Keelboat Training: Day 2
Day two of our foray into the sailing life came with a new set of challenges. Sailing under the Changi Airport landing zone, we were accidental race participants... and tackled seasickness!
24 SEPTEMBER 2016
We started the day off with a recap on the whiteboard going through what we had learnt the previous week. We'd been studying up on the main parts of a yacht, as well as how to interact with the wind, and were feeling quite confident. We also went through the basic theory of man overboard and the associated drills that we would doing that morning. Thankfully neither of us had to jump ship, and a spare lifejacket was going to act as our unfortunate and soggy man!
After getting on board Just A J we set about rigging her up ourselves (with a little bit of help), before motoring off the mooring and getting the sails up underway. Unfortunately that's when the wind dropped. We were dead in the water and starting to feel queasy... Being strapped into a tight lifejacket with no breeze and high humidity under the equatorial sun was a recipe for disaster.
We did our best to take our minds off the nausea by learning sheet knots, but it soon became clear that it was time to come ashore. Even pumping the sails didn't work, so the motor came on and we docked quicker than usual (!) for some more theory before lunch.
After a midday swim in the club pool it was back to the boat to work on our man overboard drills. The wind had picked up and we were all feeling refreshed! After rescuing a lifejacket out of the water a few times it was obvious that we needed to practise our tacking and gybing a bit more. Taking turns as skipper and trimmer, it felt good to pick up some speed on the water and get some serious heeling under our belts!
Unfortunately the sporadic breezes meant that one of us wan't getting any better (not mentioning any names!), so it was time for an afternoon siesta on dry land while the other finished out the last hour of the day under private tuition... in full race conditions no less! It was a trial by fire experience at the starting line, making sure not to get in the way of anyone who was actually competing!
In some ways day two was less mentally draining; building on our existing knowledge, yet learning new things as well. We feel confident being told what to do as crew, but having to make those decisions ourselves would be another story. However, overall it felt like things were coming together a lot more and we weren't as overwhelmed. For only 6-8hrs on the water it felt pretty rewarding indeed.
A big thanks to trainer Aziz for passing on his experience and knowledge - he was awesome! Next week we're onboard with a new trainer for the second half of our course. Over and out.