Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 3
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Before You Get Your Feet Wet 5
Chapter 1: Ready, Set, Go: Time to Start Sailing 7
What You Need to Start Sailing 8
Taking lessons 8
Location, location, location 9
Feeling the wind 9
Considering safety 10
Looking at a Sailboat 10
All sailboats have a hull 10
All sailboats have an underwater fin 12
All sailboats have a mast 14
All sailboats have sails 16
All sailboats have lots of rope 16
Tackling Some Basic Sailing Maneuvers 17
Coasting to a stop 18
Sailing into the wind 18
Chapter 2: Where You Can Learn: Classes and Sailing Schools 21
Resources for Learning 22
What Kind of Boat You Should Learn On 22
Dinghies 23
Keelboats 24
Keeping It Easy the First Time 26
Choosing a Sailing School 27
Exploring your options 27
Taking lessons while on vacation 28
Looking outside the United States 29
Interviewing a potential school 29
Finding the right sailing instructor 30
Picking a sailing school for the kids 31
Practicing: The More, the Better 32
Taking Advanced Classes 33
Chapter 3: Planning Ahead: What to Wear and What to Bring 35
Staying Safe with Life Jackets 36
Choosing the right jacket 36
Using life jackets correctly 37
Children and life jackets 38
Staying Warm + Dry = Having Fun 38
Sizing up your sailing wardrobe 38
Layering 39
Staying dry on top 40
Preparing Yourself for Getting Wet 40
Choosing Foul-Weather Gear 41
Picking the Right Shoes 42
Packing What You Need 42
Knowing what to leave on shore 43
Stowing your stuff 43
Checking Your Safety List 44
Chapter 4: Before You Leave the Dock 47
Dissecting a Sailboat: This Part and That Part 48
Climbing Aboard 51
Climbing aboard a dinghy 51
Climbing onto a keelboat 52
Rigging the Boat 53
Preparing the sails 53
Double-checking before hoisting the sails 61
Raising the Sails 62
Hoisting the mainsail 62
Hoisting the jib 66
Cleaning up all that rope 67
Sitting at the Dock on the Bay 69
Steering (And Riding in) the Boat 69
Tiller or wheel? 69
Knowing where to sit when you drive 71
Knowing where the crew should sit 72
Avoiding danger areas 72
Avoiding Collisions: Rules of the Road 73
Part 2: Casting Off and Sailing Away 75
Chapter 5: Going Sailing: Just the Basics, Please 77
Finding the Wind’s Direction 78
Feeling the wind 78
Using other clues to find the wind 79
Identifying the Points of Sail 79
More about that darn no-sail zone 80
Sailing in the zone 82
Pointing Out the Basic Sailing Terms 87
Heading up and bearing away 88
Port and starboard tack 88
Windward and leeward 89
Making the Basic Sailing Maneuvers 90
Tacking: Turning toward the wind 90
Ironing out those irons 92
Jibing: Turning away from the wind 94
Pulling In Lines 97
Using blocks 98
Using winches 100
Chapter 6: Leaving the Dock (And Coming Back) 105
Leaving the Mooring or Dock 106
Using an engine 106
Leaving the mooring under sail 106
Leaving the dock under sail 107
Getting Back to the Dock or Mooring 109
Coming back to the mooring 110
Coming back to the dock 111
Docking under power 112
Docking between pilings 113
Throwing a Line 114
Tying Up a Boat: Leaving It Secure 115
Spring lines 115
Watch out for that tide! 116
Getting Your Boat into the Water 116
Launching a trailerable sailboat 117
Launching without a trailer 120
Sliding a dinghy off a dock 121
Starting from the beach 122
Returning to the beach 123
Putting up a mast 124
Chapter 7: Safety: One Hand for the Boat, One Hand for Yourself 127
Preparing for Heavy Weather 128
Preparing for a blow 128
Preparing when you’re already at sea 129
Reducing your sail power 132
Recovering from a Capsize on a Dinghy 138
The anatomy of a capsize 138
Righting the boat 139
Rescuing a swamped dinghy 141
Rescuing a Man Overboard 143
Step 1: Alert everyone, and keep the swimmer in sight 143
