Hand, Reef and Steer

By now, the students have a large volume of knowledge about sailing obtained in the best way possible. By doing.

They are given a task, shown how to do it properly, and then made to do it. 

What have they learned? A small list would be: tying 14 different knots, setting and taking in of 6 sails, helmsmanship, safety drills, cleaning, boxing a compass, sewing, determining wind and sea states, fixing a position with chart and compass, reefing sails, using a sextant to take noon for a latitude, use of radar for navigation and collision avoidance… just a partial list. You may not understand most of it but they do, and they have learned all this on top of a rigorous academic schedule. To what end?

Well now they are entering what we call the Junior Watch Officer (JWO) phase. Now your student who maybe couldn’t remember to pick up his or her room, has to run a watch at sea. Navigate the ship, insure we aren’t in danger of hitting or being hit by other vessels, decide when or weather to set or take in sail. Basically, be a leader, take responsibility for themselves and others and earn the trust and respect of their shipmates. You would be proud.

 Fair winds, Captain Flansburg.