Sail School September 2009

Wow! This must have been the best sailing school ever at the Tingira Boat Club!! After seeing all the fun to be had in Vagabonds on Sunday Sailing days, quite a few of our long-standing members decided to join in the fun.

As Margaret put it "I'm not going to sit there like a frog on a log. I want to be out there too."

So who signed up? Margaret, of course, closely followed by Jill and Kerri and Billie. Sid was the first man to confirm and Jill bulldozed Chris into it. (Secretly, I think he wanted to all along ....) Then Judy Sampson, fresh back from NZ, added her name to the list.

Our stalwart instructors for the course were Michael, Lindsay, Peter D and Peter L, Bob, Colin and our Fearless Leader Guy. We were also ably assisted by Guy Le Plastrier who helped when instructor numbers were depleted. And many thanks to Robert and Brian in the safety boat.


The first day was a beauty. Shame we had to waste a fair bit of it in the classroom. But we managed to get the swim in and the basic capsize without sails in shallow water.

The weather in the rest of the week wasn't so kind to us, with that mammoth dust storm and high winds causing swells up to one metre in the bay. Not the best for novices!!


THROWING A ROPE






Need a tow?

Then you need to learn how to toss a rope across to the safety boat crew.

And here are Chris and Billie doing a splendid job of it.

Margaret is coming to grips with the technicalities whilst Sid is striding up for his turn at the lassoo.

And you need to know your knots. The rolling hitch is a really hard one to master, particular when you are rolling about on a sail boat. This is the one that is used when you are about to get a tow.

Michael gives Jill some one on one instruction whilst Judy, Margaret and Sid sort it out for themselves.

TACKING AND GYBING ON THE SIMULATOR

Tacking and gybing skills can be practiced on land by placing the Vagabond on the simulator. This allows the boat to move around as though it was in the water. The instructor can simply stand beside the boat and explain how it works ... without getting wet.

Above: Judy and Jill get put through their paces and Sid and Billy take their turn at the tiller.

Now it's Chris's turn ...

Followed by Kerri ....

GETTING READY TO GO OUT
First rig your boat and then take to the water. The brave sailors rig their boats before heading off into the bay.





































AND THAT STORM ....
Salamander can barely be seen on the left and Chris and Jill's boat is hazy in the distance.

Not so hazy but those waves are pretty choppy.

Those waves are pretty high too. I just wish I could photograph the gusts of wind. Another photo of Chris and Jill's boat out in the storm.

But it cleared eventually and everyone went out sailing.It was a great week. Well done everybody! Now we expect to see you all out there on Sundays, enjoying the Vagabond Sail Days with the rest of us.