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The Sailing Club, Inc. |
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Trip Report
On-the-Water Training Session
May 3-5, 2002
Traditionally each spring, The Sailing Club holds a training session to
prepare us for the rigors of the sailing season ahead. 2002 was no exception,
and 5 boats headed out of Great Oak Landing Marina on Fairlee Creek for
two days of instruction. Each boat had one "Facilitator" (instructor)
and 5 facilitatees (students). The Club tries to match crew of approximately
equal skill, so there was a boat of Club skippers, a couple of boats with
backups, and a boat of those wanting to build basic skills.
One of the most important aspects of the weekend is that the "course" is
driven by the needs of the students. The night we arrived, the facilitator
discussed with us, what areas we wanted to cover. For most of us, it was
maneuvering under power. Other topics included: man-overboard under sail/power,
anchoring, picking up a mooring, and coming onto and off-of a slip or dock.
We are very fortunate in the club to have members with a variety of
experiences, so we can learn from each other as well as from the instructor.
A number of discussions occurred on the boats, on the docks, and at dinner.
To increase the crew's exposure to different boats and sailing philosophies,
the crews swapped boats and instructors on the second day. This allowed
us to again touchbase with the needs of the students, and set the second
day's agenda accordingly. The highlight of the second day was building
a raft of all 5 boats at lunchtime. The entertainment was provided by
Jim Nixon, who volunteered to be lifted out of the water using the
block and tackle (slightly modified) that comes with the LifeSling product.
This turned out to be significantly more work than just reading the
instructions. It is very useful that we practiced this operation, which
gives us another tool in our preparedness kit.
