how best to get in to sailing out side of sailing schools

[StevenF]

if im to go to a yacht club i will pay for member ship?
i was looking at myc to find prices
http://www.medwayyachtclub.com/documents/2011_subscriptions.pdf
this seems a lot so i can use the bar to talk to people
i am happy to pay dues ect but that cant be right or am i seeing it wrong again?

joing the ca now, £20-30 worth a punt

i am still with dylan- and i too really like the Maurice Griffiths

i have another confestion i bought some new musto gear today aswall ;/

 

[PaulJS]

I can really identify with the OP, except that he's got a lot more sea miles than myself... I've done the CC and Day Skipper practical courses this year after starting with the RYA 5 day dinghy sailing course about 4 years ago. I've also got the waterproofs, boots, lifejacket, and lots of other sailing odds and sods, and yes, I have just bought a set of charts for my home port area!
Problem I've had has been finding time to get on the water, my work means I'm out of the country for 2/3 of the year, and this year when I've been home and not working on our house, or otherwise attending to family commitments, it's either been blowing a hoolie, p***ing down, or the tide has been so far out that I would have had to drop my dinghy off the end of the ramp...
Anyway, I intend to buy a yacht sooner rather than later and then start out very cautiously, but letting head rule heart means that this is really going to have to wait until work on the house tails off so that it wont be languishing on a mooring collecting bird poo.
I've joined my local sailing club, very inexpensive and not at all posh, and the few members I've met so far have really made me welcome despite my being a fairly rare attendee. There is probably a small inexpensive yacht club local to the OP, (I contacted mine by email after finding them on Google) and if its anything like mine I can only recommend he gets along on a club night as soon as possible.
Good luck and fair winds!
Paul

 

[Magaz97]

OMG.....I didnt realise that we let people from council estates sail. Next you will be telling me they dont even have a blue ensign..'shudder'....

I realy like Dylans advice. Go on, get a boat, you have the gear and tha charts now, its only a small step to be a boat owner. Find a club and join too, there are loads of opportuunities to sail, crew, drink and learn. Its worth it. Most importantly, dont get dragged into the argument that anyone else is better than you. They may have more qualifications, more experience or a bigger / more expensive boat. But they all still have to wipe their own arse, and I bet all of them have cocked up at some point in time.
Get out there and sail, you wont regret it!

 

[maby]

Apply to join the Chatham Marina Berthholders facebook pages (http://www.facebook.com/groups/121820858457/) - if asked why you want to join, say that you are looking for crewing opportunities.

There are several men at the marina with very nice boats and families that hate sailing - once you get into the group, you should have no difficulty getting rides.

You could also look in at the lockhouse and ask if you can put a card on the noticeboard - I've seen several such cards on the board over the last couple of years.

 

[fireball]

if im to go to a yacht club i will pay for member ship?
i was looking at myc to find prices
http://www.medwayyachtclub.com/documents/2011_subscriptions.pdf
this seems a lot so i can use the bar to talk to people
i am happy to pay dues ect but that cant be right or am i seeing it wrong again?

joing the ca now, £20-30 worth a punt

i am still with dylan- and i too really like the Maurice Griffiths

i have another confestion i bought some new musto gear today aswall ;/

To join or not to join ... Depends on why you're thinking of joining
- just to meet like minded people - probably not worth it ...
- to gain access to (waiting lists) for moorings, dinghy parking and other amenities - more like it ... especially if the club is small as they often rely on the skilled workmanship of their members to keep the club going - saves paying for a sparky see!

Oh - if you join then there is a social element - it varies depending on club, but you can join in with rallies or race or just have a pint in the bar (at club prices!)
Some clubs also do training - but it sounds like you've done enough of that to start with ...

If you want to just get on another boat to sail then the race boats are your best bet - doesn't matter if you start with a rubbish boat and crew - if you're any good you will be noticed and likely to be poached

 

[LadyInBed]

Even if you don't join a club, there is normally no problem popping in with a 'crew available' card and asking if they would put it on their notice board.

