by calden » Thu Feb 02, 2006 12:09 pm
Jordan:
I'm in much the same position as you. I've sailed for several summers in a little tiny Sunfish on a small mountain lake, teaching myself some technique. Although this sounds very limiting, I've gained a real seat-of-the-pants approach to feeling wind and heel and sheet and tiller and hiking out, totally from the ground up. I bought a Daysailer last fall and due to various complications have not sailed it yet. Waiting for Spring!!!
I second Seasick's advice to attend a sailing school or at least a class or two - you can get up to speed much faster than I did in the Sunfish.
I've checked out every book in our local library system about sailing. Any book will be sufficient, but there are a couple that are very readable and very clear. The problem with sailing books is that SO MUCH of sailing is done by feel - wind, gravity, waves, balance, sheet tension - that learning about sailing from a book is like learning piano technique from a description of music theory.
First book is THe Complete Sailor by David Seidman. It's a good introduction to all things sailing, has good pictures, and has the clearest explanation of heaving-to that I've seen in a book yet. I would recommend buying it now. It's something you'll always have in a library.
The second is about dealing with boat repair and maintenance. If you buy a used DS you'll need to know about refinishing wood, fixing fiberglass, painting, attaching various doodads to the mast and boom, etc. etc. It's part of the fun. So go look at This Old Boat by Don Casey. It's well written with a LOT of humor, and is encyclopedic in scope. The drawings and diagrams are crude, almost childilke, but sufficient and oddly add to the charm of his writing.
If you only read these two books and no others (well, also buy ROger Conrad's DS-specific manual - - he's on this forum) you'd learn a lot about sailing and owning a boat, and wouldn't need to get anything else for a long time.
My opinion only, hope it helps.
Carlos
DS I #1653