Sailing Education at WoodenBoat School: Craft of Sail Curriculum

This summer, I taught Craft of Sail at the WoodenBoat School aboard the 40′ Sparkman & Stephens yawl “Nora.” In case you’re considering taking this course next year, I want to present the outline I use for teaching the class. This way, you have an idea of what skills will be presented. You’ll know what maneuvers you will perform and what knots you will tie. As you can imagine, the weather dictated our schedule. We covered some items earlier or later than planned due to fog, light wind, heavy winds, and rain.

Day 1

AM Boat familiarization

1. Location of all safety equipment, CFR: sound producing device, flares, type IV, why 1st aid kit not required, fire extinguishers, fire port, vhf, pfd’s, running lights, MOB items
2. Systems brief: bow to stern below decks: thru hulls, bilge pump, bleeding control kit, transducer, batteries, circuit breakers, electrical panel, water system, marine toilet, engine checks, fuel shutoff, all alarms, fuel, hatches, companionway, stowage
3. Systems brief: bow to stern above decks: anchor, windlass, steering, emergency tiller, engine controls, instruments, windlass, 
4. New Captain Checklist
5. Location of all halyards and sheets – trial raise and lower sails on mooring.
6. Locations of all outhauls, downhauls, tweakers, blocks, tackle, leach lines, bolt rope
7. Lunch and weather discussion, right-of-way discussion, man overboard discussion, sound signals, current, tides

PM Sailing – weather permitting

1. Getting underway checklist by student
2. Depart mooring
3. Tacks – rotate positions – at least four times at each 
4. Gybes – rotate positions – at least four times at each
5. Return to mooring
6. Putting the boat to bed

Debrief

1. What went well, what needs work
2. Plans for tomorrow

Day 2

AM Navigation

1. Latitude, Longitude, 
2. Plotting points, 
3. Plotting courses, compass directions
4. Measuring distances, bearings
5. Time, Speed, Distance computations
6. Ded reckoning, fixes, set and drift
7. Create proposed practice triangle course for afternoon
8. Points of sail
9. Sail trim
10. Lunch and weather discussion

PM Sailing – weather permitting

1. Weather Brief by student
2. Safety Brief by student
3. Naviguessing by student
4. Getting underway checklist by student
5. Depart mooring
6. Sailing a prescribed triangle course, as many points of sail as possible
7. Each act as skipper with appropriate commands
8. Man overboard under sail
9. Planned anchoring
10. Man overboard under power
11. Emergency anchoring – engine quits – full drill
12. Return to mooring
13. Putting the boat to bed

Debrief

1. What went well, what needs work, how to accomplish authentic assessments
2. Plans for tomorrow

Day 3

AM VHF Radio

1. Radio proficiency practice
2. Practice Securite, Pan Pan, Mayday from scripts
3. Locate weather on vhf
4. Emergency – fire – full drill
5. Emergency – high water alarm – full drill 
6. Engine troubleshooting basics

PM Sailing – weather permitting

1. Weather Brief by student
2. Safety Brief by student
3. Naviguessing by student
4. Getting underway checklist by student
5. Set and test an anchor watch
6. Depart mooring
7. Sailing a longer voyage
8. Each act as skipper with appropriate commands
9. Emergency steering – steering fails – no autopilot – full drill
10. Return to mooring
11. Putting the boat to bed

Debrief

1. What went well, what needs work, 
2. Plans for tomorrow

Day 4

AM Rules of the Road Drill Down

1. Starboard vs Port
2. Windward vs Leeward
3. Hierarchy of right-of-ways
4. Emergency – marine toilet situations
5. Reefing, heaving to, drogues

PM Sailing – weather permitting

1. Weather Brief by student
2. Safety Brief by student
3. Naviguessing by student
4. Getting underway checklist by student
5. Depart mooring
6. Sailing a prescribed course
7. Each act as skipper with appropriate commands
8. Emergency sailing – engine quits – full drill
9. Reefing drill
10. Return to mooring
11. Putting the boat to bed

Debrief

1. What went well, what needs work, how to accomplish
2. Plans for tomorrow

Day 5

AM Sailing trip to an anchorage for lunch on the hook

1. Weather Brief by student
2. Safety Brief by student
3. Naviguessing by student
4. Getting underway checklist by student
5. Dinghy wrangling captain by student
6. Depart mooring
7. Sailing a prescribed course
8. Dinghy towing procedures
9. Sailing to a lunch ashore harbor and anchoring, dinghy ferrying
10. Each act as skipper with appropriate commands

PM Sailing – weather permitting

1. Weather Brief by student
2. Safety Brief by student
3. Naviguessing by student
4. Getting underway checklist by student
5. Depart anchorage
6. Sailing a prescribed course
7. Each act as skipper with appropriate commands

11. Return to mooring
12. Putting the boat to bed

Debrief

1. What went well, what needs work, how to accomplish
2. Photo drop boxes, future contacts, graduation ceremony

Craft of Sail NORA Student Supply List

This year’s students made some additions to the list.

Foul weather gear – rain jacket with hood
Foul weather pants – rain pants
Rain boots and socks
Gloves
Stream2Sea lip balm with spf – https://stream2sea.com/?ref=DeepWH
Stream2Sea sunscreen – https://stream2sea.com/?ref=DeepWH
Ball cap to support floppy rain jacket hood
Leash for prescription glasses or backup prescription glasses
Polarized sunglasses
Deck shoes, no black soles, closed-toe, grippy soles
Layers – temps can be hot to cold – fleece or wool sweater
Extra shoes, clothing in case first set gets wet
Lyrics to your favorite sea shanty for foggy mornings
Quiet/soft insulated water bottle
Paper towel in your pocket from breakfast to check oil levels
Notebook and pencils and pens
Daypack for your gear – keep your hands free so you can board the launch
Any navigation equipment you are used to using if desired
Mustang inflatable pfd – more comfortable than the loaners –  https://bit.ly/MustangKim
Apps to consider pre-loading: Tides, Marine Traffic, Navionics, Anchor by Zenkou
Kim will bring, handheld vhf’s, navigation tools for all, sunscreen
Optional: binoculars, camera, hand held compass, personal pfd, snacks, rigging knife
WBS will provide charts, food and water, PFDs, and VHF radios

I Don’t Go Anywhere Without:

• Stream2Sea Reef Safe SPF 20 or 30 mineral, regular or tinted sunscreen, mask defog, shampoo, conditioner, rash guards and more reef-safe supplies. Use my code “DeepWH” for 10% off. Yes, using boating and camping shampoo and conditioner protects our waterways and runoff.
• Mustang Survival pfd’s and foul weather gear for military specifications equipment.
• RoadId for $5 off your cycling/running/kayaking/travel/sailing id. Sailors are now wearing them!
• Harvest Hosts for the wineries, breweries, alpaca farms, honey apiaries, camping on the fly!
• Crisis Medicine Tactical Casualty Care Course knowledge so we can help ourselves.
• MyMedic Individual Bleeding Control Kits. We take ours everywhere.
• North American Rescue CAT tourniquets.
• Travelex is our trip insurer – click for a free quote.
• Girls That Scuba – members discount card for all things diving.
• Thank you for using my links – your price does not change, but they may gift me a small percentage of your sale in return for my mention, which allows me to continue to bring to you fun content.
• AD: affiliate links used.