Re: New Potterer

Robert Skinner (robert@140.com)
Thu, 21 Oct 1999 23:35:21 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> JEFFREY A SWAIN wrote:
> I am a proud new '93 P-15 owner here in Norfolk, VA....
> Anybody in this area who is willing to share any time or experience
> would be most appreciated.
> P-15 2020
> jeffrey@sybercom.net

Jeffrey,

While I feel awkward offering advice, as a fellow novice in Potterdom,
I can sympathize. Speaking freely, I can offer some hopefully helpful
comments on both attitude and skills. As a member of the senior
service, I trust that none of this is new to you -- but the emphasis
is different, just as the Potter is several orders of magnitude
different from the 900-footers. A truly qualitative difference!

There are a a lot of reasons why we call boats "she". The first and
major one in my estimation is that a smaller boat (especially a
sailboat) will speak to you, and tell you how to sail her. The tough
part is listening. As a married man, I'm sure that this is not a new
concept to you. But the boat speaks in luffs, lists, and lunges.
When the wind is in her sails, she is a very dynamic system! She can
dance with great passion when her lines are tight.

And in a sailboat, the nuances of her personality are much more
variable; a swell here, a gust there, and she changes from a gentle
creature to Hell on water. I have resisted taking my wife or any but
seasoned sailors with me as I an learning my way around Little
Dipper. Our tussles are often take us close to the edge of
capsizing. So far, she has brought me home dry. You can hardly enjoy
the struggle and find her limits when worrying about a passenger.

Another difference is how one relates to a small sailboat. You can't
"drive" a 15-foot sailboat, any more than you can drive a butterfly.
You need to relax and guide her in the general direction of your
goal. Overcontrol results in poor performance. Sound familiar?

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Listen, learn by pushing the limits, and
feel the boat as an extension of your body.

On to skills:
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Other than hands on, preferably in the company of other sailors with
the same sort of boat (such as East Coast Potter Association group
sails -- see site below), there are some books that will keep you busy
for a few years:

The Annapolis Sailing School book -- small, covers nomenclature,
theory, and basic sailboat handling

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship (new edition this year) -- "the most
complete and best reference book on the sport that has ever been
available" per the American Sailing Association

Chapman's Piloting, etc. -- the other sine qua non reference work,
constantly revised.

The Self-Sufficient Sailor -- A guide to minimalism

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Hope this helps, that you are not insulted
by my simple advice, and that we meet on
the water under sail,

-- 
Robert Skinner, robert@140.com, Rockville, MD 20850
'87 Potter 15 HMS #1618 "Little Dipper"
ECPA http://members.tripod.com/~SpeedSailor