 

[st599]

if im to go to a yacht club i will pay for member ship?
i was looking at myc to find prices
http://www.medwayyachtclub.com/documents/2011_subscriptions.pdf
this seems a lot so i can use the bar to talk to people
i am happy to pay dues ect but that cant be right or am i seeing it wrong again?

joing the ca now, £20-30 worth a punt

i am still with dylan- and i too really like the Maurice Griffiths

i have another confestion i bought some new musto gear today aswall ;/

Seems a bit dear.

My club costs £35 a year.

There's a few about: http://www.channelsailingclub.org/members.html http://www.conyercc.org.uk/pages/members.html etc.

 

[StevenF]

Even if you don't join a club, there is normally no problem popping in with a 'crew available' card and asking if they would put it on their notice board.

i think this is a good idea - having a card would give just popping in purpose so would feel comfortable with that.

this is great feed back guys thanks so much

 

[johnalison]

so my advice is still


buy a boat, buy a boat, buy a boat

Dylan

Yes Dylan, I'm with you all the way, but it doesn't solve the OP's problem about how to do the long passages that he hankers after but may not be able to afford the boat for. If he had come across the North Sea with me last year he would have had his ferry ticket reimbursed, as our friend had, so I suggest the keep plugging on, there are lots of ways to sail.

 

[richardsnowstar]

Crew for other people.

Yacht clubs or even just notices in marina bars. Try to sail with several skippers to get different views of how to do things.

I wouldn't advise buying a boat until you're confident of sailing it. (Sorry Dylan, but you say yourself in your films you learnt to sail at school.)

I agree with the above. I was in the same situation as you and a friend suggested a local club. Membership is very reasonable and joining was the best thing I could have done. It was an inland club in Epsom, Surrey. Epsom is where members lived but the sailing is mostly in and around the Solent. Some members have boats and are looking for crew and some members are looking to crew. It is a good system. The club is Channel Sailing club. See http://www.channelsailingclub.org/docs1/brochure/CSC Brochure 08.pdf . One member used to live in Birmingham so being local is not essential.

I also belong to a very similar club called Ashdown which is based in East Grinstead. See http://www.ashdownsailing.org.uk/index.shtml . In both clubs going along to the club nights is optional but they can have some good talks. Both offer a chance to sail for very little money and both have people from all walks of life as members. I also know that similar inland clubs exist in other places so there may be one local to you.

I sailed for a number of years with the clubs as crew. I sailed with a variety of skippers on a range of boats from 16 to 43 feet. I learnt a lot from the skippers and I crossed the channel a few times as well as sailing in the Solent. I did a bit of racing. All of it as cheap as sailing can be as you share the costs of the weekend or week trips. After experiencing a range of boats and gaining about 5000 miles of experience I then felt confident to buy my own boat and now I sail with the club as a boat owner and take members on board as crew.

As for just buying a boat....this is a very appealing option but having sailed with a variety of skippers and some very experienced other crew members I can say that I have learnt a lot from this experience (mostly good but some not so good) that has hopefully made me a better skipper.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Steven, have you considered volunteering with a sail training organisation? I'm not sure where you are based but if you look on the ASTO website you can see all the organisations in the country in the business of taking young people to sea. Most are desperate to recruit enthusiastic adult volunteers whom they will train up as watch leaders, mates and eventually skippers. It's a fantastic way to learn a full range of sailing skills, meet loads of new people and have fun. You need to be prepared to spend time with teenagers but that's really no hardship.

 

[maby]

Steven, have you considered volunteering with a sail training organisation? I'm not sure where you are based but if you look on the ASTO website you can see all the organisations in the country in the business of taking young people to sea. Most are desperate to recruit enthusiastic adult volunteers whom they will train up as watch leaders, mates and eventually skippers. It's a fantastic way to learn a full range of sailing skills, meet loads of new people and have fun. You need to be prepared to spend time with teenagers but that's really no hardship.

In that vein, you could do a lot worse than help out at Sailability!

 

[maby]

Just noticed that Medway Yacht Club has a crewing bulletin board where you can register your interest in crewing - you do not seem to need to be a member.