Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On Your Mark…
So, first things first: every prospective cruiser should gain open-water experience. Like
many casual sailors, we tested the waters with a couple of charter vacations before setting
the bar higher. When we did, the two experiences that were most valuable to us were a
coastal skipper course and a week-long delivery we joined as crew.
Because we live in Europe, we chose a British RYA Coastal Skipper course (the rough
equivalent of ASA 106/108) in Gibraltar. Having completed the theoretical part of the
course at home, we could apply the knowledge in a real-life setting. It was a fantastic ex-
perience that packed a lot into one intense week, including overnight sailing in a heavily
trafficked area with significant tides. Those were lessons we drew directly upon years later
when we sailed our own boat through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Panama Canal, as
well as along the busy east coasts of North America and Australia. The course also whetted
our appetite for cruising because of the cultural variety of the area. We sailed from British
Gibraltar to Morocco and back over to Spain, taking the time to sample local culture along
the way.
We recommend looking for a course that takes place in tidal waters and includes night sail-
ing in long, open water stretches where there is significant shipping. The best way to get
your feet wet with such intimidating factors is having an experienced sailor hold your hand
- or act as a drill sergeant who demands that all maneuvers (especially those you'd rather
avoid) are repeated until you've got them down pat. Our instructor devoted a couple of
long mornings to docking maneuvers in quiet marinas, for example, and the white-knuckle
experience paid big dividends when we eventually cruised the Mediterranean on our own.
And as far as cost went, we found that liveaboard sailing courses aren't more expensive
than chartering since you share the boat with other students.
The second valuable experience we had was serving as crew on a delivery trip in the Medi-
terranean. For us, it was a test: could we actually handle and enjoy multi-night open-water
sailing over longer distances? Our ten-day trip from Malta to Mallorca via Sicily fit the bill
exactly. We found a charter company that offered crew berths on its delivery trips at very
low rates, with the added benefit of serving under a professional captain. Sailors based in
North America might find a similar experience by signing on to help with a return delivery
after one of the East Coast-to-Bermuda races. As things turned out for us, the weather was
awful and the delivery was rushed - the perfect test! Though we came away on shaky legs,
we learned that we really could handle round-the-clock watches in poor conditions and that
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