Five reasons not to give up your sailing dream

Been discouraged by a bad sailing course experience?
You’re not alone.
And it’s almost certainly not your fault.

It comes naturally to some people. They take to the water rather like a duck; instinctively aware of wind and tide, quickly able to manoeuvre at close quarters and unwaveringly able to grab just the right rope when it’s needed.

For most of us though, learning to sail is a lot harder. I’ve clocked up over 3000 nautical miles so far and I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of what I need to learn to be good at it.

The brochures sell you on two weeks of practical courses and a bit of night-school and then you’re done; you’ve got your Day Skipper and you’re ready to take a boat out on your own. Bright and keen you turn up for your first practical course reckoning by the end of it the Royal Navy might be head-hunting you.

Then comes the tightly-timed rush of a man overboard drill, or maybe some hard tacking in heavy winds, or perhaps parking up in the marina at the end of the day with a bit of wind and tide on. The skipper barks at you in frustration. Everyone else seems to know just what to do but you haven’t a damned clue.

But it’s supposed to be easy isn’t it? So you think to yourself “It must be me.”

Well, it almost certainly isn’t. Here are a few reasons why.

1. Instructors know how to sail well, not necessarily how to teach well

We all remember that great, inspiring teacher from our school-days. We all remember the mediocre ones too. Every sailing instructor knows how to sail. They’ve also been taught how to teach. That doesn’t mean they’re good at it.

I’ve sailed with a fair few instructors down the years. There are some excellent ones who manage the week’s syllabus carefully, ensure everything you need to cover gets covered, that you’re fully briefed before things happen and you’re not put in positions you aren’t ready to handle. Sadly there are plenty who treat it rather like a sailing holiday. They’ll show you a few things when the opportunity arises and quickly get pissed at you when you don’t know stuff they haven’t bothered to teach you.

If that sounds familiar, it’s time to try another instructor. If you’re with a big sailing school it’s a good idea to take the 3-weekend option rather than a single week – not only does it give you time to brush up on your knots in between but it’s also a great way to get exposure to different instructors. You’ll eventually find one you can really learn from.

2. Teaching styles are a personal thing

I did my last sailing course with one of my favourite instructors – my third time out with him. There were three of us on the course that week and neither of the other two students liked him at all.

We’re all unique individuals and we respond best to different teaching styles. If the gentle, nurturing and encouraging type is what you need you’re unlikely to be happy with the regular barrackings of a boorish, salty old sea dog. On the other hand, if you’re the work-hard, play-hard type best thrown in at the deep end, a semi-retired school-marm isn’t likely to, er, float your boat.

If you’ve been discouraged by a sailing instructor it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Nor does it necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with them. A good teacher is like a good husband or wife – how many of us would be celibate today if we let one bad partner put us off dating for life?

When trying different schools and different instructors you’re not just looking for one who teaches well, but who teaches you well. That can take a bit of time.

3. Theirs is bigger than yours

Wasn’t that sailing school boat nice? Forty-odd feet (12+ metres) of comfortable accommodation, multiple bathrooms (or heads as you should now be calling them!) and bags of space for half-a-dozen people to move about easily.

It’s also got huge sails, heavy anchors, heavy winches and a bloody long distance between the three things that often need doing at once. And it looks a hell of a lot bigger when you’re trying to squeeze it into a marina berth!

Hard to imagine being able to take charge of that boat yourself or with a small family crew? Well some of the best and most experienced leisure sailors I’ve met would go weak at the knees at the thought too.

I bought my thirty-footer from a 67 year old who was still comfortably handling it himself in spite of a recent hip replacement and arthritis in his knees. It’s not that long ago that a forty-foot sailboat was unthinkably large to most people; if you’re considering a first family boat it should probably be unthinkably large to you too. Don’t give up until you’ve tried a size that fits you!

4. You’re not going out in that?

Instructors know how to handle a boat in rough conditions and sailing schools don’t like cancelling courses. If you’ve booked a sailing course in advance you’ll have gotten whatever Mother Nature gave you. Unless that happened to be an unseasonal hurricane, you probably went out in it.

Light winds and a gentle warm breeze are perfect conditions for the sailing greenhorn. Whether your dream is a charter in the Med or that first little family boat, chances are that they’re the only conditions you’d even think of putting out in.

Handling a boat in rough weather and heavy winds is no picnic, it takes a lot of skill and experience. Your instructor has it, but you don’t yet. But then, unless you’re dreaming of rounding the Cape in the near future, you don’t need it yet. Don’t be put off by that.

5. It’s like tying your shoelaces

It’s second nature; you can do it blindfold without a second’s thought. But think for a moment of the child you once were, a study in concentration, clumsily threading those laces to no avail while your brow became ever more furrowed.

Two weeks of practical courses and a week of theory might get you a Day Skipper but unless you’re one of the blessed few it doesn’t even start to make you a Day Skipper. According to a recent survey in the UK  it takes the average person three and a half years to become fully comfortable with driving a car. Imagine taking your driving test with leeway and tidal streams to contend with!

There’s a world of difference between being taught something and really learning it. Like driving a car, riding a bike or tying your shoelaces, it takes time for stuff you understand to become instinctive. Don’t be suckered by the brochures – your first Skipper’s certificate isn’t the end of the journey, it’s just the beginning.

 

Don’t give up

Most of us admire the “naturals” who take to a new thing in a heartbeat. Most of us also admire the unflappable, self-confident types who can brush off their mistakes in an instant and bounce right back.

Most of us admire them because most of us aren’t built that way. Dreams are fragile things and bad experiences can destroy them in a stroke. I’ve seen many a hung down head walking away from a sailing course. I knew some of them would lick their wounds a while and then come back for another go. I knew they’d get there eventually. Too often though I’ve seen people walk away quietly heartbroken and doubted they’ll ever pick themselves up and give it another go.

If that sounds like you, don’t give up! Many of your dreams may be beyond your reach but sailing almost certainly isn’t one of them. Giving up on a dream you can make come true is an awful, awful waste.