Sailing Solo

[Babylon]

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.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, I am reading up on it and there is much out there... I will be booking a local course in the spring so hopefully put it all together,,, l have done some dinghy sailing as a teenager so the basic's are there but its been some years now, earliar this year l done some sailing trips on a coulpe of classic ships which has got me wanting to do more before l get to old to do it..

That's good. You should learn a huge amount on a five-day Day Skipper course. See if you can do the DS theory course this winter though - which will add a huge amount to the experience of the practical course. Then see if you can get yourself on board other yachts as crew - the more sea miles in different conditions with different skippers and different yachts the better for your eventual confidence single-handed.

PS Get yourself both of these excellent and well-illustrated books (second hand for less than the cost of peanuts):
Day Skipper Theory
Day Skipper Practical Course Notes

 

[LadyInBed]

Always have an achor at the ready, and a pair of oars. If you loose power in close quarters you can always drop the anchor and if your outboard fails, its handy to have the paddles to hand.

Steveeasy

I certainly agree about the anchor but as for the rest, our visualisation of the size and type of boat are as different as chalk to cheese!

 

[Stemar]

I have a licence and my boat has a licence and a DSC VHF. I do a radio check once or twice a year, but probably don't transmit anything else from one year to the next, but I wouldn't be without it. If things go titzup, knowing that I can just press the big red button to set the cavalry on its way, then get on with sorting the mess out is a comfort - I'm not enough of a gentleman to want to drown like one!

As for plan B, I've always reckoned that if you've only got a plan B, you're already in trouble. Without getting underwear in a twist over it, I like to have plans C & D roughed out too.

When you get a boat, bring all your lines aft. I'm a great fan of stakpaks and lazyjacks because, while they do mean you have to be careful hoisting the main, it means I can drop it without leaving the cockpit. Others aren't of the same opinion, but I think for single handing, they're very useful - as I get older, essential.

 

[Stemar]

You have clearly never been too close to the Cap de la Hague with F7 wind over tide

That's what the engine's for...

I've lived in La Hague and seen the rocks and the lighthouse in a blow. I also know the double figure tidal currents you get in places. Not somewhere I want to be too close to even in good weather!

 

[fredrussell]

To the OP: ignore what everyone keeps saying about plans b,c,d etc. When it goes tits up, your brain will turn to mush and plans b through to z will be instantly forgotten. Learning ‘escape plans’ takes time and comes with experience. Make sure your engine is 100% trustworthy and get out there. Everyone on here learnt from their mistakes. You’ll learn far more my Getting out there at every given opportunity and repeatedly balls-ing it up than you will on an RYA course.

...and get yourself a Tiller Clutch. Google it, invaluable for solo sailing.

 

[Poignard]

Learn to sail the traditional way first .

Then when you buy your gadgets you can enjoy using them without being dependent on them.

 

[Kukri]

A metre of shock cord, stretched across the boat, looped round the tiller and tensioned by experiment will serve as a tiller clutch.

 

[Triassic]

Whilst I appreciate, and to a certain extent agree, with the principal of learning to sail without all the toys first I would seriously encourage you to consider getting some kind of chart plotter, ideally one fixed to the boat in view of the helm. If you're sailing out of Essex that will mean various tidal rivers and the Thames Estuary and there really is quite a lot going on there with regard to sand banks and shallow spots that may otherwise appear to be in open water. Even in a relatively slow boat (not sure what you're sailing) it's pretty hard to dodge them all if you're taking bearings and plotting on a chart down below whilst sailing the boat at the same time. Sure you can prepare with a great passage plan but it only takes a little bit of unexpected cross tide or a wind shift to disorientate you and being able to correct on the hoof so to speak will leave you free to sail the boat. Having said that the first rule of a chart plotter (or any GPS based electronics) is not to rely upon it so have a small hand bearing compass round your neck and get into the habit of identifying and checking what you can see against what is shown on the plotter (and a paper chart if you have the time). If you are confident around your navigation this will encourage you to explore more and thus learn faster.

