First sailing experience
As I stood back and admired my handiwork, a thought struck me. Why was I the least bit nervous about this trip? I certainly was having a whale of a time!
My sailboat which I had rigged up, alone, was perfect. My rudder was securely attached to the stern( the back of a boat), and my sail was dancing as a breeze blew by. I must admit, it's nice to be a little on the muscular and tall side when it comes to rigging a boat. The mass( what holds up the sail) was so tall that I had trouble, lots of trouble removing it from its stand and attaching it onto my boat. Fortunately, with a little help from the instructors I manged to do it.
I gazed out onto the horizon, and could just picture myself out on sea with my trusty sailboat. But for now, I was on good old solid ground. I was extremely excited about this course. Our goal was to be able to sail an Optimist boat ourselves! We were going to prove this with the help of the instructors.
For the first day, we were not going to be able to sail out in the sea ourselves yet. First, we had to do " homework" first, theory. Learning how to steer a boat is no easy task, as well as learning the use and names of the different parts of a sailboat. Rigging up our boats was part of our lesson. Knowing where the different parts went, and how to tie them securely was tricky as well. At the end of the day though, I had no trouble rigging and de- rigging the boat. Since " A sailors best friend is knots", we could not escape the fact of learning how to tie three very immportant knots on a boat, the Figure- Of Eight, the Bowline, and the Reef Knot.
Over all, my favourite part of the day was after lunch, when we went swimming in the sea. Of course we went swimming with life jackets on, but it was quite a distance we had to swim, 50m, and our legs could not even touch the ground! Our course was to swim from the shore, to the pontoon. I must say it wasn't really difficult! We could just let the current push us towards the pontoon. Climbing onto the pontoon was another thing. We had to climb onto a sailboat then step onto the pontoon for the supports of the pontoon were covered with barnacles.
Capsizing was another thing interesting that we covered today. We had to capsize a boat, then upright it again. As I walked to the bow, I was to excited to be afraid of Jellyfish... "Splash!" Down I went into the water. It was only when I splashed into the water that I remembered that Jellyfish lived in this parts... Quickly I uprighted my boat by pulling on the Centreboard or Daggerboard, then jumped into the boat before any Jellyfish could sting me. "Wheww" no red marks on my legs.
Well, time past very quickly. What seemed like only two hours was actually eight solid hours! I enjoyed myself very much.
They next day...
We started the lesson today with theory. We were suppose to practice sailing solo in open waters first, but our instructors postponed it due to foul weather. Pretty soon, it started to rain. And I don't mean a slight drizzle. I mean a thunderstorm! My heart sank as I stared out the window. There was no hope in sailing in this weather. We might not even get to sail today with those rain clouds filled to the brim with water!
Making full use of the time we had, our instructors drilled us on manuevering the sailboat, including my most dreaded type of manuevering, tacking! This is when we turn the boat around clockwise. They also went through the course we had to follow. Before long, it was lunch time. Thankfully, the rain had lightened and had completely stopped after our lunch. To be on the safe side, our instructors had us practice manuevering the boat on shallow waters. Then, the big moment came! After towing our boats down to the shore, we pushed off one by one and headed straight for the course. I think I did quite well for our first run, as I manuevered properly, and did not let my sail luff( flap), although it was a little chaotic as we did not really follow the course correctly, and kept bumping into each other.
In case you're wondering, our objective was to sail our own sailboats through two bouys in a figure- eight pattern, tacking at both ends. This course was set such that we would get to practice sailing on the beam reach( across the wind).
After this first experience sailing, I found out the importance of knowing where the wind is coming from.
I will skip to the last day, because the third day was quite the same as the second.
Today was different. The lessons and everything else was odinary except the fact that our parents would be going out on a speedboat to see us sail solo!
My sailboat which I had rigged up, alone, was perfect. My rudder was securely attached to the stern( the back of a boat), and my sail was dancing as a breeze blew by. I must admit, it's nice to be a little on the muscular and tall side when it comes to rigging a boat. The mass( what holds up the sail) was so tall that I had trouble, lots of trouble removing it from its stand and attaching it onto my boat. Fortunately, with a little help from the instructors I manged to do it.
I gazed out onto the horizon, and could just picture myself out on sea with my trusty sailboat. But for now, I was on good old solid ground. I was extremely excited about this course. Our goal was to be able to sail an Optimist boat ourselves! We were going to prove this with the help of the instructors.
For the first day, we were not going to be able to sail out in the sea ourselves yet. First, we had to do " homework" first, theory. Learning how to steer a boat is no easy task, as well as learning the use and names of the different parts of a sailboat. Rigging up our boats was part of our lesson. Knowing where the different parts went, and how to tie them securely was tricky as well. At the end of the day though, I had no trouble rigging and de- rigging the boat. Since " A sailors best friend is knots", we could not escape the fact of learning how to tie three very immportant knots on a boat, the Figure- Of Eight, the Bowline, and the Reef Knot.
Over all, my favourite part of the day was after lunch, when we went swimming in the sea. Of course we went swimming with life jackets on, but it was quite a distance we had to swim, 50m, and our legs could not even touch the ground! Our course was to swim from the shore, to the pontoon. I must say it wasn't really difficult! We could just let the current push us towards the pontoon. Climbing onto the pontoon was another thing. We had to climb onto a sailboat then step onto the pontoon for the supports of the pontoon were covered with barnacles.
Capsizing was another thing interesting that we covered today. We had to capsize a boat, then upright it again. As I walked to the bow, I was to excited to be afraid of Jellyfish... "Splash!" Down I went into the water. It was only when I splashed into the water that I remembered that Jellyfish lived in this parts... Quickly I uprighted my boat by pulling on the Centreboard or Daggerboard, then jumped into the boat before any Jellyfish could sting me. "Wheww" no red marks on my legs.
Well, time past very quickly. What seemed like only two hours was actually eight solid hours! I enjoyed myself very much.
They next day...
We started the lesson today with theory. We were suppose to practice sailing solo in open waters first, but our instructors postponed it due to foul weather. Pretty soon, it started to rain. And I don't mean a slight drizzle. I mean a thunderstorm! My heart sank as I stared out the window. There was no hope in sailing in this weather. We might not even get to sail today with those rain clouds filled to the brim with water!
Making full use of the time we had, our instructors drilled us on manuevering the sailboat, including my most dreaded type of manuevering, tacking! This is when we turn the boat around clockwise. They also went through the course we had to follow. Before long, it was lunch time. Thankfully, the rain had lightened and had completely stopped after our lunch. To be on the safe side, our instructors had us practice manuevering the boat on shallow waters. Then, the big moment came! After towing our boats down to the shore, we pushed off one by one and headed straight for the course. I think I did quite well for our first run, as I manuevered properly, and did not let my sail luff( flap), although it was a little chaotic as we did not really follow the course correctly, and kept bumping into each other.
In case you're wondering, our objective was to sail our own sailboats through two bouys in a figure- eight pattern, tacking at both ends. This course was set such that we would get to practice sailing on the beam reach( across the wind).
After this first experience sailing, I found out the importance of knowing where the wind is coming from.
I will skip to the last day, because the third day was quite the same as the second.
Today was different. The lessons and everything else was odinary except the fact that our parents would be going out on a speedboat to see us sail solo!
These are a few photo's of the two of us
Later, we recieved a certificate, and a membership card to the SAF Yacht Club. I recieved mine with honour. This course has enabled me to experience a unique experience. I can hardly believe I can actually sail on my own! I might consider continuing sailing. Maybe, I might even be selected for the next Youth Olympics!
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