Ocean Sailing
Ocean sailing is quite different from sailing in a lake or a river. You should know to tackle the tides and ebbs when you cross the shores. You need to learn the ocean sailing basics before you set out into the sea for the first time. Only then ocean sailing will be a real fun.
When you go on ocean sailing, you must know that sailboats cannot sail directly up wind. So you have to take an angle of forty five degrees or so to cat the wind. To catch the upwind, you must first go a little to right of the wind and then take a slight left turn. This will create a zig-zag line and your boat will cross the wind with turns which is termed as tack.
Ocean sailing is easy if you learn it properly. You must know about jibe also. Jibe is opposite of tack. Here the forces remain constant and the sails must be tended so that there will not be any damage caused to the boat. The speed of the boat in ocean sailing is restricted by its length. When you make use of racing boats, dinghies and multihulls you can rise above the water and skim along the surface, however, you cannot do this with traditional monohull sailboat that has big keels.
Some like to surf while ocean sailing. It is nothing but falling down the face of the tides in a controlled manner. While you surf you can increase your speed. You will really enjoy surfing during ocean sailing and it will be a real fun. Ocean sailing depends on the wind for power and the water for leverage. When the boat is overpowered it will round up so that the pressure gets relieved from the boat.
Ocean sailing is not a joke. You cannot start all of a sudden without adequate practice. You must know to act according to the situation when the wind direction changes. Ocean sailing is safe in calm sea conditions but will be very dangerous when you move down in the larger waves. Capsizing may occur where your boat will flip upside down. This will flip sideways or roll. Pitch poling is even more terrific. Here the boat capsizes end over end and will cause more damages. So do not go for ocean sailing without proper buoyancy aids. When you go out to the sea, always inform your friends or family members about that. Happy sailing!
