Canoeboy
New Member
New to yacht sailing and will be inshore sailing/cruising solo next season... Would appreciate tips and advise that will aid me in my sailing days ahead.
Sailing Solo
- Thread starter Canoeboy
- Start date
Kukri
Well-Known Member
Well done! Good for you!
I could write a book, but better people than I have already done so.
‘Single handed cruising and sailing’ by Frank Millville is one.
FB Cooke’s books were republished in an omnibus édition by Dick Wynne’s Lodestar Books in 2011
Then there is ‘Sailing just for fun’ by Charles Stock.
There are many well known books which touch on single handing - one of the best as well as one of the first is RT McMullen’s ‘Down Channel’.
Single handing can be safer because you don’t get distracted.
Be sure that you can pick up your own mooring, that you can anchor and recover your anchor, and always have a plan in your head for how to get out of a tight spot before venturing into one.
I could write a book, but better people than I have already done so.
‘Single handed cruising and sailing’ by Frank Millville is one.
FB Cooke’s books were republished in an omnibus édition by Dick Wynne’s Lodestar Books in 2011
Then there is ‘Sailing just for fun’ by Charles Stock.
There are many well known books which touch on single handing - one of the best as well as one of the first is RT McMullen’s ‘Down Channel’.
Single handing can be safer because you don’t get distracted.
Be sure that you can pick up your own mooring, that you can anchor and recover your anchor, and always have a plan in your head for how to get out of a tight spot before venturing into one.
Thistle
Well-Known Member
Always have a plan B. Further backups are worthwhile but, hopefully, never needed. It's better to have a plan you don't need than the need for a plan you don't have.
Plum
Well-Known Member
Try searching on Amazon for "Solo Coastal Sailing" 
scotty123
Well-Known Member
Don't get too close to the edge.
pandos
Well-Known Member
https://seglbatar.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/singlehandedtipsthirdedition.pdf
A free book on solo sailing good read..
A free book on solo sailing good read..
Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
Keep doing new stuff until you've run out of new stuff to do then do the stuff you've already done only better.
Always ask yourself "What if.........?"
Enjoy.
I've done about 2000nm solo this year. Along with about 1000nm crewed. I prefer the former but that's just me.
Always ask yourself "What if.........?"
Enjoy.
I've done about 2000nm solo this year. Along with about 1000nm crewed. I prefer the former but that's just me.
Old Harry
Well-Known Member
Thats what your crew told me too
elton
Well-Known Member
Do the Short Range course, get the licence, install a good quality DSC fixed set, with an antenna right on top of the mast, and get a licence for the radio as well.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Re plan B. Given the choice of two plans, one of which might not work but you can extract yourself from, and one that will probably work but failure will lead to trouble, always, always choose the former.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
+1, good book worth a read.
You have not said what boat. Does have a bearing on the answer. Personally i would learn how to sail with a crew first. I did, but now sail 95% single handed. SH sailimg is easy, but one really does need to have a solid background & the experience, so one knows how to handle problems as & when they happen- And they will. But they only become problems if one does not know what to do, or have some idea as to how to find a solution. SH sailing is all about being prepared whether it be entering a marina, or lock, or just sailing in various conditions at sea. The boat needs to be set up right with ropes & sheets in the correct place & stuff needs to work properly. One does need the experience to develop this . Then it is great fun & quite easy.
scotty123
Well-Known Member
How will that make him a better sailor?
scotty123
Well-Known Member
Irrespective of what you call your plan, always have one.
Richard10002
Well-Known Member
If not already a sailor with reasonable multi handed skills, do the RYA courses up to at least Coastal Skipper, including the Diesel Engine course, and let it be known that you will be mostly single handed sailing. You will learn a good way to do a lot of things, in a very short space of time. Knowing your plans, the instructor/s will help with single handed advice.
elton
Well-Known Member
Get a life. Or better still, get a licence. He never asked how to be a better sailor. If he doesn't have training and the licence, and gets into trouble on the water, he'll soon regret not having a radio, or not knowing procedure for requesting assistance.
steve350
Well-Known Member
Take things easy, don't get stressed, enjoy yourself.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
Duncan Wells' book "Stress-free Sailing" has practical advice that will help with the most difficult part of single-handed sailing: manouvering in marinas.
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Don’t rush,better to wait for the tide to turn than attempt a down tideberth for example ,remember your out thereforfun
Seajet
...
Remember it's supposed to be FUN, not an endurance test !
An autopilot is worth its weight in gold - as long as you have the battery charging ability - a battery condition meter is invaluable too for this reason.
A free tip - tie the jibsheet ends together, so you can always reach to sheet in from the windward side.
An autopilot is worth its weight in gold - as long as you have the battery charging ability - a battery condition meter is invaluable too for this reason.
A free tip - tie the jibsheet ends together, so you can always reach to sheet in from the windward side.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
That sounds like excellent advice, which I was keen to take this year, but I am not encouraged by my experience so far.
I acquired an ICOM radio which has never been programmed with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number. I requested instruction on setting it up from Ofcom, who finally replied more than three months later, not with an answer on anything I had asked, just saying there was a problem with my account password. I renewed the password and, to save several more months, I supplied details of the vessel it would be located on, and asked that in reply, they explain the steps for getting an MMSI number. That was in October; no reply yet.
I believe that while DSC radio is a great concept, there is minimal advice and administration to facilitate its use, and the new sailor may be more confused than reassured by its functions. Without exception, every single yachtsman I have spoken to was in the dark on how to proceed, and doubted that it matters...the universal advice was to get out there and use the radio, and not to worry about MMSI identity or GPS-linked cleverness which distracts from the basic functions that older sets (and older sailors) happily relied upon.
I took the one-day short-range course in June. I was mostly baffled; I even decided by lunchtime that I would never be able to take a boat with a radio to sea, because I would never pass the course. Frankly, the fact that I did pass, didn't reflect my total incompetence and absence of confidence. I will read the guide that came with the certificate, and hope to make more sense of it by the time I need it, but using DSC wouldn't be my first recommended priority for the OP.
Last edited:
