Phase I - Completed
Sailing a 36-foot boat is really no different than sailing any other boat. The difference is in the complexity of systems that you find on bigger boats and (for me at least) getting comfortable handling them under power around the dock.
Coming about on a big boat? No problem. Reefing? Piece of cake. Doing the dishes? Well, if you're 6'2" on a boat with 5'11" of headroom and the sink a little lower than what you're used to, doing dishes can leave you with a back ache.
But sailing? I had the helm while we were cracking along at 8.2 knots in about 15 knots of true wind. There's nothing else like it. That was supposedly the fastest that boat had ever gone. Hold a course, trim the sails, and the boat will go.
So now I'm certified to captain up to 50' of sailboat. I re-certified in Basic Keelboat and got my Basic and Intermediate Coastal Cruising ratings. Intermediate Coastal Cruising is also called Bareboat Charter. The exact date is still to be determined, but sometime this winter I'll be found aboard a boat in the Caribbean.
Coming about on a big boat? No problem. Reefing? Piece of cake. Doing the dishes? Well, if you're 6'2" on a boat with 5'11" of headroom and the sink a little lower than what you're used to, doing dishes can leave you with a back ache.
But sailing? I had the helm while we were cracking along at 8.2 knots in about 15 knots of true wind. There's nothing else like it. That was supposedly the fastest that boat had ever gone. Hold a course, trim the sails, and the boat will go.
So now I'm certified to captain up to 50' of sailboat. I re-certified in Basic Keelboat and got my Basic and Intermediate Coastal Cruising ratings. Intermediate Coastal Cruising is also called Bareboat Charter. The exact date is still to be determined, but sometime this winter I'll be found aboard a boat in the Caribbean.