Been out for the first time last night, and advice on tuition in the South West pl...

[tinnerz]

And this is my first thread after lurking for so long so go easy on me haha...

Went out on a 23ft Jeanneau last night (a boat I am in the process of buying) with the current owners and wow, I completely understand the love people have for it now. It's the fulfilment of a lifetime ambition for me, and I can see it is the start of a long, possibly difficult, but very enjoyable period of learning for me.

Looking forward to getting some tuition in the next few weeks on board so I can start using her myself with my wife.

And on that note, recommendations for the above would be gratefully received - I'm in South Devon and would like own boat tuition to be able to handle the boat and get some hours sailing (when conditions are favourable for such a beginner), then I will be booking myself in for an RYA Comp Crew course.

Great site, already been of immense help to me, thanks to all who take the time to moderate and run the place.

 

[rob2]

Glad to know you recognise that you'll need tuition, though to help you find it in the short term I must add a note of caution. To legally offer tuition for payment, the instructor must be qualified and the boat certificated for hire (MCA coded), though not in the case of own boat tuition. However, no-one is likely to take on the role of "instructor" unless paid. That is also the good side of the situation as it means that you can invite experienced friends, members of a sailing club, etc. to skipper the boat whilst you gain experience. It's an excellent opportunity to make friends, observe what works and what doesn't for your boat and ask questions and maybe go into more detail later over a beer without feeling that you've paid for the information and shouldn't have to be asking!

There's a lot of tradition of owners employing a skipper and crew. All those famous names of the past century who built and raced J class yachts along with the King had a skipper, helmsman, navigator and crew - but as owner their word decided what was done. If they were to chose to abandon a race, the skipper was expected to select the best refuge and get them there. A lady I worked with asked two of us to take her husband out on his newly acquired 22 ft boat as he was not yet trained. It was a boisterous day and we had to reassure him at first that the boat was fine, but as it was choppy it was going to be a bit of a bronco ride. We had a good day out, but when he asked how long to get back, it was understood that he'd had enough so we gave him an inaccurate ETA that should let us get home with half an hour to spare. Throughout the day we were explaing what was making the boat behave as she did - something which he thanked us for after he'd gone on his RYA course, as he found it easier to put the instruction in context, knowing something of how the boat would behave in wind and tide on different points of sail.

So go make some new friends and get out and enjoy.

Rob.

 

[Lakesailor]

Good advice.

There is something you may need to consider. Is your wife an integral part of the forward plans for enjoying sailing?
There are many on here who find their wife is not as keen as the had hoped she would be and indeed has stopped going out on the boat.

Just a thought. Would that alter your plans?

 

[tinnerz]

Thanks for the replies and info, it's much appreciated.

Lakesailor, I'm fortunate in that it's an ambition that has been very much shared by my wife, in fact it was her who has been the driving force in getting a boat of our own. I consider myself a lucky guy! unfortunately and much to her annoyance she wasn't able to come along last night, but is looking forward to learning with me.

 

[Forest Girl]

I can recommend Plymouth Sailing School over at Plymouth Yacht Haven. I did day skip with them. They can suggest a suitable instructor to do own boat tuition. They have a load on their books.
Andy
PS welcome to Waterworld!

 

[albineer]

+1 for Plymouth Sailing School. A friend of mine did his Yachtmaster Prep with them and thought them excellent.

 

[lpdsn]

Thanks for the replies and info, it's much appreciated.

Lakesailor, I'm fortunate in that it's an ambition that has been very much shared by my wife, in fact it was her who has been the driving force in getting a boat of our own. I consider myself a lucky guy! unfortunately and much to her annoyance she wasn't able to come along last night, but is looking forward to learning with me.

Make sure you learn together and do the courses together. There's bound to be some awkward moments whilst you're in the early stages of learning, so you want to make sure you don't put her off.

