Ready to Cast Off.....
Hello fellow Ericson owners! I am new to the forum and a recently purchased an E32. My boat is located near Solomon's Bay, MD. I am interested in getting some refresh onboard sailing lessons from someone who is familiar w/ Ericson boats. I learned on a much smaller boat and would like some more experience with someone is more knowledgable. Can anyone make a recommendation of a person in the area? Any advice would be awesome. Thank you very much.
Michael
Welcome Aboard!
If you need to gain current experience with a largish sail boat with an inboard auxiliary engine, and you are experience-limited in sailing and maneuvering under power... I agree that some lessons would ramp up the learning/confidence curve a lot.
Watching our yacht club members deal with boat-handling in our 150 slip marina, I have a formed an opinion or two over the decades.
Strictly "IMHO" a wise move is to practice slow-speed docking and undocking your new boat under power. This is the oft-ignored skill that will give you real confidence the soonest and spare you some painful collision and insurance arguments.
Once out on open water you will need to get comfortable with raising sails, reefing them, and develop an 'order' to putting them away and preparing to return to your dock or mooring.
I hope that some searching will turn up an instructor or two to choose from.
In pondering how to approach this problem, I got to thinking (go ahead, laugh...)
that one course of action would be to contact someone locally who deals with boaters having trouble handling their craft... like the local BoatUS towing affiliate. I guess I am biased, but our local Vessel Assist skipper, who operates a tow vessel with his wife, is an all-around nice guy and awesome at handling his boat. He knows most everyone in the business.
Such a person might know an instructor or three.
Of course, nothing will ultimately take the place of time spent at the wheel or tiller. What you want to avoid is being "that guy" that we see out there year after year colliding with other boats and docks and complaining about his boat, other boats, the wind, the water....... everything except his lack of learning.
Finally, never approach any dock any faster than you might possibly hit it!
Book Learnin' can help too. I have not taken a formal course but have friends speak well of the Coast Guard Aux. courses. I have taken a navigation course though, and it was both fun and interesting.
Keep us informed and ask questions. As Yoda might put it: "help you we will, but ask you must"
and of course his classic: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Regards,
Loren