what did you learn to sail on????

vikki0730 · Feb 3, 2011

I learned to sail as part of a race team...they threw me on a winch and yelled pull, pull, pull and crank, crank, crank or let it out, let it out...I loved it! I read books and took a lesson and the next year we bought the Sabre 426...the rest is history! Im primarily at the helm and the navigator but hubby and I switch off to make sure we are both good on all tasks so I can bring us to an anchorage or drop the anchor, bring us to a mooring ball or catch one, bring us to dock or line handle as well as raise and trim sails. If I had to take our boat out or bring it in alone I could and so can hubby of course.

boatgearguy · Feb 4, 2011

Ten years ago my mom passed away, I was 57 years old. I'd always loved the look of sailboats, I'm an incurable romantic.
No one in my extended family had any boating experience. I bought a video called "Sailing With Confidence" & watched it 5 times then used my small inheritance to buy a Macgregor 26s. I asked the seller to take me out the 1st time explaining that I'd never been on a sailboat but had watched the video. I was hooked for life, I'm now planning to buy a blue water boat & go cruising.

tfoster · Feb 4, 2011

Back in 1966, just before I turned 16 I was introduced to a very patient man who invited me to sail and I ended up crewing for him until I got married. We sailed on a Windmill, a 14 foot open boat on Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City. A small municipal water supply lake with little water, but plenty of wind. My time spent racing was not always the most enjoyable part of sailing, but I am greatful to Pat White for introducing me to the sport that I have enjoyed for nearly 45 years.

Eddie7045 · Feb 4, 2011

My very first time I was a guest on a custom built

40 ft sloop. I took the helm as the skipper explained the basic fundementals of how a sail works. From there, I later rented a sabot and taught myself through trial and error using those principals from that first experience. Many years later I instructed newbies basics on an Omega 17 and also a more advanced course on a Catalina 27.

I really recommend getting advice from someone in a small, 8-20 ft sailboat rather than trying to figure it out on your own. On your own, people tend to waste a lot of time trying to learn and can develop erroneous habits. Even with instruction it is amazing how peole will cling to stubbornly to how they think it should go.

gettinthere · Feb 5, 2011

Took a few crewed charters with minimal involvement.

Decided to sell the power boat and bought an Endeavour 42. Basically self taught. Still learning.

boatgearguy · Feb 5, 2011

As Bud Foulke said in the video program "Sailing With Confidence" you can learn to sail in an afternoon and spend the rest of your life learning to do it well.

texomamedic · Feb 6, 2011

On vacation in Mexico

we had an all inclusive package that included sailboats. I had gone for a ride with a friend once on a Hobie 16 and thought I knew enough about sailing to take one for a spin. It was a Hobie Wave. The attendant pointed us out to the open sea and off we went.... just didn't know how to turn about. We finally figured out how to roughly handle the boat.... very roughly. We were hooked! We came home and started our search which resulted in our current Hunter 28.5. After a year and a half we are still very much beginners but absolutely love sailing and restoring our old boat.

nodachi · Feb 24, 2011

Total Wow!!!

zeehag said:
my uncle sailed eleanor until he was 95 or so-- there is no reason to not sail--it makes ye young. no--she has no engine. she is alll sloop. he was all sailor. have fun and be heartened by that no age limit to sailors lives thing...lol --have fun and smooooth sailing.
i cheat-- i have engines. oops do i hear uncle phil rolling around in his grave.....
when i sailed dinghies--i had a kite--lol fun!! i held onto my sheet and was always using it!!!

I've seen your posts out here before but this one...you've made yourself a serious friend whether your want him or not.

