Lake St. Clair Sailing School Blog

What are the responsibilities of a Crew?

The Crew Responsibilities The crew’s primary responsibility is to follow the skipper’s orders for the safe operation of the boat. Even if a crew is made up of family members, including children, the skipper needs to establish order for the sake of safety. Navigator Checks weather forecasts, plan sailing routes and courses, and monitors the boat’s position under way. Helmsman Steers the boat to the courses supplied by the navigator. Trimmer Supervises sail trim to suit the course being steered. Dinghy Captain Ensure the dinghy is clean, dry, inflated, fueled, and equipped with safety gear and that it’s properly secured at all times.

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June 5, 2022

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Sailing Classes

Benefits of learning how to Sail

Why learn to Sail? So a friend took me out for a sail, and I caught the sailing bug? I joined a sailing school and learnt how to sail. Sailing is an amazing sports and here is why you should introduce sailing your children and friends. The following are a list of benefits of sailing and what you can learn from it. Benefits of learning sailing 1. Ability to take the risk Those sailors who are learning to sail or like to be involved in boat racing are more prone to develop a risk taking nature and become comfortable with it over the years. Such sailors quickly understand that taking risks always brings…

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May 16, 2022

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Benefits of sailing Lake St. Clair Sailing School. Michigan

Sailing Classes

Checklist Before You Set Sail

Everything needs maintenance. It is essential to check your sailboat and make sure you have a set of spare parts before you cast away. The following is a checklist that you need to do or have before you set sail Sailing List It is important to check the location and condition of Thru-Hull fittings. Also check of the seacocks are operating properly. Check if the Thru-Hull plus are attached to each seacock. Make sure you have two or three spare hose clamps on board in case of an emergency.Check Bilge pump and make sure they are operational. make sure they are Clean and Dry. Bilges Are Clean and Dry.Check the rails, grab the…

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May 13, 2022

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Checklist before you set sail. Lake St. Clair Sailing School. Michigan

Sailing Classes / Sailing Terms

How to Trim Mainsail to Make your Sailboat Go Faster!

When we look to trimming our mainsail, we really do need to understand the principles of sail twist and why sail twist is so important. As your boat sails along, the wind hitting the top of the sail is a little bit stronger than the wind hitting the bottom of the sail. For this reason, the top of the sail needs to be slightly looser than the bottom. This is where sail twist comes in. By using the mainsheet, the traveller, and the vang, depending on the point of sail, we can get air to move smoothly and drive the boat across all points of that mainsail. This will lead you to have…

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March 11, 2022

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Test preparation

ASA 104 Test Prep Guide

ASA 104 practice test List four items that, when you are packing for your charter, should be packed in carry-on luggage rather than checked baggage: 1 .__________ 2.__________ 3. __________ 4. __________ 1. Passport 2. Credit/Debit Card, 3. Charter/Provisioning documents 4. Prescription Medications, 5. Change of clothing Most cruising boats have at least two bilge pumps. The __________ pump is powered by the battery (activated when the float switch senses water in the bilge), and the __________ pump is operated by hand. Automatic, Manual After first determining that the dock's freshwater supply is __________ fill a cruising sailboats freshwater tank through the __________ __________. Safe, Deck Plate A freshwater pump cycling on and…

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September 20, 2021

Test preparation

ASA 101 Practice

QUESTIONANSWERThe fastest way to change the sail's power its to change its _______ to the _______.Angle; WindThe shape of the mainsail may be changed by adjusting tension in the edges of the sail. match the sail control with the edge of the sail it effects:Outhaul; FootThe shape of the mainsail may be changed by adjusting tension in the edges of the sail. match the sail control with the edge of the sail it effects:Halyard; Downhaul; Cunningham; LuffThe shape of the mainsail may be changed by adjusting tension in the edges of the sail. match the sail control with the edge of the sail it effects:Boom Vang; LeechThe outhaul changes the depth of the…

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September 20, 2021

Sailing Classes

Where Can I Buy ASA Sailing Books?

How to buy ASA books? ASA sailing books are available and can easily bought. Hard Copy ASA Sailing books Order a hard copy from ASA Store Or from ASA on Amazon From Lake St. Clair Sailing School. Email lscsailingschool@gmail.com and we will send you the books you need. Read ASA 101 "Sailing Made Easy" online You can buy it on apple store https://books.apple.com/us/book/sailing-made-easy/id1090161781You can buy it on Google Play Click here Prepare yourself for ASA 101: ASA 101 Quizzes This is totally optional. In order to get familiar with sailing lingo and basic ASA 101 sailing terms, Test yourself with any of those links. https://asa.com/quiz/get-started/https://asa.com/quiz/get-started/https://www.studystack.com/flashcard-2265613https://quizlet.com/514826311/asa-101-practice-test-diagram/

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September 3, 2021

Sailing Education / Sailing Lessons

Learn to Sail Our Step by Step Guide

How to Sail Welcome to learning to sail. When people take up sailing, they often have three misconceptions. They think it's gonna be expensive. It isn’t. People think it's elitist. Certainly not elitist. Or people think it's gonna be difficult. Well, I assure you it's not. Let me show you how easy it actually is. Let's go sailing. Let’s start with people get a little stressed about the names of everything on the boat and the language that goes with the sea. Well, good news there is, learn the practical skills first, the names, and everything that will follow later. So why should you consider sailing? Firstly, and most importantly, sailing is fun. Whether you're skimming along in your dinghy or sailing and cruising…

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September 1, 2021

Read more about the article Learn to Sail Our Step by Step Guide

Captain Ron

Test preparation

ASA 101 – Basic Keelboat Sailing Test Prep Guide

Write the term defined Knot used to tie a line to a piling. Amidships supports for the lifelines. Forestay, backstay, shrouds, etc. The weighted fin at the bottom of the boat. The back lower corner of a sail. Sailing approximately 90 degrees across the wind. Line which raises the boom to a desired height. The vertical pole that supports the sails. The distance from the waterline to the bottom of the keel. The right side of the boat. _ Match the word on the left to a definition on the right Boom Battens Mast Masthead Fly Cabin The spar at the bottom of the mainsail The vertical pole that supports the sails Plastic supports in pockets in a sail …

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September 1, 2021

Sailing Classes / Test preparation

ASA 103 Test Prep Guide

ASA 103 Test Prep Guide In order to properly prepare for this course make sure that you know the entire text enough to confidently answer the review questions at the end of each chapter Pages 112 & 113 What is the definition of a sounding? What are the three main units that soundings are measured in? How many feet are in a fathom? Page 113 What is latitude? What is longitude? What is one degree of latitude equal to? One nautical mile is the equivalent to of latitude? Page 91 What is the most aft storage compartment of a sailboat? What is the lowest part of the interior of the boat? What is the main reason that…

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September 1, 2021