Step 2: Throw stuff that floats to the swimmer 144
Step 3: Slow the boat 144
Step 4: Get the swimmer back on board 147
Staying Calm If You Fall Overboard 148
Conserve energy 148
Maximize buoyancy 149
Conserve body heat 149
Make yourself visible 150
Catching a Tow 150
Communicating and Calling for Help 151
Using your VHF radio 152
Using the VHF radio in emergencies 153
Using satellite communications 154
Chapter 8: All about Weather: Red Sky at Night 157
Figuring Out How Windy It Is 158
The small picture (using your eyes) 160
More than cloud gazing 161
Getting the Scoop on the Weather 161
The big picture 162
The human touch 163
Official marine forecasts 163
Observations 163
The digital domain 164
Whither the Weather 166
The big picture: Temperature and pressure differences 166
Low-pressure areas and fronts 168
Squalls 169
Facing Up to Fog 171
Going with the Tide and the Current 171
Understanding Sea Breezes 173
Recognizing Wind Shifts 174
Using Your Weather Knowledge 175
Chapter 9: Navigation: Holding Your Course 177
Using Common-Sense Navigation 178
Judging laylines 179
Holding a steady course 179
Avoiding shallow water 180
Relying on Buoys: Aids to Navigation 181
Knowing your colors 182
Identifying the types of buoys 183
Nautical Charts: A Sailor’s Road Map 184
Lining up your latitudes and longitudes 185
Deciphering a chart 186
Measuring the course and distance of a route 189
Using a Compass 190
Accounting for deviation 190
Reading a compass 191
Steering a compass course 191
Basic Navigation: Piloting 192
Using a speedometer and a depth sounder 192
Taking a bearing 193
Fixing your position without a navigation app 195
Dead reckoning 195
Figuring in current and leeway 196
Keeping a log 197
Special Piloting Techniques 198
Danger bearing 198
Distance off 198
Navigating in Fog or Reduced Visibility 200
Navigating at Night 201
Lighting up the nighttime sky 201
Recognizing other boats at night 202
Electronic Navigation: GPS, Navigation Apps, and Chart Plotters 203
How accurate is GPS? 203
Getting the most out of your navigation app 203
Wishing on a Star: Celestial Navigation 206
Chapter 10: Anchors Away: Anchoring Your Boat 209
Looking at a Basic Anchor 210
Adding chain: Why it helps 211
Getting the scoop on scope 211
Picking a Good Place to Anchor 212
Finding the lee 213
Avoiding underwater hazards 213
Keeping an eye on depth and current 214
Staying away from crowds 215
Getting Ready to Anchor 215
Dropping the Anchor 217
Digging In for a While 218
Retrieving Your Anchor 220
Anchoring under Sail 221
Tackling Anchoring Problems 222
Choosing the Right Anchor 224
What Size is your anchor? 225
Securing the anchor and rode 225
Choosing chain 226
Choosing the right anchor line 226
Maintaining the anchor and rode 227
Anchoring with all chain 227
Looking at Advanced Techniques 228
Doubling up: Two anchors 228
Doing it Mediterranean style 229
Part 3: Sailing Fast: Taking Your Sailing to the Next Level 231
Chapter 11: The Need for Speed: Sailing Fast 233
Understanding Apparent Wind 234
Sailing Faster: Go-Fast Tips 235
Steering Faster: Driving Tips 236
Sailing Flat Is Fast: Ease, Hike, and Trim 239
Hiking out 239
Trapezing for speed 240
Positioning for Proper Fore-and-Aft Trim 242
Rockin’ and Rollin’ the Boat 242
Roll tack 243
Roll jibe 245
S-turning in heavy air 245
You’ve gotta rock it 246
Planing and Surfing the Waves 247
Sailing on a Catamaran 249
Making your own wind 249
Flying a hull 250
Trimming your fully battened sails 251
Tacking made easy 251
Recovering from a capsize 252
Foiling above the Water 253
Chapter 12: Trimming Your Sails for Speed 255
When in Doubt, Let It Out 256
Relying on Telltales 257
Shaping Your Sails 258
Pull That Line — No, THAT Line 260
Powering Up Your Sails 262
Controlling the power 263
