New owner help

Chris Patterson · Aug 27, 2014

Yep, Joe's the man about these things, huh? I wish I had had him around back in the dark ages when I learned..

I do understand the desire for a larger boat due to two people. Bearing in mind this boat derived from a surfboard with a sail, not unlike the surf/sailors you see now for the exception the Sunfish was meant to sit on. The cockpit developed when the designers wife wanted to go along as well, and wallah! It is true that two people adds another dynamic to sailing the Sunnyfish, but it can be done. They are called wet boats for a reason. If you don't plan to go swimming, that boat is not it. That's not to say you will drop it every time. After you get the hang of it, I have been out on many, many different times and barely got my feet wet. I have also went out in 25 knots of wind and had my ass handed to me on a silver platter. My first death-roll. Ahh, brings back fond memories..

Oh yeah, the Hobie. WHOLE different thing to get that thing back on his wheels. Same technique, but requires a little more game. And weight.

Learn to keep yourself on the boat first, and THEN your GF will be much more comfortable with you on ANY boat.

I'll say it again, keep plugging dude. With the advice here, and more times on/in the water, that's how most of us began. Truth is, most people that I have known that started out on keel boats do not have the sailing skills that HAS to develop to learn a day dink.

More than a few of us is rooting for ya man.

(My English major wife would LOVE that last sentence)..

woodster · Aug 27, 2014

He can go over to Turners marina at dog river on Thursday night and joint (this should be join not joint

) the racing crowd and learn a lot from them ...i asked Rodger Turner one time about this and he said to come on any Thursday ..said there was always a shortage of crew to be filled....he can introduce his self to Rodger and will find him to be very helpful Great guy that Rodger

Indysailor · Aug 27, 2014

woodster said:
He can go over to Turners marina at dog river on Thursday night and joint (this should be join not joint ) the racing crowd and learn a lot from them ...i asked Rodger Turner one time about this and he said to come on any Thursday ..said there was always a shortage of crew to be filled....he can introduce his self to Rodger and will find him to be very helpful Great guy that Rodger

Good advice. Crewing for an experienced (friendly) skipper, who is free with advice and willing to answer questions can do a world of good.

BigEasy · Aug 27, 2014

Think it is about $500. for three days of lessons on Catalina 22 . Includes American Sailing Association ( ASA ) basic keel boat exam & certification. Small groups of 2 or 3, so you get a lot of tiller time.

BigEasy · Aug 27, 2014

Have to disagree about crewing with the racing crowd. Not knowing anything about sailing and crewing on a race boat would have been enough to make me quit sailing. Way too much competitive stuff going on to learn the basics. Racing crews are too focused on winning; they are going to lose patience with a someone who doesn't know a tack from a zig zag. About the only thing that is going to happen is frustration after the yelling starts. The class room is the place for our new friend. He can crew after he learns the basics.

Indysailor · Aug 28, 2014

BigEasy said:
Have to disagree about crewing with the racing crowd. Not knowing anything about sailing and crewing on a race boat would have been enough to make me quit sailing. Way too much competitive stuff going on to learn the basics. Racing crews are too focused on winning; they are going to lose patience with a someone who doesn't know a tack from a zig zag. About the only thing that is going to happen is frustration after the yelling starts. The class room is the place for our new friend. He can crew after he learns the basics.

It depends entirely on the "racing crowd". I learned a lot, crewing for a friend in what is a very casual, fun-oriented regular race. Serious racers probably wouldn't have a lubber aboard anyway.

South Sagle Jim · Aug 29, 2014

sail101e said:
I recently bought a small sailboat (Sunfish) and it about did me in on Saturday.

I got about a mile offshore and knew I needed to turn back. Rolled it when I turned around. I could not upright it and had 2 other boats come by and it took 2 other guys along with myself to get it upright (we tried with 2 and it was not enough). What do you do when the sail is full of water? If I had not had help come by, I would have had to ditch the sail it was so heavy.

I also had trouble getting back to shore due to cross wind. Boat kept wanting to drift downwind. A storm was coming so I when I got about 1/4 from shore I jumped overboard and pulled the boat behind me to get back home.

