Chapter 5 - Preparing to Cruise - Part 1, ASA 105/106

Making the decision to cruise (i.e. live aboard a sail boat on the ocean) set so many things in motion. See Chapter 4 on how the initial commitment created a state of overwhelm. Then clarity started to come, or at least next steps. A lot has happened since the Chapter 4 post.

First, I started reading the Art of Seamanship. It breaks all the things I need to learn into bite size chunks. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through but so far there hasn't been anything I didn't understand in the book. I've also been able to weave bits and pieces into my classes and that helps reinforce the knowledge in incremental portions.

I signed up for a 205-206 class in March of 2023 and flew back to the northwest for that weekend class. It was more of a box checking exercise than anything. Since then I taught a 10 day Advanced Coastal Cruising 105-106 class and that was game changing. New skills there were:

• Being out for 10 days versus 7 with a class.
• Night sailing and navigating with radar.
• Flying a spinnaker.
• Crossed the Strait of San Juan de Fuca as a Captain in 20-25 kt winds.
• Rigged a preventer
• Used jack lines and tethers
• Reviewing and answering questions regarding the Coastal Navigation 105 class.

The whole class went off without a hitch. I had done all of these things before, but never taught them. It was a bonus to do this on my boat Ardent. Spending 10 days on her was a dream. Squalicum Marine had just installed a new dodger and being able to see through the dodger glass (the old one was pretty scratched up) and that too was a very different experience.

Before I teach these two classes again there are a couple places I really need to enhance my skills:

• Use of radar
• Actually teach the 105 portion of the class. Students are on the hook to study and take the exam before they show up, but I should still be able to better answer their questions.