American Red Cross Basic Sailing Class
The American Red Cross in Wichita offers a total of five basic sailing classes. I have taken one of them and here's what we did.
Dates: 2003 7/1, 7/8, 7/10, 7/12 and 7/13
Cost: $75.00
Class Format: Three evening classroom sessions, two outdoor sessions
Notes: Five sailboats (Alcore Sunfish) available, textbook included, a powerboat will be monitoring the activity during the outdoor sessions.
7/1 (Day 1) 6:30pm-9:30pm
The first day of the class. We had only six people, and almost six instructors. Introduced ourselves, started to learn about basic stuffs including types of lifejackets, nomenclature of the sail boat. It was tough if you only know the regular language. Just like the aviation has its own term, nautical terms are a bit different. It was nice that the next class is one week away so I can study.
We get to try sailing at parking lot. We have learned how to make knots, perform tack, and also how to set up and put down the boat. It was fun but a little hard to understand how it works, since we are not at lake and not moving.
Class dismissed at 9:30pm. I have got a whole week to study.
7/8 (Day 2) 6:30pm-9:30pm
The second day started from the review. I have read all the textbook but I forgot to review the nomenclature, so I was not really good answering questions I was asked.
We kept going on the textbook. It was clear as mud.
Lots of videos...
Floor sailings. Larry kept shifting winds when I tried to do.
7/10 (Day 3) 6:30pm-9:30pm
The third day of the class, starting from review which we could prepare for the test. I think
Covered capsize recovery,
Practiced more knots.
Before we are dismissed, we had a written test. I got 38/40.
We got a series of papers, maps, discussed about the plan for next two days.
7/12 (Day 4) 9:00am-4:30pm
Today is the first day of the in water session. I was supposed to be at Cheney Lake by 8:45am, but I somehow predicted the distance wrong and ended up getting there around 9:20am... The entrance fee was $6.50, which was a dollar higher than what I was told, but I paid it anyway. I drove a bit more to get to the meeting place. When I get there, all other classmates and instructors were there. Set up boats, picked lifejacket for the day.
The first thing we did was the swim test. The lake was not that deep so we had to swim away from shore a bit. Floating for three minutes was just piece of cake for me. Hahaha! The next thing we practiced capsize recovery. After instructor showed us how to do it, we get to try. It was not so bad but I realized the lake water is not tasty...
We have split the class into two groups. I get to go out with a instructor named Terry. She first sailed out and had control all the way, then I get to try on the mail sheet, and then rudder. At last, I get to try both at the same time and practiced some tacks. When the second group departed, the wind picked up a bit stronger. I have seen many of them capsized their boats, but they all made back.
As we are told, there aren't many places I can eat, so I brought food for myself. I made some riceballs in the morning, so I did not have to go out to look for a place. David was taking about bringing a grill next day. He must like to cook instead.
In the afternoon, the wind got calm a bit. All the students got paired up and took off. It was good feeling to be able to tacks without having too much troubles. We have done figure 8 course in the afternoon. I teamed with Adam. Our boat got hit by another one once. I get fell off from the boat but Adam stayed on the boat. He must have a better reflex than me then... Our boat was called off and saw a big dent on port board of our boat...
Sailboat rules!
The boat got hit...
There was a group of people from the Air Force conducting some kind of exercise there.
7/13 (Day 5) 9:00am-4:30pm
The last day of the sailing class. We needed to cover the last skill jibe.
I got to the lake a little after 8:30am, not like yesterday, I was the first student to get there (not like yesterday). I have met with Tamami, who I used to know long time ago. Larry told me that his wife is a Japanese but I did not know that was her... Well, that's something good to know there are some folks I met in Wichita is still around. I think the first time I saw her was back in 1997!
The morning was so easy because we did not have much wind We get to perform jibe so easy and I thought I mastered them all. Well the thing got harder in the afternoon...
I made fried rice for today and I ate it. I bought two boxes of cookies from Wal Mart on the way so I was getting an A+ on the grade (This is a joke which Larry told us since he likes chocolate chip cookies)
In the afternoon, it gets a bit windy. I got a boat for myself and went out. I get to try on the triangle course on the other way this time. I managed to tack but I could not jibe since the wind was too strong (and I was doing wrong). I capsized the boat three times and I head back to the shore. A Laser (a kind of sailboat) lost its rudder and had to be towed back to the shore. Now we know that the wind is a lot stronger than in the morning.
Kosuke is turning the bow into the wind
Climbing up...
After a small break, I got to ride with David. Having two people make the boat a little more stable, but since we weren't doing the jibe in a right way, we kept capsizing the boat. Once the boat got turtled, and it was very hard to recover. First we had to insert a dagger board from the bottom of the boat now pointing up. The process took me about two minutes and them we turned the boat to the side way. Then we reinsert the dagger board and turned another 90 degrees to make the boat in upright position. We kept going but I was so tired and did not want to take control on the boat. David wanted me to take the boat to the shore when we are told to go back (I bet he must have got tired too) so I took it to the place where we started.
We put boats down, and loaded on to a carrier. Some of the boat contained so much water inside and had to drain the water before loading. By the time when we finish the class, it was very windy. I am glad the wind did not picked up early.
After a small talk, we get certificate!
Sailing Textbook
It was nice to meet those people who are enthusiastic about the sailing. I am glad I was there and also enjoyed watching other sailing boat racing in the lake too. For paying only $75 and you get that much fun (including something almost like a demolition derby), I think it worth it.
I would like to thank all the instructors who helped out in the class. Larry, the lead instructor, Kent, Ken, Blita, Terry, and my friend Kathy, who got me involved into this program
I also like to say hi and thank you to my classmates, David, Adam, Brian, Kris, Randy.
Last updated on 2003/07/21 (pictures will be uploaded as soon as possible)
