Mike and I decided to take our first sailing lesson on a Catamaran because that's what we want to sail in the future. We took the class from Blue Water Sailing School and it was a 7 day live aboard course by the American Sailing Association.
Day 1
Saturday, we arrive at the Ft. Lauderdale marina and put our luggage on the catamaran. We had two roommates that were taking the course as well. They were two brothers that had some sailing experience and they were lots of fun.
Day 2
Sunday, we met the instructor, decided our menu for the week and set sail. We immediately started sailing the catamaran. It was not all smooth sailing though. It was raining and pretty windy so we had to motor for most of the way from Ft. Lauderdale to Port of Miami. We also found out that the porthole in our cabin was leaking onto the berth. In between rain storms, Mike and the roommates had to take masking tape to tape over the exterior of the portholes. It worked pretty good to keep us dry. We had to put plastic trash bags over the mattress and pillows, then a blanket over that just so we could sleep on the berth. In case you're wondering, one of the roommates had a worse leak and he was sleeping in the salon. There was no generator on the catamaran so we had no air conditioning. During the rain, trying to sleep with the portholes closed was really hard. Everyone on the catamaran had to sleep with their doors open to try to get the air to ventilate. It was a new experience.
Day 3
Monday, we were able to do more sailing practice because the storms didn't appear until later in the day. However, they were pretty bad and we learned how to heave to and hang out in the ocean during bad storms. There were two storms back to back and with so much rain we had to furl the jib. We were soaked to the bone. We bought what we thought was rain gear, but we learned very quickly that it wasn't. Once the storms past us we were able to get some good sailing lessons in and we learned to tack and jibe, how to get the sail into the various sail positions, what to do if in the irons. Each one of us students managed to get the catamaran stuck in the irons. Part of the adventure of learning to sail. Once the day was over, we were exhausted and hungry. We had dinner and waited for the next storm that was heading our way.
Day 4
Tuesday, we started the day with our first test, the ASA 101 and after the test, we got to work. The weather was much better and we got a lot of practice with the jib, the sail, learning knots, and we were learning to read charts. We also as a team of four were getting very comfortable with delegating duties as needed when we were at the helm. This was a good day. We anchored for the night in a protected cove that was surrounded by gorgeous homes and even got a beautiful sunset.
Day 5
Wednesday, we started the day with our second test, the ASA 103. Once again, after the test, we set to work. We learned how to retrieve a man overboard and we did more practice with tacking and jibing. We also were given the task as a team to plot our position and our next destination for docking. This was the first day that the instructor left everything to us. She was always around to help, but we had to make all of the decisions, running fixes on the chart, using the gps and depth gage to guide us. It was exciting but scary at the same time. We were all nervous but we did it. We anchored in Coconut Grove and celebrated the day with a little wine, a nice sunset and some good music.
Day 6
Thursday started with our third test, the ASA 114. We started working as soon as the test was over. We were feeling more comfortable with controlling the catamaran and handling the sails. We sailed to Boca Chita Key to practice turning and docking the catamaran. This was the first sunny day and it was gorgeous. We then set sail back to Ft. Lauderdale. While we were back in the Port of Miami, I almost got us creamed between a large cargo ship and a ferry ship. It was very nerve wracking to be in the port with such large ships and no exact lanes to be in. They were blowing their horns at me, and probably laughing. The instructor was letting me figure out how to get us out of this situation but I finally asked for help and she told me the best way to get out of both of their ways and I'm happy to say we survived without damage.
Day 7
Friday began with our final test, ASA 104. Once the test was completed, were now certified in four ASA certifications. Now we just have to get a lot of practice in to prepare for the next chapter in our lives.
