Prerequisites
This introduction to sailing is designed specifically for FCOA members. You must have passed the 200-meter swim test and completed this preparatory quiz before you can participate. Ideally, you should already be certified as an FCOA Freediver before beginning this lesson.
If you have landed on this page and are not yet an FCOA member, please complete the following steps:
- Register at FCOA.online
- Under "Digital Training" tab, complete FCOA video quizzes 1 through 4.
FCOA offers low-budget sailing lessons; to make this possible, members are required to self-study and finish the video quizzes before joining a practical session. You should refresh your knots from FCOA Lesson 4 and your navigation concepts from Lesson 3.
You will also be expected to take full responsibility for your training vessel. After use, your must wash it, clean it, and return it in better condition than you found it. Make sure to report any damage immediately and participate in repairs as much as possible.
Caring for Boats (Hard Rules)
- Wash your feet: Always rinse sand from your feet or footwear before stepping into a boat. Sand acts like sandpaper and scrapes the equipment.
- Dock securely: When tying a boat to the jetty, ensure it is not banging against other vessels or the jetty itself.
- Watch the depth: When approaching the shore, make sure the centerboard or rudder does not plow into the shallow sand. Be aware of the bottom composition: is it rock, sand, or mud?
- Handle foils gently: When storing the centerboard and rudder inside the boat, do not bang them around against the inner hull. Keep the leading edges smooth.
- Avoid collisions: Avoid even the smallest collisions. Hold boats away from one another or deploy a protective device like a fender.
- Yield to others: Give the right of way! IF you do not know the right-of-way rules, or if it appears that the vessels around you do not know them, simply yield the right way, smile, and wave.
- Use trolleys with care: When placing a boat onto a launching trolley, do it slowly to ensure the hull does not get dented or scratched.
How Do Sailors Get into Trouble?- Drifting to open sea: If you notice that you're drifting the wrong way, fix the issue sooner than later. If you cannot sail out of trouble, drop your sail and paddle, or jump into the water and swim in front of your boat, towing it back toward the safe zone. Alternatively, drop your anchor until the wind and tides shift in your favor.
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Sailing into fishing nets:
Talk to local fishers to understand the layout of potential entanglement hazards around your practice area.
- Failing to yield: If other boats insist on taking the right of way, step aside, give it to them, smile, and wave.
Mandatory Social Media Posts (#keep_our_waters_clean)
For our sponsored participants, it is mandatory to post an update on social media after every training day. This post must include the following:
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An environmental statement detailing something you are doing—or wish to do—to protect our planet.
- A positive comment about your coach (this encourages them and ensures they feel appreciated).
- A statement about your experience with FCOA.
- The closing hashtags: #keep_our_waters_clean and #FCOA.
For those who have financial means, please consider giving your sailing coach a generous tip
so they are encouraged to return tomorrow. We also encourage you to donate to FCOA to keep our platform running. Even when you pay for a basic boat rental, your coach is volunteering their time, and the FCOA training framework is provided at no cost through sponsorships.
Suggested Training Timeline
(Approximately 4 hours. This schedule is a flexible guideline; feel free to adjust timing wit your instructor.)
- 1 Hour: Briefing on boat preparation, rigging, and vessel handling.
- 30 Minutes: Hands-on sailing with a coach.
- Practice block: 100-meter paddle practice.
- Safety block: 50-meter swim while towing your boat
- Safety block: Capsize recovery drills.
- 30 Minutes: Sailing solo (once you are ready)
- 15 Minutes: Advanced sailing with a coach.
- Safety drill: Man-Overboard Procedure.
- Conclusion: Debriefing, logging your session hours in your logbook, logging your social media post, and planning your upcoming FCOA Solo Sailor certification framework (2 to 3 days).
Do not be shy about reminding your peers of these tips! It takes a community to minimize wear and tear on our shared training fleet.
Most Common Training Sailboats
A Note for Beginners
Sailing terminology and concepts can feel completely overwhelming the first time you hear them. Do not worry too much! You are a sailing beginner right now, and you will slowly pick things up one day at a time.
This opening quiz is intentionally short and general. Because we do not know exactly which boat model you are going to sail or where you are going to sail it, make sure to independ resear separately research anything that is unique about your training boat and environment. Google is great
