Diane Selkirk - The Complete Idiots Guide to Sailing

Sailing

by Diane Selkirk

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

For Maia and Evanthe perfect crew in sailing and life.

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-61564-325-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2012949170

15 14 13 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Youve never sailed, but it seems exciting, and youd like to try it out. Or maybe youve been out a few times, but you never understood why you were told to pull in a rope one minute and to let it go the next. Or maybe you boat with someone fairly regularly, but youre intimidated by whats going on, frightened by the idea of taking the wheel, or even feeling a bit queasy at the thought of raising a sail.

In any case, you want to learn more about sailing: how to prepare the boat to leave the dock; when to raise and trim the sails; what safety gear you really need aboard; where to find accurate weather reports and how to understand them.

This is the book for you.

But I have to say this right off the batno book can teach you how to sail. To learn to sail, you really need to be taught by an instructor aboard a boat. Sailing is a sport with many nuances, and for it to make sense, and for it to be safe, you need to actively learn the skills in this book from someone qualified to teach them (and I will tell you how to find the right instructor).

Consider this book a reference or a textbook. Perhaps itll be the manual you turn to when youre trying to figure out how the heck youre supposed to adjust your sails when the wind is coming over the front end of your boat, or youll pick it up when you want to double-check how to read a tide table or tie that certain knot.

And thats how its designed to be read.

Its meant to be there when you need it. Its meant to answer your questions and explain why you need to pull in that rope and then let it go again. Its meant to be picked up, thumbed through, thought about, and then put down as you get back to actively sailing. Or dreaming about sailing.

Its meant to start you on what I hope will become a very long and enjoyable voyage.

How This Book Is Organized

The book is divided into three parts. Each part is self-contained so you can focus on the topics you need when you need them (though sailing really is the sum of its parts, and eventually youll want to read through the entire book).

how the forces of nature (i.e., the wind and waves) work on your boat. I focus on weather, and how and why you should get an accurate forecast. And then I spend some time looking at tides and currents and how they can affect your sailing plans.

, Basic Boat Handling, puts you aboard the boat. Youll learn the basics of sailinghow to rig and hoist sails, and then how to set sail and steer through all the points of sail. I also cover all the skills you need in order to get out sailinghow to prepare a boat for departure and how to motor away from a dock. I also look at essential safety equipment and cover a few more advanced skills: anchoring, reducing sail, managing in bad weather, and getting a tow.

, Getting Where Youre Going, progresses on to navigation and beyond. I look at traditional paper charts and how to use them. And then I cover the pros and cons of electronic navigation, including all the different types of electronics that are commonly found on sailboats. I also go through the rules of the road, covering who has right of way and what all those markers on the water actually mean. And I tackle knots and maintenance, and then explore the process of finding and buying a boat of your own.