by Bob Hunkins » Thu Jan 13, 2000 1:00 am
I'd have to add my vote for no motor also. I started sailing in Clear Lake, TX, like J.T. did...(BTW, J.T. are you still in the area??) and learned how to sail up and down the narrow channel (probably the same one JT did), used a paddle to get out of tight spots or to fend off. I wanted to go out in to Galveston Bay, so I bought an old, noisy smelly British Seagull, and used it about three or four times.... The smell, the spilt oily Gasoline mix that is inevitable, the noise, did I mention the smell?... It just wasn't worth it. I found I wasn't sailing as much as I had been, that's when I found a sailing club to join and got to know others in the area with the same interest. That really kept the sport alive for me. I ended up getting into racing and now that's what I like the most about sailing. The occasional day sail still happens, though.
In short: find an area where it's relatively safe to sail you won't get get swept out to sea by the tide or run over by ships in a channel. Take paddles, and choose the days to go - if the weather is bad, don't push it, there will be other days. Go with a friend, (at least at first) take all the recommended safety equipment. Practice approaching an object on the water, like a buoy. When you can get close enough to it to step off onto it, you can do the same thing with a dock. Be patient, the first time I tried to dock my boat singlehanded, it took me about five or six tries. but it got easier each time as I learned how the boat behaved.