I know it has been slow posting for my Zombie plan but I have been making many steps towards the grand finally.
I have been reading several books.
“438 Days”. It is an incredible story about a mans survival adrift for, you guessed it, 438 days.
“A Sail of Two Idiots” I have loved reading about the mistakes of others.
Following these blogs.
Http://www.svwanderlust.com/
There are a few more but these 2 have been my favorites.
Most importantly I have finally taken my first classes to become sailing certified.
I found a class in Sandusky, OH with the Erie Sailing School.
http://www.erieislandssailingschool.com/
The first class is the Sailing 101. Since I was in the Navy and have spend a lot of time on my power boat I was able to test out of the 101 class pretty easily.
It mostly covers the parts of a boat and how to trim sails. We had to go out and sail on a calm day and do many Man Over Board drills.
The main thing I learned was basic safety and things to do when it gets bad. My favorite maneuver is called “Heave To” basically you turn into the wing and let the main sail go. This almost stops you and lets you eat or do any repairs.
The next class was the 103 which goes deeper in depth of what you need on a sailboat. We went over the internals of the boat, basic engine maintenance, and we changed out the jib to a Genoa. What does that mean you ask? Well comment on the bottom of the page and I would be happy to explain.
We had a great day sailing and I learned so many things. I totally feel confident to be able to take a sailboat out for a nice day sail.
My next class is the 104, where you take a boat out and sail for 2 days somewhere. It covers provisioning.
I also have the class for 105 where you learn how to chart courses.
I have also booked my diving instructor certification course for this September.
I plan on being able to be an instructor for sailing and for diving.