In addition to what you plan already, try a bit of racing together on someone else's boat - it's a good way of pushing out the boundaries of your comfort zone. A bit of hairy spinnaker work during the race will mean that those awkward moments out cruising together won't seem anywhere near as bad as they would otherwise. And you'll probably learn a lot too.

 

[tinnerz]

Thanks for the recommendations and information folks!

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

Make sure you learn together and do the courses together.

+1 to that. My wife and I first learned to sail 14 years ago ( at the ages of 45 and 50 respectively) and have generally taken courses together since. We have owned boats of increasing sizes from 17 ft to 30 ft in the last ten years and have been Irish Sailing Association keelboat instructors for the last 5 years. I believe she is actually a better instructor than I am!
I am glad to hear that you are going down the road of taking a course, but I would advise that you take it earlier rather than later so as not to develop any bad habits.

 

[Searush]

Ask the seller to include a number of trips out with you as a condition of purchase? Make sure you cover any issues you may worry about.

When I got my first boat the vendor agreed to accompany me on the 50 mile delivery passage. He did the passage planning & explained his reasoning to me which was useful & on passage he went below for a kip so that I knew it was my boat & I was skipper, rather than acting as if he still owned it. Did wonders for my confidence.

 

[tinnerz]

Cheers searush, sellers seem very helpful and will be on the same mooring sand have offered to help out which is great. WOuld feel better (and possibly more likely to not get a rushed once over from a well meaning but busy chap) if I got some dedicated one on one tuition though I think.

 

[[70521]]

I can recommend Plymouth Sailing School over at Plymouth Yacht Haven.

+1

I've spent 10 days with them, in November, super team and Plymouth is an interesting place to sail.

Give Richard a ring and explain what you want to do and I am sure he will do all he can to help you.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Ask the seller to include a number of trips out with you as a condition of purchase? Make sure you cover any issues you may have.

...but expect the seller to want all his money before going afloat so you can't change your mind.

 

[davidpbo]

Whenever we get people asking for advice on training it is always Competent Crew that is mentioned as a possible precursor to Day Skipper particularly.

As I have said in other threads I did a RYA Keel boat course in my case as 1 to 2 tuition over 5 days on a 33 ft yacht on Windermere.

It seems to me to be a good way of learning how to handle and begin to sail a boat although it does not cover tides, navigation etc. I think the same or similar course can be taken in suitable dinghies and similar smaller boats, which may not be quite relavent to people looking to sail a yacht.

Are there places that offer a keel boat course on a yacht?

Tinnerz out of interest what model Jeanneau are you buying, I have Jeanneau Tonic 23.5

 

[tinnerz]

Hi David, it looks like we'll be brothers in arms... it is also a Tonic 23. In very good order and amazingly spacious for the size - you may have seen it recently advertised on ebay (although all negotiations took place privately and face to face as I hate ebay for buying anything substantial).

 

[Daydream believer]

Apart from training - have you found out what it all costs, moorings, kit, maintenance etc
Soon adds up & ones budget is NEVER big enough
Soon puts the other half off the thing

 

[tinnerz]

Ive tried to do my homework daydream, and already have the mooring side of things organised, and have a sum set aside for problems n+1. Hopefully it won't be required but you're entirely right to mention it.

 

[[70521]]

Ive tried to do my homework daydream, and already have the mooring side of things organised, and have a sum set aside for problems n+1. Hopefully it won't be required but you're entirely right to mention it.

It will, it will.

 

[tinnerz]

Haha cheers sandy now I'm worried. I'm also a cynical engineer, likely to get more cynical with the maintenance of a boat to contend with....

 

[davidpbo]

Hi David, it looks like we'll be brothers in arms... it is also a Tonic 23. In very good order and amazingly spacious for the size - you may have seen it recently advertised on ebay (although all negotiations took place privately and face to face as I hate ebay for buying anything substantial).

Have fun with it. It was the first boat I bought and I have had it 13 years. Just replaced the headlining.

PM me details out of interest I know a fair few of the Tonics that have been around. I don't seem to be able to send private mails using the mobile pbo site.