History: ASA 101, Introduction to Sailing

So I should have seen this coming after Vicky's first conversation with Captain George way back on our first cruise.  However it happened, in early July I found myself boarding a boat and taking Sailing 101.  This is normally taught on a small keelboat (like Augusta, which you'll see soon) with a tiller (rudder handle), but because we wanted to include my son, John, we held it on Captain George's 34' Bristol "Fore Wind".

ASA 101 is basically about explaining the really basic stuff... points of sail... basic sail trim... rules of navigation... docking... and safety.  In addition to the three of us, Diego and his wife (I forget her name) took the classes as well.  They are avid kayak folks and their kids gave them sailing lessons as a gift.

All of the instruction took place on the south east portion of Raritan Bay between the US Navy's EARLE facility and Sandy Hook, NJ.

A surprisingly large amount of time was spent docking and learning knots.

And we learned that sailing is rigorous stuff... exams were included!

As well as lots of time at the wheel...

Having passed the 101 (I got a perfect score... na na na na na na), we are now qualified to rent a small sailboat...