About Us
Last summer we sent an email reply to Charlie Nobles, Executive Director, of the American Sailing Association, explaining the origin and goals of what we are trying to do.
Hopefully you will gain insight as well
July 11, 2009
Charlie,
To give you a little background about how this all started...
Our sailing interest began, believe it or not, on a honeymoon wine and cheese cruise in the Bahamas. It kicked into gear when we did a bareboat charter with our son in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia.
Over the years as we traveled more, our interest grew, and we recognized that if we wanted to sail, we really needed a training program with more structure than our son had provided. As we live in Nebraska, more famous for Prairie Schooners than sailboats, we signed up for San Diego Sailing Academy's full immersion program: 101,103 & 104 live-aboard couple's class.
In preparation for the class in addition to the one's Mike sent us, we bought a small library of sailing books .
Unfortunately, we found that as well as the ASA, US Sailing, and Steve Colgate's books were written, they all assumed the reader had a great deal more knowledge then a true beginner.
One of Marilyn's concerns was we would show up to class and completely embarrass ourselves with our lack of terminology. As she is a technical writer and one of my roles is a software trainer, we knew there was a better way for the two of us to learn.... So we built our own self help training tools. By combining our on-line learning lessons with the knowledge we gained with the ASA books, by the time we arrived for class we had the confidence we needed (and actually understood what we were doing). So much of it was already done, it just seemed like a waste to hit delete, so we gave it a name and put it up on the web to share with all that were interested.
Last month we did a quiet preview for about half the ASA schools and received many very positive comments and suggestions, so we expanded the site and sent the newsletter out to a larger group of ASA schools and have been stunned this afternoon and evening by how many have gone through the site...
Our goal is to help the other "Tom and Marilyn's" out there that don't know the sailing basics and to set them up for a successful instructor-lead experience. Ashoreschool.com could always be more than that, but we would need some experienced instructors to assist.
So that's the story...
Please feel free to use the material as you feel it most helpful. We would be happy to be involved in anyway
needed.
Please let me know when you would be available.
Tom and Marilyn Edwards
ashoreschool.com
Since then we have grown as the site has. Marilyn and I love to travel, and were fortunate enough to expand our minds and imaginations this fall when we learned to Scuba dive. The experience gave us the opportunity to experience the variety of cultures the Caribbean offers, and instantly recognize destinations for future passage plans.
What ever you dreams are... we hope you'll find them sailing on calm waters with fair winds.
Last summer we sent an email reply to Charlie Nobles, Executive Director, of the American Sailing Association, explaining the origin and goals of what we are trying to do.
Hopefully you will gain insight as well
July 11, 2009
Charlie,
To give you a little background about how this all started...
Our sailing interest began, believe it or not, on a honeymoon wine and cheese cruise in the Bahamas. It kicked into gear when we did a bareboat charter with our son in the Whitsunday Islands, Australia.
Over the years as we traveled more, our interest grew, and we recognized that if we wanted to sail, we really needed a training program with more structure than our son had provided. As we live in Nebraska, more famous for Prairie Schooners than sailboats, we signed up for San Diego Sailing Academy's full immersion program: 101,103 & 104 live-aboard couple's class.
In preparation for the class in addition to the one's Mike sent us, we bought a small library of sailing books .
Unfortunately, we found that as well as the ASA, US Sailing, and Steve Colgate's books were written, they all assumed the reader had a great deal more knowledge then a true beginner.
One of Marilyn's concerns was we would show up to class and completely embarrass ourselves with our lack of terminology. As she is a technical writer and one of my roles is a software trainer, we knew there was a better way for the two of us to learn.... So we built our own self help training tools. By combining our on-line learning lessons with the knowledge we gained with the ASA books, by the time we arrived for class we had the confidence we needed (and actually understood what we were doing). So much of it was already done, it just seemed like a waste to hit delete, so we gave it a name and put it up on the web to share with all that were interested.
