| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2109.1 | RPCS Sailing Lessons | BLUFSH::REED | | Wed Feb 09 1994 17:15 | 30 |
| I think the Regatta Point Community Sailing program (RPCS) may be
covered somewhere else, but here are my 2-cents worth in any case.
RPCS is part of Quinsigamond State Park and opens up around the
middle or end of April. They do not rent boats. Basically, they
have 4-week, 9-week, and full-season memberships. Instruction and
use of the boats is free to members, although a lot of us members
have become volunteer instructors because of funding cutbacks.
Their instruction is very methodical and safety oriented and you
can be out solo on the water in a 17-foot O'day daysailer in about
four or five 1-hour lessons. I can't give you any 1994 specifics but
I can mail you the 1993 brochure if you send me your mailstop or DTN
at BLUFSH::REED or LEZAH::REED
This summer will be my fifth year sailing there, and there are any
numbers of options for owning your own sailboat. The Sunfish is
nice but a friend of mine has a Snark that he really likes. It's
bigger and heavier but is car-top carriable and is good for taking
out guests or kids.
There is a lot more to sailing than meets the eye, so what I would
suggest is to maybe take a few lessons and learn all you can before
buying a boat. One of their rules is that children under 18 must
wear a lifejacket. This is also a standard rule for friends of mine
who are power boaters. If the lake gets a little rough, the adults
put theirs on too.
Regards,
Ed
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| 2109.2 | Used sailboats don't depreciate like power or cars | UNIFIX::FRENCH | Bill French 381-1859 | Wed Feb 09 1994 19:13 | 10 |
| If you are interested in buying a boat, definitely consider a used one.
Sailboats don't need to be junk because they have a few years on them.
If you are careful about what you buy, you should be able to sell it
for almost as much at a later time if you decide to either give up
sailing or move up to a bigger boat. There are plenty of us who can
give you advice and answer qustions. I for one would be happy to when
I am not quite so busy. Send mail if you want to chat some lunch hour.
Bill
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| 2109.3 | Small sailboats and lessons | CFSCTC::CLAFLIN | | Thu Feb 10 1994 19:30 | 31 |
| What I have to say compliments the first two notes.
From my limited experience the Daysailer is a good boat. My cousin sails his
on a regular basis out of Woods Hole, (in conditions beyond my skill). It gives
good performance and has yet to dunk me in the drink.
I considered the sail club at Quinsigamund. My reasons for declining have
nothing to do with the program. Except for the fact that I have just purchased
my new pride and joy, I would seriously consider them if only due to the easy
access. They used to have reciproprosity with the Lowell club and the Charles
River club.
My birthday present to Amy was a sailing course of her choice from WOMANSHIP.
WOMANSHIP is geared towards bigger boats and coastal cruising.
Vis a vie the Daysailer and a Sailfish. The Daysailer needs a light trailer.
The Sailfish could be put on a car top. Both are light enough to be moved by
any car. The Sailfish is a slightly wetter ride than a Sunfish. There were
a couple of differnt models of the Daysailer made, and by at least two differnt
companies (Daysailer?, O'Day).
A house in Boxborough had a Daysailer for sale last year or the year before.
When I walked by the other day, it was still in his yard. I do not think it has
been in the water for a couple of years. If you are interested, I'll go knock
on the door some time and find out who they are etc. However, especailly since
it is the same boat as used at Quinsigamund, I would join the club for a while
first.
Doug Claflin
dtn 244-7042
hm 508 635-0460
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| 2109.4 | Thanks and another question | JUMP4::JOY | Perception is reality | Fri Feb 11 1994 14:28 | 17 |
| Thanks for all the input both off line and in here. So far it sounds
like I really need to do some sailing before I think about buying
something.
Re: .-1 Does a boat being out of the water for a couple years make it
more likely to have problems with leaking, etc? We have a dock so the
boat would stay tied to that for the season once I get one, so at least
initially I won't worry about moving it around much (except to get it
to the lake when I buy it).
Can anyone recommend a good magazine on sailing that I can use to get a
feeling for sizes, capacities, etc? I really have no clue about
reasonable lengths or sail sizes or anything.
Thanks
Debbie
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| 2109.5 | Small is fun | SANDZ::WAGNER | Scott | Fri Feb 11 1994 15:38 | 23 |
| 2109.6 | | STARCH::HAGERMAN | Flames to /dev/null | Fri Feb 11 1994 18:03 | 13 |
| Another plug for the program at RPCS; the people there are both
friendly and extremely knowledgeable. The experience level and
expertise available is quite high--well beyond what is actually needed
to get a sailboat to move through the water.
My experience was that I bought a Laser before I joined RPCS, and after
a year of thrashing around I joined to take some sailing lessons. Their
racing program caught my interest and frankly, knowing what I know now,
I probably shouldn't have bought the Laser in the first place. After a
summer of sailing down there you will be much better able to judge what
you want in a boat...
Doug.
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| 2109.7 | Out of the water is good. Out of the sun is better. | UNIFIX::FRENCH | Bill French 381-1859 | Fri Feb 11 1994 20:08 | 9 |
| A boat will deteriorate out of the water if it is made of wood.
Fibreglass will deteriorate a lot less, and the only big factor is not
that it is left out of the water but that it is left out in the
sunshine. UV rays deteriorate almost everything. Some things faster
than others. Sails especially should not be left in the sun more than
necessary.
Bill
|