I'd also encourage you to do your day skippers course locally and resist the temptation to fly of somewhere exotic for it. I did a combined one (theory followed immediately by the practical) in your area during the winter, and it gave me the confidence to do a single handed night passage from the Medway to Burnham in my own boat a week after the course!

 

[GHA]

Learn to sail the traditional way first .

Then when you buy your gadgets you can enjoy using them without being dependent on them.

Wouldn't agree with that, I found learning it was much more productive to just focus on one thing at a time- one day work on sail trim, another turn off the gps and work on navigation etc. No point throwing everything out when you can just turn off bits at a time to practice.

And another plus singleHanded sailing tips - Resources, or on kindle if you feel like the author deserves some reward for what must have taken a very long time (posts on here sometimes )

 

[Humblebee]

How about joining a sailing club? Dinghy sailing isn't the same as sailing a cruising boat but still a good way to learn the way to handle sails, perhaps meet up with some likeminded people and learn about sailing courses available locally. RYA Day Skipper theory and RYA Competent Crew would be a good start.

 

[steve350]

Your first tentative steps will probably consist of day sails in your local waters with a return to your mooring. This is time well spent as you become acquainted with your boat and develop some skills and experience. There will be plenty of "firsts" as your horizons widen. That first night at anchor is a wonderful and memorable experience. Later on there will come a time when you'll look beyond your home waters and contemplate coastal passages. A coastal passage from your home port to another harbour really is milestone that deserves a well earned pat on the back.
There's some frustrations ahead but also plenty of sublime moments.

 

[Habebty]

Think ahead and leave plenty of time to get warps and fenders ready. The “what if” constantly happening in your head is good advice.

 

[Stemar]

Enough good advice to scare anyone here! Don't ignore it, but it's back of your mind stuff. The most important thing is to get out there and have fun. You'll have some moments of cringing incompetence (for anyone who hasn't, the liars' queue is over there), but as long as you stay away from the big boys and wear your life jacket, you're unlikely to come to any great harm

 

[pij27]

I enjoy single handle sailing, allows me to sail when I want and not have to wait for others to be free. As I sail a kingfisher, I found that a keelboat course gave me more experience and enjoyment than the competent crew course. This was mainly due to the size of boat taught on, most RYA yacht courses are run on 30ft plus, to allow for a good ratio of student to instructor and keep costs down. When I did my Keelboat course at Greenwich Yacht club, they used 20ft Hunters and 2 students to instructor. This allows for good hands on experience and gives confidence to sail alone by planning and not rushing.
When part of a larger crew, you don't always get the same feeling and feedback as the vessel handles differently.
Hope you enjoy your new found experiences and stay safe

 

[wiggy]

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.

And get a radio that allows a second VHF remote mike at the at the helm.
Clip on at all times, with a short tether when required, if you slip into the wet stuff there is no one do get you back on board.

 

[Foolish Muse]

There is a newer version of the free book "Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing" available here: https://www.sfbaysss.org/resource/doc/SinglehandedTipsThirdEdition2.pdf
And of course the book has been published with some 40,000 extra words.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Get a decent radio with its own GPS - sod the course - you are going to listen on CH16 but only cry help, well MayDay or PanPan, if it all goes to bad, but not spend hours talking to the authorities or other boats. If you can afford a tiller pilot/ autopilot get one, it makes using the toilet or making tea less fraught, and as other have said clip on - solo fisherman have a highish attrition rate from falling out of the boat.

A club is best then ask for tips for the local water

 

[steve yates]

Learn to heave to in your boat asap, whenever you need to think or are unsure, just heave to, relax and take all the time you need. ( ok, obviously not if a tanker is bearing down in you and you can't decide whether to tack or gybe )
As for vhf, all you need to do is switch it on and listen on 16 for weather or anything else. And if you start a chat on vhf, just take it to another channel. That's pretty much it, unless a pilot book tells you another useful channel.