Offshore Sailing Course

This is the outline for the offshore sailing course, January 2013.

Session 1: Introduction

10jan2013 - mwall

 - outline of the course
 - experiences of each person in the course
 - types of boats - hulls, keels, sail plan, instruments
 - difference between racing, cruising, offshore racing, day sailing
 - season plan for x-dimension - races, crew requirements, crew selection
- boat
 - day sail boats vs racing boats vs offshore
 - hulls and keels
 - sail plans
 - skills needed for each type of racing
 - preparation needed for each type of racing

Session 2: Yacht Preparation

15jan2013 - mwall

- boat - enumerate variants, highlight x-dim, what fails, what spares to keep
 - steering mechanisms
 - engine
 - electrical systems
 - navigation systems
 - freshwater
 - septic
 - standing rigging
 - running rigging
- what tools are critical

Session 3: Life Aboard

17jan2013 - gigi, keith

- cooking
 - meal planning - examples of good, bad; sample meal plan for bvi
 - provisioning
 - how much per person?
 - how to cook with propane
 - living with limited refrigeration
- watch systems
- sleeping
- seasickness
- communications
 - into/out of port/harboar
 - with coast guard
 - with other vessels
 - during races
 - within the boat communication (e.g. skipper to foredeck when mooring)

Session 4: Weather

22jan2013 - steve

Useful Sources of Weather Information

NOAA National Maps: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/outlook_tab.php

NOAA Marine Forecast by Zone (Coastal): http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/east/boxmz.htm

Boston Harbor Marine Forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=anz230&syn=anz200

Passage Weather: http://www.passageweather.com

North Atlantic Weather Fax Charts: http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marsh.shtml

Gulf Stream and Offshore Weather: http://www.bermudarace.com/DefaultPermissions/LogisticsResources/tabid/202/Default.aspx

Session 5: Seamanship and Safety

24jan2013 - keith, scott

Article on Crew Overboard situations.

A starting point for an onboard medical kit.

Session 6: Racing

29jan2013 - fran, mlindblad

Session 7: Navigation

31jan2013 - steve

things to include in the course

safety

- how to deploy life raft
- types of life rafts
- how to heave to
- how/when to use sea anchor
- flares and when to use them
- epirb

life aboard

- how to deal with seasickness - different methods, what works, what does not
- cooking
  - sample meals (e.g. menu for a week in the bvi)
  - equipment - refrigeration
  - what food works, what does not
- provisioning

ports

- coming in to a new harbor/marina
- departure
- gunkholing

how to prepare for a trip

- day sail
- week-long cruise
- harbor race
- near-shore race
- off-shore race

racing

- rules
- tactics
- overview of various races we know we will do: halifax, figawi, wed evenings

weather

- general principles - wind before, wind after
- high pressure vs low pressure
- tracking the barometer
- clouds
- waves and wind - how much wind for x wave height, when whitecaps
- weather tracking services
- near-shore vs offshore
- contingencies

navigation

clothing and gear

- gloves
- spot locator, beacons
- personal floatation devices
- knives, other tools
- foul weather gear

first aid

- cpr
- broken bones
- breathing
- blood loss
- body temperature

boat locator site (eis info)

for each thing, enumerate general types, highlight x-dim specifics

Seamanship/Safety, including the following subsections: basic boat handling

- know your crew
- communication
- rules of the road and unwritten addendums
- lights and sound signals
- federally required and recommended safety equipment, PFDs, etc.
- distress signals 
- radio procedure
- purpose of EPIRB / PLB / AIS transmitter
- use of radar, radar reflector
- tides
- procedure in fog
- anchoring, med moor, appropriate ground tackle for holding grounds
- running aground, kedging
- docking in various wind conditions; use of docklines
- dangers of a lee shore
- safe galley procedure (probably goes with life on board)
- procedure when flooding / holed
- procedure when propeller fouled
- procedure when engine fails in various situations
- procedure when stay or rig compromised or lost
- procedure when cable steering lost / emergency tiller
- life rafts, how attached to vessel and deployed, hydrostatic release
- rendering assistance to vessels in distress
- clearing customs, flag etiquette, courtesy flags, Q flag, etc.
- shore power cables
- rafting at anchor
- towing a dinghy
- firefighting, likely sources of fire, use of bilge blower
- calculating range under power
- when to refuel; how much to leave in tank
- where/how to empty holding tank
- DC batteries, charging
- location/purpose of thru-hulls, seacocks, bungs

( break out into water environment for tides/currents/weather?) Sailboat handling (w/ emph on keelboats)

- know your crew , dealing with novice crew
- communication (e.g. what do I know, who needs to know it, do they know it)
- running/standing rigging 
- types of lines
- how to coil long lines
- heaving a line
- various knots and their uses
- correct winch operation, clearing an override
- wind, sails, heal, correct powering of boat, polars 
- boat balance
- use of jibe preventer
- how to depower the boat (traveler/vang/sheet/backstay/etc.)
- slab and furler reefing
- heaving to
- heavy weather and survival sailing, use of sea anchor, warps, etc.
- sailing a compass course
  for passages -
- sailing a compass course redux
- standing watch
- maintaining a DR
- log entries
- rest time (ear plugs and eye shades)

crew and boat safety

- planning (the float plan) (maybe this should be its own section)
- situational awareness
- communication (not just among crew but with other boats)
- be proactive
- risks to crew (going overboard, loosing a handhold, slipping, getting whacked by sails/boom/whisker pole, cotter pins, etc.)
- what to wear (shoes, foulies, hat, sunscreen, sailing gloves, etc.)
- use of harness / tether / jack line
- MOB/COB actions and mindset (never lose sight of COB, attach COB to boat)
- COB of conscious/unconscious crew, spiral search procedure
- stages and treatment of hypothermia / heat exhaustion / heatstroke
- seasickness
- checking boat systems
- identify and fix things before the become problems - worn lines, worn threads on sails, loose lifelines/stanchions 
- secure items on deck and below
- handy knife for cutting fouled lines
- boat taking on water
- preparing for a sea-tow
- preparing to be rescued by a helicopter
- personal responsibility