RE: Unidentified subject!

From: Judith Franklin Blumhorst (drjudyb@pacbell.net)
Date: Fri Feb 11 2000 - 15:47:40 PST


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        West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
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Hi Marilyn,

Personally, I'd spring for the $700 course, with 32 hours on Boston Harbor,
9 hours of classroom, and the day-long coastal navigation cruise.

As a kid, I sailed small craft on lakes. As a young adult, I wanted to
learn to sail the bigger boats. So I did something similar 25 years ago with
the Boston Sailing Center in Boston Harbor, on Solings and J boats. I took
the basic keel boat and coastal navigation courses. I took the courses in
the context of a one-year's membership, spent hundreds of hours on the water
and I learned tons!

I learned the basics and the fine points of sail trim and boat handling --
using mast rake, vang, cunningham, outhaul. I learned a bunch about reading
charts, tides, navigation. By the end of the summer, I earned my "skipper"
rating that allowed me to take landlubbers out for coastal cruises. You
know those summer squalls in August on Boston Harbor? -- it's really nice
to know ahead of time what to do when they hit!!! It's a serious
responsibility to take others out on the ocean with you as the skipper.

I'm planning on taking a similar course this year with my husband, out here
in California, with an emphasis on cruising, navigation, anchoring, etc
rather than boat handling. I really think I'll learn alot in a refresher
course, and build upon my current knowlege. Back then I was concentrating
on just learning to sail the damned boat, not on all the other stuff that
makes you a good, well-rounded skipper. I really want to review the coastal
cruising stuff on weather forecasting, anchoring, navigation and etc.

If your budget permits you to take the big course, I say go for it! It'll
give you the skills and confidence you need to take your family and friends
out sailing. If the basic navigation course for $95 fits the budget better,
by all means, do that.

Fair winds, Judy B, WWP #266, Redwing, SF Bay, CA.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Marilyn Dimson-Doyle [mailto:mddoyle@mediaone.net]
> Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 2:52 PM
> To: potter
> Subject: Unidentified subject!
>
>
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> West Wight Potter Mailing List maintainer
> dfarrell@ridgecrest.ca.us
> List hosted by www.tscnet.com
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> Hi,
> I need some advice. Having just entered the world of Potterdom I am
> feeling a little unsure of what I should do about learning to
> sail our P-19.
> I do have some basic skills in sailing that I picked up over the past
> four years. I can maneuver our 14' pond skimmer with relative
> ease. I can
> even get back to the dock without scaring the daylights out of
> myself or any
> other unfortunate soul who happens to be on board (or on the
> dock). I have
> spent one season crewing on a Flying Scot during the weekly races (tons of
> fun). I am by no means highly skilled or knowledgeable, but I do have a
> 'feel' for sailing, and I have learned a lot over the past mostly from
> asking other sailors, reading and making a lot of mistakes.
> That said, I feel a strong need to get some first-hand instruction in
> boat handling (Potter variety) on open waters. Never having dealt with
> waves and tides before makes me a bit nervous. I have started looked into
> sailing schools. The only one that I have found thus far is rather
> expensive ($700.00). It includes 9 hrs class & 32 hrs on the boat plus a
> full day coastal navigation cruise, plus a night sailing course. It is
> probably a good deal, but do I need that much to sail in the harbors along
> the East Coast?
> Another alternative is that they offer a basic navigation
> cruise (2 hrs
> class & 5 hrs in Boston Harbor) for $95. I was thinking that if
> I could con
> Bill Scanlon, from whom I bought the boat, into going out with me a few
> times in one of our local harbors plus taking the navigation course, plus
> hooking up withe ECPA (I am putting this on their message board also) on
> their monthly adventures, would be enough to begin our adventures
> together.
> I certainly have no intention of taking Marilyn or Adam or Krypto
> out until
> I feel very comfortable with my skill level.
> I know you really can't answer the question for me, but I
> would like to
> hear how others have learned and what you think is the best route to go.
> Thanks
> Alan
> P-19"?"
>



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