class soon. The coastal sailing on a larger boat did two things for me: 1) it gave me confidence in coastal sailing, 2) experience with a larger boat, especially in terms of docking and sheeting higher loads on larger winches, and 3) it confirmed the skills I had already built . . . both hands on sailing and navigational. This past February, I sailed my Catalina 250 with confidence for six days in the Pensacola, FL area. This was my first "trailer-sailing" adventure. My coastal course at CC Sailing Center provided much of this confidence. Of course, the wind was always from the wrong direction, so we spent most of our time to weather. And, because of the marginal conditions, we were not able to make the 50 NM offshore trip from the Pensacola cut to Destin. We did sail the 15 NM offshore leg from Pensacola cut to Perdido Pass a few times. The last time our offshore leg was in dense fog. Navigational skills were very important as was our most important navigational tool: GPS & charts. Total week logged about 150 NM even considering the sometimes poor weather. Best of luck in your skill building.
I sail a Catalina 250 on lake Travis in Austin. My wife bought me sailing lessons last year at the Corpus Christi Sailing Center (http://www.constant.com/sailing) and I completed their ASA 103 "Basic Coastal Cruising" class this past November. Since I already felt comfortable with my boat, I challenged the prerequisite ASA 101 "Basic Keelboat Sailing" by taking the exam during my ASA 103 course. Both the 101 & 103 classes use the same coursebook. The challenge didn't cost me anything. I can say from experience that the folks at CC Sailing Center are friendly and knowledgeable. Cap'n John taught my class; he was great! Two classes sailed together on a Morgan 46 and a Catalina 36. We spent three days sailing from the marina in downtown CC to an anchorage south of the JFK causeway bridge on the ICW, then to Port Aransas and back to CC. Although I spent most of my time on the Morgan, I also enjoyed time on the Catalina. I thought I would be moving up to the C320 one day soon, but I really like the C36. The lesson cost was very reasonable and I intend to go back for their ASA 104 "Bareboat Chartering Certification" class soon. The coastal sailing on a larger boat did two things for me: 1) it gave me confidence in coastal sailing, 2) experience with a larger boat, especially in terms of docking and sheeting higher loads on larger winches, and 3) it confirmed the skills I had already built . . . both hands on sailing and navigational. This past February, I sailed my Catalina 250 with confidence for six days in the Pensacola, FL area. This was my first "trailer-sailing" adventure. My coastal course at CC Sailing Center provided much of this confidence. Of course, the wind was always from the wrong direction, so we spent most of our time to weather. And, because of the marginal conditions, we were not able to make the 50 NM offshore trip from the Pensacola cut to Destin. We did sail the 15 NM offshore leg from Pensacola cut to Perdido Pass a few times. The last time our offshore leg was in dense fog. Navigational skills were very important as was our most important navigational tool: GPS & charts. Total week logged about 150 NM even considering the sometimes poor weather. Best of luck in your skill building.
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