| Not for the same reasons you have stated, but I recently became
interested in boating and discovered the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
All the training you want, opportunities to crew for others and
social events are just a few of the benifits.
Best of all is that you control how involved you become. You can
progess at your own pace and to what ever extent fits your personal
needs. Both my wife and I have totally enjoyed this boating session
and the people we have met share the boating interest and are very
helpful and friendly!
Regards,
Jerry
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| In a past life, I spent three years instructing and directing the
Florida Keys OB program, and this tale still amuses and impresses me:
During the first year, Kate Cronin was one of my students. She knew
nearly zip about sailing, but absorbed a fair amount in what was then a
14-day course. At its conclusion, she asked me how she could go sailing
on bigger boats, and I started the litany of "ask around, hang around, be
patient, and eventually...." She pointed to a boat out in Coupon Bight
and asked if they might be going south. I didn't think so.
Well, Kate swam out to it within the hour, and I guess the guy was so
surprised, he may have decided then and there to go. Kate left later that
week, and later told the season's tale. She got off that boat a.s.a.p.,
since it turned out she was sailing with a lech on a leak. Shyness never
an obstacle to her, once in the Caribbean she got on several private and
charter boats, winding up on the 125' Lindo (put a slash through that last
"o"), a three-masted schooner -- as a mate (not cook, the usual job for
neophyte female sailors.)
To shorten a lengthy story, within three years she had enough time to get
her USCG 100-ton Auxiliary Sail license, and was soon after chosen captain
of the Hudson River sloop Clearwater in New York Harbor. After several
years of that she retired to other jobs, including skippering the Mimi
during the year-long filming of "The Vogage of the Mimi."
So, rally your chutzpah, and recognize there are no hard and fast rules or
paths. Ask around, hang around is still a good way, especially during
race weeks and major regattas. With that technique I've sailed as crew in
major J-24, 470, Hobie, and Sonar regattas, as well as MORC and IOR races.
There's no magic to it; just look like a clean, strong, friendly, willing
body on the dock. Go from boat to boat, and ask if they need crew. Be
ready to step aboard right away, and be sure to bring you own FWG and
personal safety items (a small duffel is almost always acceptable baggage.)
Once you start to collect some experience and meet some sailors, you'll
have some good opportunities. Good luck!
John.
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| RE:.0 by SVCRUS::NCOLLINS
> Can anyone give me some information or the opportunity, on how to
> go about getting on a ship or were I can get some hands on trainning.
I would suggest becoming a member of a community sailing club like
regatta point in Worchester. You can get experence, classes in basics,
and time on the water. You will make mistakes learning , and it is
better to make them in a 14 foot boat than a 41 foot boat!
Phil
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