Last month we did a quiet preview for about half the ASA schools and received many very positive comments and suggestions, so we expanded the site and sent the newsletter out to a larger group of ASA schools and have been stunned this afternoon and evening by how many have gone through the site...
Our goal is to help the other "Tom and Marilyn's" out there that don't know the sailing basics and to set them up for a successful instructor-lead experience. Ashoreschool.com could always be more than that, but we would need some experienced instructors to assist.
So that's the story...
Please feel free to use the material as you feel it most helpful. We would be happy to be involved in anyway
needed.
Please let me know when you would be available.
Tom and Marilyn Edwards
ashoreschool.com
Since then we have grown as the site has. Marilyn and I love to travel, and were fortunate enough to expand our minds and imaginations this fall when we learned to Scuba dive. The experience gave us the opportunity to experience the variety of cultures the Caribbean offers, and instantly recognize destinations for future passage plans.
What ever you dreams are... we hope you'll find them sailing on calm waters with fair winds.
Learn to Sail Classes
There are hundreds of sailing schools that would love to teach you to sail. There are even specialty classes like; sailing schools for women, couples sailing schools, bareboat sailing schools, caribbean sailing schools located in the Virgin Islands, american sailing schools all along the coasts and and lake areas that provide excellent sailing education and sailing instruction. If your interest is bluewater or lake sailing, looking for cruising instruction and sailing certification or advanced celestial navigation there is a "how to" sail class for you. Many beginners start with the basic ASA or US Sailing Association classes, and move on to bareboat charter and coastal navigation courses. What ever your sailing or boating interest, there is a "Learn to Sail" class for you. We hope these lessons help you maximize your time on the boat. Good luck and enjoy your life ... you only get one.
There are hundreds of sailing schools that would love to teach you to sail. There are even specialty classes like; sailing schools for women, couples sailing schools, bareboat sailing schools, caribbean sailing schools located in the Virgin Islands, american sailing schools all along the coasts and and lake areas that provide excellent sailing education and sailing instruction. If your interest is bluewater or lake sailing, looking for cruising instruction and sailing certification or advanced celestial navigation there is a "how to" sail class for you. Many beginners start with the basic ASA or US Sailing Association classes, and move on to bareboat charter and coastal navigation courses. What ever your sailing or boating interest, there is a "Learn to Sail" class for you. We hope these lessons help you maximize your time on the boat. Good luck and enjoy your life ... you only get one.
LEARN: Free interactive sailing lessons will take you from an absolute beginner to a confident sailing student who can communicate well with your instructor and classmates.
READ: The electronic version of
L&A's Seafaring, Latitude 38, Carolina Currents,48 Degrees North, Points East, Great Lakes Scuttbutt, Southwinds, Caribbean Compass, Spinsheet, and Ocean Navigator.
DEFINE: Understand the definitions of common nautical words and phrases
CHECK: Five ready-to-use Day Sail checklists that
can be viewed for FREE on your iPhone or any
other Web - Enabled - Device
EXPERIENCE is a great teacher, and this is a
excellent place to start. In this section we bring you the experiences of thousands of miles of sailing, without leaving your seat.
CHART: 1018 NOAA charts over Google Maps, with US Coast Guard Navigation Aids and NOAA Chart 1
Symbols. Makes it the perfect tool for students exploring any US coastline
WATCH: Expanded section includes dozens of excellent videos involving sailing training,
knot tying, racing, bloopers, and fun commentary presented in High Definition.
UNDERSTAND: Our Points of Sail lesson clearly illustrates not only the Point of Sail and the Mainsail position, it also includes the tack, the wind angle,
and the masthead wind direction.
PLAN: Where do you go once you have learned
sail? These great websites will help
you plan you future behind the helm.
PREDICT: These excellent weather related resources were collected and contributed by Bill Biewenga.
All the resources you need to keep an eye
on the weather
SEE: Increase your comfort level and confidence
with sailboat images identifying key areas of a sailboat.
SAY: We welcome your comments and ideas. If something needs to be
clarified, or you think it's great,
just drop us a note and tell us...
MAIN: Return to Port