Well it is not really teaching the basics but.
We do most of our sailing two up (the wife and I ). I have been sailing all my life well since I was 4yo in a sabo though this is my first cruiser I have always raced. My wife is not really a water person but is really enjoying the Mottle funny though she hated the tasman I had previously. She gets sea sick but soldiers on and doesn't complain enjoys time away on the boat.
she knows how to sail but waits for instructions for example if I say to her is the genoa set right for example she will look at it and make adjustments. She knows how to skipper to tell tails she will even have a go at putting the ayso up.
now the problems I am having is to get her to where she will make the decisions for her self as in if we are doing a passage if I want to sleep. I have tried just sitting back and waiting for her to adjust something on her own simulating her being on watch alone. But the sails will end up flapping or we are heading in a completely wrong direction so I say something she will then fix it.
So how do I get her to do things off her own bat?
I know a lot of guy's would love to have their wives involved so I am lucky she is and is willing but I am at a loss as what to do .
I know exactly what you mean TD. My wife loves sailing and does most of the cleaning/painting/sewing
work. But she steers in circles and any operational decisions are completely out of her comfort zone.
However, like you, I feel lucky to have a wife who'll participate and enjoys a day out with me.
I can only suggest that you sail like a single hander while enjoying her company and letting her do what
she can do.
Sam
mine skippers well as I said she can sail to tell tails and knws how to trim sails she is capable of doing it and does each job separately just needs prompting when to do things.
Evening Twodogs,
I was not going to comment but having been a Sailing instructor/coach in another lifetime imho I think that if your wife could sail onboard another boat for a short time I would think her confidence would come ahead in leaps and bounds.
That said, please dont take that the wrong way.
The other option that might be worth exploring is to see if one of the local clubs has a sail famil' or a course at her current level running as they would "challenge" her to be proactive and involved as part of the crew, (again, hard to write what am trying to say without it being able to be taken 2 ways).
There are several ways to achieve what you are trying to do and hoping you find what you trying to achieve, but some people are just very good crews and happy in that role.
Just my thoughts
She sounds like shes pretty good!
I guess you gotta be a bit careful, cause you dont wanna upset her, or else she wont be so keen to go sailing.
She is good and knows what to do it's just getting her to make the decisions for her self.
We do have a private school at our club but it is more geared towards crews than skippers.
In the past when I have trained (not sailing ) I have always found getting the people doing it for them selves is the best method.
Maybe she needs to crew on a race boat to get some confidence without me there.
Twodogs, I got my GF to play hours and hours on a sailing racing simulator. She likes sailing and wanted to learn so I promised her a sail everytime she won a "simulator" racing series. Because the simulator I got is a racing one she (being competitive) very quickly learned when the best time is to tack and gybe and how to get to a mark quickest because she hated losing the races :-) She also learn t upwind, downwind, reaching and running and the starboard and upwind rules and giving room on buoys because the game incorporates those rules. At the beginning she got thrashed off the start because of being barged by boats on starboard so quickly learnt the rule and how to use it :-)
The transfer from screen to reality was quite successful. When she got on the boat she already knew she had a jib, main and spinnaker and wanted to know where they were how to actually operate them. She knew she would have tell tails and when the sails were hoisted she already knew what to do with them and how to trim with them. Although on the game you hoist and trim by clicking the mouse you can see the "tell tails" and watch your boat speed rise when the sail is trimmed better. She even knew 90 is east, 180 is south etc when she had no idea before. Switching from the game to our sailing she quickly realised instead of racing marks there is a destination or waypoint to get to the quickest and how to get there.
At the moment shes studying for power boat licence because its forcing her to learn navigation marks and basic rules.
I think learning sailing racing in someway is the way to go because it forces good sail trimming and watching the wind, fast effective seamanship onboard and forces one to learn the rules big time. A good racing skipper automatically becomes a good skipper.
The one I got was Virtual Skipper 5. Here
virtualskipper.com/
Its a bit old and the graphics aren't super hot but the sailing simulation is good for teaching.
There might be a need to get back to seat of the pants sailing. Dinghy sailing where there are immediate consequences for failing to retrim etc.
two dogs my wife and i have been sailing together for 30 years and is one of the better sailors i know capable of sailing any position on the boat doing nearly all maintenance jobs ( other than going up the mast ) enjoys cruising and still races . But if i died tomorrow she has repeatedly said she would give up sailing.The catch is though they love you lots that is why they are sailing not because they love sailing
I am envious of you lot that have a partner that enjoys their time on the boat as much as you do. Though I think there is a lot of truth in Boty's observation.
My better half enjoys being on the boat once we get to where we are going and she can relax. Sometimes I think, for her, a great day on the boat is ruined by having to sail there and back. She is actually quite capable but has no interest in learning the skills necessary to be a competent crew member or skipper.
In answer to twodogs original question - encouraging her to go sailing on other boats is quite a good idea. She may surprise herself with how much knowledge and skill she has compared to others and then feel more confident about applying those skills independently on her own boat. When she feels confident you could encourage her to take the boat out without you aboard. Get some friends together (preferably some with some sailing skill/knowledge) and she take them for a day sail. Again if she doesn't have you to defer to she may discover/realise just how competent she is.
If she is on Facebook a bit there is a group called Women Who Sail Australia. Great confidence booster and plenty with insightful knowledge too. Might be worth her looking at.
Select to expand quoteanimusmh12 said...
If she is on Facebook a bit there is a group called Women Who Sail Australia. Great confidence booster and plenty with insightful knowledge too. Might be worth her looking at.
Yeah she is on that.
We sailed up to the harbour from botany bay today 20 knts offshore and a very powerful 2.5+m southerly swell and the bride helmed the whole way up. She did really well reading the swell hitting over 10 knts surfing. She is very chuffed with herself a little sore and tired but big smile.
Yay the mighty Mottle 33 
Without entering into "how big the fish was that I nearly caught" when I had my Mottle we got glimpses of 12kts surfing down the waves like you did. A real buzz. With #1 and no main. Very important not to broach though.
Believe it or not it is better balanced with some mainsail up as well. The main sail does help to stop broaching.
we hit the speeds your talking about last year but it was 30+knts reefed mainsail and partially furled headsail bug blast when it flattens out with plums of spray coming out each side of the bow.