Thanks.

mel22 · Feb 24, 2011

A 1941 life boat : )

bria46 · Feb 24, 2011

A 16' Rebel on

A 16' Rebel on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Warren Milberg · Feb 24, 2011

Just back from Vietnam in 1969, saw an ad in the paper to learn to sail. Turned out to be on a 19' twin keel Alacrity. Learned the basics. After 2 lessons of 2 hours each, I bought a one-design 15 and half foot one-design Snipe. Not a great boat for a beiginner, but I learned to really sail in tough conditions and how to race. The rest is history....

navigator97 · Feb 24, 2011

In 1991, my wife and I took "Learn to Sail" sailing lessons at Boston Sailing Center in Boston Harbor on 27 Ft. Solings. We then took "Advanced Sailing" there on 27 Ft. Solings and 24 Ft. (cabin) sloop (can't remember make). That was followed by a "Cruising Course" there also on the 24 Ft. sloop. This was after completing many Power Squadron courses. We had occassionally sailed on friends 30 Ft. sloops.

We have had our own 1990 Hunter 33.5 since 1999 and are still sailing it (after it gets off the hard in the frozen tundra) at 75 and 72. We just go year to year now.

Du4salr! · Feb 24, 2011

Morgan 22 - Duluth Keel Club in the late 60's. Cal 25. Scampi 30. Heritage One Ton. C&C 30. San Juan 7.7. Now a Dufour Arpege'.

PotomacDaysailer · Feb 26, 2011

Optimist pram! (Hey, I think whoever wrote "Transformers" did too)

PotomacDaysailer · Feb 26, 2011

RAD said:
After divorce in the early 90's I had to give up my restored Chris Craft Connie with no money a few years later I had to have something so I happen to come across a 7.5 Honda four stroke and bought it for a few hundred and then went to look for a small boat to put the motor on so I'd have something to horse around with my four kids (what was I thinking) any way I asked my business neighbor and a seasoned sailor to keep an eye out for something and he says come with me and we go down to the marina and there's his 1975 Bristol Corsair 24 that he never has time for and says I'm moving my shop and need your electrical services and we can barter this, I made the deal and that night I asked my girlfriend (now my wife) if she liked sailing and she said I don't know well she fell in love with it and after those four kids got too big for the 24 we sold it and bought our present 32 and those kids who are adults don't spend much time but my youngest kids with the new bride spend every weekend on the boat and I'm still and always learning how to sail

Wonderful story, but that has to be the longest run-on sentence I ever saw.

PotomacDaysailer · Feb 26, 2011

JeffM said:
I'm sure this is bound to start an argument, but I'm a believer that those who learn on small, wet boats become more keenly in tune with winds and sail trim. When your early mistakes land you in the water, and when you feel the boat react to small changes in trim, you keep those skills as you move on to larger more forgiving boats. Perhaps this should be a subject of another thread

No argument here.

Ken Honeycutt · Feb 28, 2011

Was hooked after a ride on a co-workers 22 foot sailboat back in the early 80's (don't remember make or model). Bought a used sunfish and sailed off Texas City dike - quickly learned all the points of sail after several close encounters with barges and oil tankers coming in the channel. After watching a few Hobie 16s rocket past me I knew I had to have one. Sold the sunfish and saved up enough to buy a used somewhat beat up Hobie 16. After a few capsizes and near collisions with the dike walls I got the hang of it and from then on I was obsessed. Riding in the waves off Galveston Island and then blasting back out through the surf was another great weekend pastime.
Fast forward to present. Purchased an '84 31 foot Hunter 5 years ago. Present wife wasn't too thrilled about it at first and announced that she had no interest and wouldn't spend any time on it. Spent the winter fixing up the cabin and plumbing and convinced her to spend a weekend on it. Long story short..she was hooked. Chartered a 36 foot Beneteau in the BVI's and we both knew we wanted a boat that size. Purchased a Hunter 36 3 years ago and now we spend every weekend from May 15th to October 15th on her. Hoping to take her to the Bahama's in a couple of years after I retire.

Tim R. · Feb 28, 2011

JeffM said:
I'm sure this is bound to start an argument, but I'm a believer that those who learn on small, wet boats become more keenly in tune with winds and sail trim. When your early mistakes land you in the water, and when you feel the boat react to small changes in trim, you keep those skills as you move on to larger more forgiving boats. Perhaps this should be a subject of another thread

Completely agree. After learning dinghy sailing go learn to sail a windsurfer. This really takes it to the next level as you will learn to read the wind more accurately.