HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-07-10, Page 6RR "M RR 7 ,q r•l(
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JEFF:SED•DON
A ivoice amplified by a" hailer shat-
tered the relative quiet of the Goderich
harbor. "1261 you have td sheet your
main, okay bear away,"pull the tiller,
pull the tiller." The -owner of the voice, I
Paul Parsons, turned away from the
Microphone and quietly muttered—
"Schmuck',',. - The sailors instructed by Donnelly
The sc n-e.atthe harbor was -a sailing" and. Parsons tan ''6e very frustratin�c
instruction course being offered by the, due to their apparent lack of ability,
:Goderih Sail'ing Club and the town's bot the two have the patience needed:to
recreatip ,. office:' The would-be cap- ' endure the .flailing• efforts of the
tains are ' taking advantage 'of the students.- They turn mistakes `to ad -
protected Waters.in the. harbor' basin to vantage by pointing errors out .in' a
learn the ins and outs of sailing and.
how to apply them. '
The students have run into difficulty
during the' classes,. usually , other
students' boats - but are slowly
mastering the' age old art. 'And if they
`showat the end of'a week's classes that
they can apply what they have -been
taught they are usually given 'a cer-
•tifica'te testifying to their ability at that .;. before are the ones Mike refers to.
level of sailing. Enrolled in Levet—Two—of-the—CSA
The classes are taught by- Paul icourse, same of them show no signs.of
Parsons, and Mike Donnelly who rove . having any .knowledge of what .was
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*about.the harbor in the Goderich 'police
boat, the Royal MP, pointing out
mistakes ands commenting on
maneuvers •welr,i done. The 'two
qualified to teach the firstjthree level`s
of .the Canadian Sailing Association
course this spring and have been
holding classes in, the harbor for the
past three weeks.
.firm yet understanding tone of voice., ,
"It's been a year since some of these
W people have taken any instruction,."
Donnelly pointed out.- "They •vv either n ;
forgoften what they learned, vyer.en't-
listening '. when they were taught or.
their instructor did . a .lousy job of
teaching them."
The students that have taken courses
taught in � One last year. The 1974
sc' go oh
wias,,the mobile CSA outfit that
.wa.s' in,Goderich' for three weeks,at,
tempting to "take completely inex-
perienced people 'and turn them into
fairly cornpetent-sailors.
This year shooid be different for the
students. If they don't' understand
something shown.•thern, they can aSk
for more instrue`ion from thein
teachers without causing. the rest* of .
• their clas's members to lose teaching
lime. If"they fail to complete one level
\ of the course.,they can cone back
\wo weeks and' try again.
elementary course involves
boat°ng safety, rescue work-, riggi,ng of
boats,, sailing into and with the wind,
sailing\bff a beach or dock, tying knots
needed •fb�r the ri�ggini °, righting .an
overtur`ned`'craft .and identifying cloud,
Water and weather ,conditions.
The' daily ci•asses .usually involve
younger studentsbut work hours Won't �4
necessarily pre\ient adults from••
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eachers need atienc
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awa
learning to sail'. The older generation
can go to sailing school twq hours' on
Tuesday and Thursday night -to °lake
the same course as the youngsters.
All work and -no play makes a school
a dull thing and,Donnelly and Parsons
do not want to be part of a dull ,thing.
Each afternoon they finish off their.
class..with a little fun and games. Some
days fheV. haye..Water fights using
buckets from the boats as weapons;
some days they play tag and every day...
they have a race:
The races' give.,the students an op-
portu it -y -to pit their newly acquired.
skills against one another. as well as
giving the teachers a chance to see
what the sailors have learned. The
students line up their Goderich .Sailing
Club dinghies like the start of the
America Cup final and at the+sound of
the Royal MP's horn take -off for' two
laps of the course all the time receiving
comment and instruction from their
leachers.. '
",1 never thought sori a .of Them would,
ever be..:able to sail their ownboat,"
muttered Parsons." "They can really
sfir•prise you with their ability to un
derstand sailing in succi a short' time."
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11, Overboard throws, the crew of..a sailboat into quick action. Here Anne ,Marie Murphy
l'incks a helping hand•acher crewmate after their vessel had overturned: The sailors a'resup- '
posed to
get in -the boat by themselves but some needed a little assistance to get over the top.
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The new sailors ran into sotne difficulty handling their boats for the first time•and_even had
occasion to run into one another. This, near' miss in a training exerciSe caused the two 'in
structors to cover their eyes. (staff photo)
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Getting an oyerturned sailboat back on an even keel'is one of
the first things the.sailing students, are taught. If the crew
realize they are going over they can act fast andrget the boat
back up ,without taking on • much water. These two gi"rls
weren't -quite fast enough 'and 'have to bail out their boat,
before setting sail again. (staff photo)
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Pliul' Parsons taught his students ho"w to u►pri_ght an overturns i crarft and thenpr.'i>C( di d,to to ke
1,r, own boat out into the harbor and demonstrate the technique, staff photo) : `••
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• The new 'sailors maneuvered 'their craft into starting pos'tion ,,
' 'for the beginni"dg of the day's'race. The classes usually etld up tion. (staff photo) • ,
with r a race- giving the students a chance to apply their
- knowledge and the instructors a chance to watch them in, ac -
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-- ‘k,hen the boat tip5,the helmsman goes up and aver the side to' the tip of the mast•to help get the Sail, out of the water. Here
►+►.lance the weight of the sail. One -crew member goes to.the Robert MacKenzie scrambles to stay. dry while his-so'rfaetng
'►qw to try to get the boat Lacing the wirt°d and the dther,gees to '7•ryw Members.start tn'niove into pogition. (staff photo) •
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