LadyInBed
Well-known member
In your starter post you say
Are you based near Med coast or in UK?
If you are trailing and launching into Med waters you will definitely need a paper qualification (ICC) to launch.
Complete newbie wanting ICC...
- Thread starter Advent3207
- Start date
If you are trailing and launching into Med waters you will definitely need a paper qualification (ICC) to launch.
Advent3207
New member
Thanks for this,
I had a few hours at it today, got the mast up (forgot the back stay) hoisted main sail, played with the lazy jacks and stack pack. Looked at head sail but then realised I hadnt run the halyard! All on the dry of course.
Currently going over the terminology of everything as the instructions don't mean much when you cant remember what everything is called! The RYA CC skills book is brilliant.
Its like learning a foreign language, but il get there. We try again tomorrow
Advent3207
New member
Based in UK, Warrington. First try will be on a lake, not until I am comfortable rigging it all.
Obi
Active member
There is quite a lot "foundation" knowledge to know as CC, things that experienced sailors are so accustomed to that we can often take it for granted. I think it is the same with any specialism. In my software career I take for granted that people understand the difference between RAM, CPU, HDD, browsers, webmail and so on. Regularly I meet people who do not know what a browser is or that google is a web page, or that when they access their email they are using a browser to do so. This kind of illustrates that stuff I take for granted in conversations about IT technology. When it comes to sailing, I never take it for granted that someone will know basic concepts, but in my mind I see a lot of stuff on board as very obvious and simple. A port sheet, a starboard sheet, active sheet, a halyard, "Come on"!!! Some might think "How hard is it newbie"? I always try to appreciate that there is always foundation knowledge and it is all too easy to overlook the fact that not everyone knows that stuff. How high to tie a fender? All common sense to many, but not to others. As a day skipper you need to know about impellers, stern glands, windlass for anchor, fuse/power panels, engine vs domestic batteries and a lot more, and if the entirety of the boat top to bottom is all new, then the DS week is going to be very busy.
To say it another way, there is a risk being that if you jumped into DS you would be trying to learn too much basic stuff that would complicate learning the DS syllabus. Would I want to sail with a skipper who did not know how to tie a knot or what to call part of the yacht? (Not saying that is you OP).
Perhaps if you take to it all very quickly it will not be a challenge, but you might find that cocked hats and CTS vs dead reckoning are bogging you down and you still do not know how to deal with your springs.
Why jump ahead? Enjoy the learning. I would suggest that if you cannot find a freind to sail with, the consider an RYA "intro to sailing course" first, then a CC, and then a DS. More time, more expense, but a better way to learn with less confusion, stress and ultimately more knowledge.
I found the DS course to be the most enjoyable, as it de-mystified so much of what takes place within the skippers brain. But if I did not have a solid grounding for that course I would have been confused about a lot of the learning.
One summer, needing a break from the day job, I quit and then headed out to the Ionian where I worked as a bareboat skipper. Every week I saw a wide variety of ability in the flotilla guests that would arrive and depart from the same ports as I did. Some were excellent, some were clearly still very novice at a lot of things. It was the latter group that seemed to have less enjoyment on their holidays and more stress. Sometimes it was palpable how that stress affected the other guests on their yachts. Often having breakfast in a taverna I would nosily watch over the morning briefings for the flotilla skippers and it was the same - some skippers were happy and confident, and others were borderline scared by the day ahead. Often comments like "avoid the volcano" or "if you get in after 5 you might need to anchor out", or comments like "it will be blowing F6 across your beam as you try to moor astern in a crowded harbour", or "you might end up with crossed anchor chains in Fiskardo," were all the kind of comments from the meeting leaders that caused frowns and fidgets among the group. I got the distinct impression some skippers were having a trial by fire. The more you know, the more you have practiced and spent time aboard the better it will be for all.
The Ionian is regarded as one of the benign sailing grounds, but it can still scare the willies out of any sailor. The med is just as vicious as most seas.
P.S. You can cover a lot of learning through reading before hand as well as getting experience with others. It all helps.
To say it another way, there is a risk being that if you jumped into DS you would be trying to learn too much basic stuff that would complicate learning the DS syllabus. Would I want to sail with a skipper who did not know how to tie a knot or what to call part of the yacht? (Not saying that is you OP).
Perhaps if you take to it all very quickly it will not be a challenge, but you might find that cocked hats and CTS vs dead reckoning are bogging you down and you still do not know how to deal with your springs.
Why jump ahead? Enjoy the learning. I would suggest that if you cannot find a freind to sail with, the consider an RYA "intro to sailing course" first, then a CC, and then a DS. More time, more expense, but a better way to learn with less confusion, stress and ultimately more knowledge.
I found the DS course to be the most enjoyable, as it de-mystified so much of what takes place within the skippers brain. But if I did not have a solid grounding for that course I would have been confused about a lot of the learning.
One summer, needing a break from the day job, I quit and then headed out to the Ionian where I worked as a bareboat skipper. Every week I saw a wide variety of ability in the flotilla guests that would arrive and depart from the same ports as I did. Some were excellent, some were clearly still very novice at a lot of things. It was the latter group that seemed to have less enjoyment on their holidays and more stress. Sometimes it was palpable how that stress affected the other guests on their yachts. Often having breakfast in a taverna I would nosily watch over the morning briefings for the flotilla skippers and it was the same - some skippers were happy and confident, and others were borderline scared by the day ahead. Often comments like "avoid the volcano" or "if you get in after 5 you might need to anchor out", or comments like "it will be blowing F6 across your beam as you try to moor astern in a crowded harbour", or "you might end up with crossed anchor chains in Fiskardo," were all the kind of comments from the meeting leaders that caused frowns and fidgets among the group. I got the distinct impression some skippers were having a trial by fire. The more you know, the more you have practiced and spent time aboard the better it will be for all.
The Ionian is regarded as one of the benign sailing grounds, but it can still scare the willies out of any sailor. The med is just as vicious as most seas.
P.S. You can cover a lot of learning through reading before hand as well as getting experience with others. It all helps.
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