Imagine drinking your first coffee if the day on a sunny deck of a beautiful sailboat and eating breakfast as you anchor up in the turquoise bay at the shore of a pine forest. Imagine having a hotel room on the open sea where your neighbors are dolphins. The good news is: sailing is for everyone. So don’t worry if you’re not an experienced sailor. We are all in this together. Sailing is a combination of active vacationing and cruising, where you move the boat with the power of the wind and with optimum use of the engine. At Boatsetter, we’ve compiled our beginners guide to sailing and we hope you enjoy it as much as we have. So, let’s get you ready for the most wonderful sailing adventure of your life!
If you have just started your first sailing adventure, there are a few useful terms that can be used to give you a better overview of the sailing grounds you need to get acquainted with. The best way to gain sailing experience is of course by practicing sailing and you can always rent a sailboat with a crew who can teach you. Before you set sail, you should know the difference between leeward and windward and what tacking is. Windward refers to the upward direction of the wind, and leeward is the downward direction of the wind. It’s also essential to know that the port is the front and center part of the boat and starboard is front and right. If you rent a sailboat and hire the right captain, you can practice all these terms straight away while learning how to sail.
After the basic terms, there are basic parts of the boat that you must know. Here are the most common boat parts and terms. The stern is the back of a boat while the bow is the front. The jib is the triangular sail at the foremast of the vessel and a mast is a tall vertical spar that supports all the sails. The rudder is used when you steer the boat through the water. There is also a part called boom, and it keeps the sails flatter when at an angle from the centerline of the boat.
Knots are essential in sailing and if you hadn’t played with tying the knots when you were a child, you can start practicing now. The bowline is one of the most useful knots in the sailing world. It is commonly used as it secures the sheets to the clew of a headsail. Perhaps this sounds like something complicated, but practice makes perfect and easier than it seems. When it comes to learning how to sail with Boatsetter, our experienced crew will assist you with and you’ll be an avid knot maker in no time!
If you wanted to know how to rent a boat, we can help with that endeavor as well. And if you want to know how to sail a boat, here are some proven tips and tricks for beginners. First, arm yourself with a lot of patience. A sailboat requires attention and love, and practice will lead you where you want to be. You will use a tiller to maneuver a sailboat, so you may get confused at first because if you move a tiller to the right, the boat will go to the left. All you need is patience and practice, and steering a boat will soon become smooth sailing. We wish you calm and steady winds!