My girlfriend was watching from shore. She had tried to get in earlier but it rolled on her. Because of all this, she is now scared of the boat. I am thinking of getting something more stable with a larger cockpit. AMF had a boat called Puffer that looks like it may be more stable , has a much larger cockpit, plus it can use a small kicker in case the boat gets uncooperative when a storm approaches

Has anyone had a boat like this and if so, would you say it is more stable than a Sunfish (for 2 people).

Thank you...

You have to start over with the girlfriend in the sailing lesson. You dont know how close you came to drowning. I have a Sea Snark 11 (google it and watch the learn to sail videos on utube) I love to sail that by my self on a hot day. I and others respectfully suggest you need to know what you are doing before you drown someone else besides yourself.

25yearslater · Aug 29, 2014

I am currently hunting for crew members in a non racing capacity. An aquaintance on Google plus suggested Meetup.com and guess what? I have two novice crew and more mulling it over. Perfect deal, I get crew and they get free instruction. Several of my cronys are griping about lack of crew and would beg for someone like sail101 to join them without the round the buoy stuff. They can pursue that later if they wish.

jwing · Aug 30, 2014

When I was a scrawny 11-year old I sailed Sunfish. I doubt there was a time that I sailed that I didn't capsize at least once, usually several times. That was just part of learning how to sail and having fun. Never once had trouble righting them.

Lots of guys are telling you to get lessons and I won't argue against it. There is another way: learn like a child. Children learn by trying something, observing what happens, then trying something else. Repeat until they figure it out. There are many failures along the way. As adults, we must take care to understand the consequences of failure and be prepared for them. Therefore, always wear a PFD when sailing a Sunfish! So if you notice that the boat is being blown sideways, try changing, one at a time, the variables that you control. Variables like how you position yourself, the depth of the dagger board (should always be all the way down in my estimation), the angle of the sail, the angle of the rudder, and the angle of the boat relative to the direction of the wind). Find out through experimentation the effect that each of these adjustments has on lateral movement. Then experiment with combining the adjustments. That's really the fun of sailing, for me at least. You will also capsize a lot. But remember you're learning like a child and children don't worry about capsizing; they think its part of the fun.

Some people don't like being in water. They shouldn't be on a Sunfish. As a learner, you should be sailing in protected water.

quadrille38 · Aug 30, 2014

jwing said:
When I was a scrawny 11-year old I sailed Sunfish. I doubt there was a time that I sailed that I didn't capsize at least once, usually several times. That was just part of learning how to sail and having fun. Never once had trouble righting them. Lots of guys are telling you to get lessons and I won't argue against it. There is another way: learn like a child. Children learn by trying something, observing what happens, then trying something else. Repeat until they figure it out. There are many failures along the way. As adults, we must take care to understand the consequences of failure and be prepared for them. Therefore, always wear a PFD when sailing a Sunfish! So if you notice that the boat is being blown sideways, try changing, one at a time, the variables that you control. Variables like how you position yourself, the depth of the dagger board (should always be all the way down in my estimation), the angle of the sail, the angle of the rudder, and the angle of the boat relative to the direction of the wind). Find out through experimentation the effect that each of these adjustments has on lateral movement. Then experiment with combining the adjustments. That's really the fun of sailing, for me at least. You will also capsize a lot. But remember you're learning like a child and children don't worry about capsizing; they think its part of the fun. Some people don't like being in water. They shouldn't be on a Sunfish. As a learner, you should be sailing in protected water.

I won't argue with you on this approach but if you are going to follow this method for heavens sake pick a body of water that doesn't include tides sweeping you into a bridge, getting blown away to a point where you aren't sure you can get back and others are being put at risk rescuing you.

I'm all for the school of experience and learn by doing but if that is the approach you choose have the good sense to pick a place where you, your girlfriend and others are not put in danger as you learn.

25yearslater · Aug 30, 2014

For what it is worth 101. Read and apply the various suggestions you are getting. This merry mob is composed of some of the best sailors I have been priviledged to make their aquaintance. While they may not be featured in the glossy magazines the fact is most good sailors never make headlines. In the four years I have been associated with SBO there has never been anyone lost to sailing. That alone should be incentive enough to heed their advise. Besides all that we always enjoy another sailor added to our ranks and we want you to enjoy and be successful in you sailing adventures.