When I made the decision to sail I had very little actual experience and no idea about where to learn. I knew i will need both theoretical and practical experience. The nearest place around me with people that sail is in Marina Del Rey, so one day I went down there. I wanted to find somebody that sails and ask them if I can join them as deck hands. To my surprise, I found a sail club that was looking for new members so i joined. its a great club, has people that own boats as well as those that don’t have boats but enjoy sailing. I try to go there once a week (when in LA) talk to the people there and join them on their excursions. They are a great bunch, open to share their knowledge and let me sail with them as well.
Facebook, specifically sailing groups (just search for ‘sailing’) is another good place to look. Most groups are active and can answer any specific question you have almost instantly. Through the groups I also learned about other pages, blogs and video channels that provide a ton of information. I can list them upon request.
YouTube is another great resource. I started to follow channels of various sailors. Most create interesting videos documenting their adventures. Plus there are a ton of great videos on various ‘how to’.
Lastly, I also downloaded ‘Sailing Basics’ app where I learn the sailing lingo. Its a very basic app but i already learned 50 sail specific terms that will make me look fake my expertise at least a little bit 🙂
My goal is to take it step at a time. Before May I want to maximize the sailing potential in Marina Del Rey. After May I plan to join a few people on their boats in Greece and Croatia. After 3 months of sailing, assuming I still like it, I will get my own boat.
Currently I am planning on getting a 47′ Beneteau or if i manage to save up more money, get a catamaran. So those are the plans so far 🙂 Let me know if you have any pointers.
One thought on “How To Sail”