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(no email)
Date: Mon Mar 20 2006 - 10:57:20 EST
Sharon,
Here is some of my experience with preparation for cruising.
I also took basic sailing and boat-handling classes before I set out and
think they're very helpful. You want to know rules of the road, how tides
work, and especially how to navigate. Your plan to practice boat handling
and take some sailing lessons is good.
I also got my general ham license and find it very helpful - it allows you
to use winlink with your ham radio for email as well as be able to talk on
ham nets (especially handy on weather nets when you want to ask about
weather for your area or get a repeat). So if either of these are appealing
to you, I would move "get general license" up near the top of your list.
Only one person on the boat needs to bother getting the general license
however, in order to use it on your boat. There is continued talk that the
morse code requirement may be removed from the general license but it hasn't
happened yet, so I'd just bite the bullet and go get the ham license now
rather than wait.
Personally, I'd move celestial navigation down the list unless it's a strong
personal interest of yours. It may come in handy at some time, but I have
yet to use in years of cruising and our sextant is buried deep on the boat.
One thing you might consider is taking a weather course. The more you know
about weather the better. Sure, there are weather forecasts but the more you
understand about weather systems and reading weather products such as
weatherfax, the better off you'll be. Being able to make good decisions
about when to travel make such a difference when you are out cruising, and
really it's up to you and your captain. That said, I haven't taken a weather
course myself, but I would like to, because in years of cruising, I still
wish I understood weather better. There are weather courses out there
designed specifically for boaters.
I agree with those who mentioned learning some Spanish or French (depending
on where you plan to cruise). Certainly if you plan to spend some time in
Mexico or Central America, you will find that some knowledge of Spanish
makes your cruising there much more comfortable and rewarding. Some French
is useful if you're heading soon to the South Pacific, etc.
I don't know how much language background you have but if you find a good
local class, you might actually take a class to give you a foundation in the
language. If you do take a class, though, I always believe in putting in a
little extra work to make sure that the class meets your needs. Let the
teacher know why you want to know Spanish and take every opportunity in the
class to use words and situations relevant to boating. Most Spanish teachers
aren't boaters however so it is helpful to bring a boater's "Spanish phrase
book" with you to talk to the teacher so that they will know the types of
vocabulary that is relevant to boaters. Then as you cruise in Mexico you can
sign up for Spanish lessons in port (or find an "informal" Spanish teacher)
and increase your skills. OK, I must admit that I have a bias toward
learning some language for cruising - I believe in it so much that I wrote
the books "Spanish for Cruisers" and "French for Cruisers" while out
cruising myself -- but you will find that the locals will really appreciate
your attempts to speak some Spanish (it's perfectly ok to mangle the
language).
If you were on the East coast, I would suggest that you try to attend the
Seven Seas Cruising Association annual convention held each November in
Melbourne, Florida. There are tons of seminars held during three days and
it's a terrific way to learn a lot about cruising in a short time (plus meet
a lot of other cruisers). SSCA get-togethers are held in other locations
during the year - some of these include seminars too so you might check into
that. And the Seven Seas monthly bulletin is a great source of cruising info
if you haven't discovered it already (ssca.org).
Finally, I had always intended to take an advanced first aid course but
never got around to it (I do keep up CPR training though). It would be handy
and again, I know there are courses specifically oriented to boaters.
See you out there - all the best,
Kathy Parsons
www.forcruisers.com
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