Reducing the power 264
Trimming the jib 265
Sailing Fast Downwind 266
Setting a symmetrical spinnaker 267
Setting an asymmetrical spinnaker 276
Losing Control in Strong Winds 277
Rounding up 277
Rounding down 278
Chapter 13: Kiteboarding and Windsurfing 279
Swimming, Anyone? 280
Parts are parts 282
The ideal setup 285
Kiteboarding 285
Rigging up 286
Making a not-so-dry run 287
Getting your feet (and the rest of you) wet 288
Changing direction and going upwind 289
Transitioning or tacking/gybing 290
Windsurfing 290
Rigging up 291
Getting used to the board 291
Getting used to the sail 291
Getting your feet (and the rest of you) wet 292
Steering the board 294
Tacking 295
Sailing downwind 296
Jibing 297
Keeping in balance 297
Kiteboarding and Windsurfing Safely 298
Chapter 14: Racing Sailboats: Going for the Gold 299
Winning the Top Trophies in Sailing 300
The America’s Cup 300
The Olympics 301
Racing Sailboats All Over the World 302
Fleet racing: All together now 303
Distance racing: Point to point 304
Understanding a Sailboat Race 305
Preparing the boat 305
Preparing the crew 305
Entering the race 305
Getting a good start 307
Against the wind: The first leg 308
Around the mark 308
With the wind: The downwind leg 308
The finish gun 309
Knowing the Rules of the Game 309
How to Win — or at Least Get Started 311
Part 4: Sailing Away for a Year and a Day 313
Chapter 15: Encountering Sailing Emergencies (And Handling Them) 315
Running Aground 316
Prevent those groundings 316
When you go aground 317
Jury-Rigging Out of a Bind 320
Overcoming Sail Problems 321
Furling blues 322
Trouble getting your sail down 322
Fouling the Prop 323
Surviving a Storm 324
Wearing a safety harness 325
Heaving-to and running before it 326
Avoiding thunder and lightning 327
Breaking the Mast 328
Halting Hull Damage 329
Abandoning Ship 331
Chapter 16: Caring for Your Craft 333
Rapping about Running Rigging 334
A few lines about line 334
Sailing gear 337
Inspecting the Mast 340
Maintaining Your Sails 342
Folding sails 342
Storing sails 344
Caring for your sails 344
Caring for the Hull 345
Looking Under Your Boat 346
Keeping an Eye on the Engine 347
Using the engine 347
Caring for the engine 348
Leaving Your Boat 348
Short-term 349
Long-term 349
Chapter 17: Cruising with Children 351
Preparing Your Family Crew 352
Picking the Right Boat and Trip 352
Choosing a keelboat 352
Selecting a dinghy 354
Practicing Safety on the Water 354
Wearing the right life jackets and safety harnesses 355
Keeping tabs on the kids 355
Childproofing a cruising boat 356
Enjoying a Longer Trip 357
Having Fun at Anchor 357
Earning the right to go on their own 357
Packing the right gear for a fun day on the water 358
Chapter 18: Chartering: Changes in Latitude 359
What to Expect When You Charter a Boat 360
Going bareboat cruising 360
Cruising with a skipper 363
Important Chartering Skills 364
Using Your Dinghy 365
Eyeing Popular Cruising Grounds 366
Part 5: The Part of Tens 369
Chapter 19: Ten Nautical Knots and How to Tie Them 371
Overhand Knot 372
Figure-Eight Knot 372
Bowline Knot 373
Square Knot 374
Cleat Knot 375
Two Half Hitches 376
Clove Hitch 377
Fisherman’s Bend 377
Rolling Hitch 378
Trucker’s Hitch 379
Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself When Buying a Sailboat 381
What Do You Plan to Use the Boat For? 382
Who Do You Want to Bring Along? 382
Where Do You Plan to Use the Boat? 382
Where Should You Buy a Boat? 383
Where Do You Plan to Keep the Boat? 384
How Much Can You Afford to Spend? 384
Are You Getting a Good Value? 385
Is the Boat Seaworthy? 386
What Equipment Do You Need? 386
What Kind of Keelboat Do You Want? 386
Part 6: Appendixes 389
Appendix A: Glossary 391
Appendix B: First Aid Afloat 399
Index 405
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