Another Youth Sailboat Course at Highland Yacht Club

The week of 18 July to 22 July was spent at the Scarborough Bluffs Park and hosted at the Highland Yacht Club. A lot of firsts this time with HYC via a Start Keelboat Sailing course to 5 sailors through National One Design Sailing Academy on one of our Zhik Flying Tiger 7.5 metre boats.

Some of the Neat Boat Houses at Sacrborough Bluffs

The Boat Basin at HYC

Day 1

We spent the day getting to know the boat, its layout, safety equipment and what all of its parts were called. After that we did a bit a bit of maneuvering under power until it became evident that the wind was too strong to maintain control of the boat. I tried 3 times to turn the boat around and to get back to the dock.

Rigging the Boat for Departure

After lunch it was a series of chalk talks on various topics to get ready for the rest of the week on the water.

Can't Wait for the Next Chalk Talk!

Day 2

The morning session on the water had us with some good wind. The kids enjoyed the sail, especially the heeling while sailing close hauled - at least some did. We did mostly tacking drills.

Cool and Relaxed as a Cucumber!

The afternoon session was more variable with a light wind that came and went. It was the first introduction to bobbing on the water.

Sailing Like a Pro!

Day 3

Between some chalk talks we had some good steady winds. After some easy gybes in the morning, we did complete sailing circles in the afternoon. Everyone did really well.

Keeping a Good Eye on the Windex

Day 4

Today's morning session gave us a chance at doing a number of crew overboard maneuvers. We only missed on the first attempt once, every other time was done on the first go round. Well done!

The afternoon brought us some stronger winds and with low battery charges we ended up returning to dock instead of going out. It was just as well because the kids really enjoyed the rest of the afternoon doing chalk talks on various topics in support of the Basic Cruising exam that they would be writing on Friday - not!

The Local Swan Family

Day 5

It seemed like a deja-vu moment but on leaving the boat harbour through the channel - we touched bottom and got stuck momentarily - just like at ABYC. We were firmly within the buoyed channel and unlike ABYC we all felt the touch down. We throttled the engine up and forward while all getting onto the port side of the boat and moments later we were free and moving forward. Another great lesson.

I Really Like This Boat at BPYC - What is It?

Between tacks, reaches and some great last session sailing - everyone had a turn at the helm - we also did a heave-to maneuver - just to show how it was done. Really neat right?

The Bow was the Preferred Spot at Times

After lunch it was the best time of the whole week - not, again!

We reviewed our SKS Workbooks together and then some wrote the PCOC exam, after that even more fun in writing the Basic Cruising exam. Can't wait to come back next year!

De-rigging the Boat

I think everyone made some good progress over the week, we had good sailing winds pretty much the whole week, and everyone had good exposure to what sailing is all about.

Thanks to the Highland Yacht Club

1D Youth Keelboat Sailing at Ashbridge's Bay Yacht Club

The week of 4 July to 8 July was spent instructing six 13 to 17 year olds on Start Keelboat, Basic Crew and Basic Cruising on behalf of National One Design Sailing Academy.

Boat Basin at ABYC

The crew consisted of...

Crew 'A'
- Dabinaire Dan
- Close Hauled Jake
- The Big 'D' Devan - Skipper

Crew 'B'
- I Don't Want To Do It Madi
- Crash Jessie Crash
- Cannonball Jack - Skipper

We had two separate crews where everyone rotated through all roles including Helm, Mainsail Trimmer and Foresail Trimmer. When not on watch, the relief crew listened carefully, learned from the other crew or sprang into action to help out as required!
 
The winds were fairly light all week but we got a good amount of sailing in on top of a couple of chalk talks on various topics everyday. The photos following seem to catch mostly ashore fun stuff but I can assure that a lot of quality time was spent on the water running various points of sail, crew overboard drills and heaving to with reefing and shaking out of the main sail.

Rigging the Boat for Departure From the Slip

On Wednesday, Day 3, we had a real life lesson on going aground when we touched bottom and got stuck in the mud as we left the boat slip basin of ABYC. It was a fairly gentle grounding as we did not feel anything other than to notice after a while that we were not moving anywhere at all. So now it was lesson time - how do we free the boat from the mud. First thing we did was to try and reverse out with just the engine. This did not get us anywhere as the engine (electric) is not that strong. Next thing we did was to put all of our bodies on the port side and start to heel the boat in that direction with our combined body weight (where was Jack when we needed him?) and applying reverse to the engine. After a bit the boat started to move and slowly but surely we were out of the mud. A great learning experience indeed.

A Well Deserved Lunch Break

On Thursday, Day 4, we were exposed to weather monitoring and application of storm watching. As we left ABYC, we noticed the buildup of clouds over the City and it was pointed out that we should keep an eye on this and not go too far out so that a quick return would be possible if required. After about 20 minutes the sky started to darken, I took a quick look at the radar web site and saw a t-storm cell coming our way. So a quick turnaround, dropping of the sails and return to the slip brought us back in time to hear a few thunder claps as we entered the boat basin and we enjoyed a bit of a downpour after having de-rigged and snugged up the boat. Another great real life lesson.

We spent the rest of the afternoon goofing off - washing down the boat and a quick swim in the inner Ashbridge's Bay - a good time was had by all, especially cleaning of the bat in the rain. I couldn't get anyone to stop!

Boat Cleaning In The Rain

The Cheeriest Boat Cleaning I Have Ever Seen

He Just Wouldn't Stop!

Goofing Off Time on the Dock

On Friday, Day 5 we did a bit of a sail first thing with a nice wind before pulling back into the Bay for an anchoring session after which everyone except Madi went into the drink for a brief swim. Before leaving the dock as we were rigging the boat we got a scuba diving lesson from Jessie as she was very keen to show us how her phone could survive a dunking into the water at our boat slip. She was very brave to go in and also very polite to ask if it was okay to do so. The phone seems to have survived.

The afternoon was spent doing workbooks, writing the Basic Cruising and PCOC exams - everyone did very well.

It is safe to say that everyone (including me) had a lot of fun and learned a lot about sailing.

Congrats to all of these new sailors!