Learning to Sail for Travel

Sailing, cruise and learn, howe sound, vancouver

One of the skills I wanted to get prior to leaving is learning how to sail. I had one sailing experience when I was working on cruise ships. There was a crew tour for a regatta in St. Maarten that I signed up for. I was on one of the winches and I had the time of my life. It was so much fun whizzing over the water that I have always thought of wanting to learn to sail properly. It was only since reading travel blogs that the two came together. Crewing on a sailboat is a great way to get to different places while cutting down on costs. From what I read you don’t need any sailing experience to crew on a boat, just a great attitude, but I figured that if I had some experience I wouldn’t necessarily get all the total crap jobs on the boat! Haha

I signed up to get my basic cruising ticket and decided to do the 5 day cruise and learn where you live on the boat. I figured this would really tell me if I would enjoy crewing on a boat while learning about sailing and hopefully getting my ticket. I put down my deposit and received my sailing book in the mail. We were told to read the book prior to coming on board. After doing some self-tests in the book, I can’t say I was doing so well. The book was reading like Greek to me as there is so much terminology that is all specific to sailing. I read most of it prior to going but I was very nervous as I didn’t really know how it was going to go and hoping that it would all come together once I saw things in action.

I boarded the boat Celeste with 3 other students and our instructor Gillian…a little bit of a woman who could be my grandma. She has circumnavigated the world, is very knowledgeable on sailing and had great stories. Her stories about sailing through sea snakes will haunt me forever though!! We left from Granville Island heading towards the black clouds but managed to miss all the rain. We had relatively calm weather, not a lot of wind for the majority of the week, but on the last day we ended with some good wind in English Bay.

Sailing, anchoring, howe sound, vancouver, BC, Canada, cruise and learn, learn to sail

This course is very intense when you have no prior knowledge of sailing. As much as it was fun, it was also very stressful remembering everything.  Knowing the commands when you were in charge and when you were crew what to do with those commands was a challenge. I knew there was a written portion of the exam but it was news to me that we had to get 70% or better to pass that portion. Bring on the stress! Throughout the 5 days we sailed around the Howe Sound area and then over to Bowen Island while practicing maneuvers with the boat under motor and under sails. I was thankful the terminology slowly sunk in each day. We practiced all the points of sail, the commands plus what needs to be done when those commands are said. On our last day we did circles around the tanker ships anchored in the bay, which was a cool perspective.

Sailing 9

Things I loved:
Seeing things people without boats wouldn’t see: To be able to go to different islands and areas where the ferries don’t go is magical. Docking at one place and anchoring off another area around Gambier Island is something you can’t do without a boat.
Being on the water: I Love being on the water! The photos you can get while having the wind in your hair gliding over the water is something that will never grow old with me.
No TV: I have a horrible addiction to TV and to not even have a hankering to watch any is amazing. Even though you could technically watch Netflix etc on your phone, I had no desire to do so. It was so freeing.
Meeting new people and working together: When you are stuck on a boat for any length of time you want to be sure you like who you are with. The group on this boat was awesome and we all helped each other out.
The well trained geese: The geese are obviously used to being around boat people and know exactly where to get food. While I was taking photos of the geese, it was like talking to a trained dog. I would ask and point for it to move somewhere and it did. One of the best bird models I have ever had! 😉
The quietness: Especially when anchored, the quiet and peacefulness of where you are is amazing. To hear only frogs while looking up at the millions of stars in the sky is something I will always love.
Boat People: When we docked at marinas or without marinas, everyone is so friendly and helpful. The culture in this community is refreshing in a world where most people are too busy to stop and have a chat or help you out.
Marina’s with shower facilities: Enough said.

Sailing 8

Things I did not love:

Charlie: Charlie was the life jacket that got thrown overboard so we could practice our man overboard maneuvers. It was stressful with us newbie’s trying to remember everything but we eventually got it in the end
The Head, aka, the toilet on the boat: We were all trying to avoid using the head as it was a tiny space and they are very finicky and can cause big problems on boats so we didn’t want anything to go wrong with it! Docking in places with toilets was our saving grace….even pit toilets were preferred! We only had one night where we anchored and had to use the head.
Mosquitoes: Mosquitoes were out in full force but Eren seemed to have the best blood around. He got covered in bites and the rest of us were left relatively alone. Note to self; always make sure you travel with someone who the mosquitoes love more than you! ☺
Small boat: Even though it was 31’, it was a tight squeeze for 5 adults, but we all seemed to manage. I seem to be the only one that came away with bruises….over 100. I guess I bruise like a peach. Ha.

Sailing 11

We wrote the exam on the Wednesday night so we could enjoy our last night. I managed to pass by the skin of my teeth, but I will take it. ☺ On the last day we had to show our knot tying skills. We had 6 knots we had to know on command. We got in lots of practice and I am happy to say my brain is not as dead as I thought and I passed the test with flying colours. Our instructor watched us all week to see if we learned all the practical parts of sailing. On the last day she had a discussion with each of us to let us know if we had meet those requirements and I am super happy to say I passed that last portion to get my ticket. I know I will only get better the more I practice and I can’t wait to get back out on the water.

sailing, boat, cruise and learn, howe sound, vancouver, BC, Canada

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