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1. Discuss with your crew which procedures you plan to use, and who is going to do what.

2. Decide on which hand signals you will use to communicate with your crew. (No, not that hand signal!)

3. Get the anchor out on deck and lay out the anchor line. Make sure that it's not snarled and is ready for deployment.

4. Make sure the line is securely attached to the anchor.

5. Approach the spot where you are going to anchor with your bow going up into the wind.

6. Stop the boat over your selected spot and lower the anchor straight down to the bottom.

7. Back off slowly down wind, deploying about 1/2 the needed scope.

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Seven Types of Knots - http://voyageseaschool.com/rya-sailing-courses.html

Offshore sailing school spain Voyage Sea school Teaches you the best you should know about Sailing

There are literally thousands of knots out there, but luckily you need to know only these seven. I learned these knots back in junior sailing class before my brain said it didn't want to know anything more. Larry, I discovered, just learned the sheet bend while working on this article. We don't expect that you'll become enthused enough to join the International Guild of Knot Tyers (yes, it really exists), but know that your sailing will be much easier if you spend a few hours adding these knots to your repertoire, if you don't already have them.

Here are the seven knots to success: bowline, sheet bend, clove hitch, round turn-two half hitches, figure eight knot, reef knot, trucker's hitch (not your usual sailor's knot, a land knot, but one we have found invaluable on the boat.)

The reality of it is that when you're part of the boating environment, you're constantly exposed to wind and waves, both of which, it seems, are trying their hardest to knock the stuff off your boat that you put on it. The only practical solution is that you take control of the situation by learning to tie the proper knots.

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Although the odds of running into a rogue wave are slim, it's important to know how to avoid and how to handle this oceanic phenomenon.

Learn Sailing basics from http://www.voyageseaschool.com

There are two terms in the sailing lexicon that stab directly at every seafarer’s heart; the more tangible of the two is "hurricane-force winds." The other is "rogue wave." Even though the odds of encountering a rogue wave are slim at best, it’s a phenomenon that does indeed exist and I for one wouldn't knock those sailors that prefer to stay at the dock instead of throwing their lot to the odds makers. One thing is for sure; if you never venture beyond the marina, you will not encounter a rogue wave. On the other hand, sailors like myself accept the risks and take our chances. So what is this feared phenomenon, what are your odds of encountering one, and what can you do to prepare for and avoid them?

I grew up on the South African coast in an area known for ships vanishing on an all-too-frequent basis. It was part of the lore of the sea and something I came to accept long before I headed across oceans on my own boat. Having a fatalistic bent helps if you are venturing off into the unknown, and for any sailor departing the security of a safe harbor and sailing out to sea is indeed heading off into the unknown. There are simply things out there that remain unexplainable.

I am sure that it’s accurate to say that the coast of South Africa has more rogue waves than most areas, and I am equally sure that it’s because of the three different, unrelated phenomena that conspire to create them. First there are the prevailing, unrelenting winds kicked up by a never-ending series of low-pressure systems that rotate around Antarctica. North of the lows the wind blows from the west and builds up huge seas that travel unobstructed across the Southern Ocean. The only point of land that sticks down into their path is Cape Horn; however, by the time these waves reach the African coast they have travelled 14,000 miles without obstruction. Rather than big waves, they are gigantic swells with smaller waves forming on their surface.

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RYA Sailing Courses for becoming a efficient Sailor can be done from RYA Sailing School in spain. Which provides RYA Sailing Courses

If you're looking to make the transition from cruiser to racer you'll need to have good listening skills and a positive attitude. Depending on the communication style, thick skin may also help.

So, you've read all the reports about different regattas around the country and you followed the progress of The Race last winter, and now, in your warm, couch-potato wisdom, you have the not-so-fleeting thought: 'Hey, I could do that!' Well, here's your chance to get started in racing. Just read the following pearls of wisdom and you'll start making the transition from rail meat to rock star in no time.

To find an entry-level crewing position, go to your local yacht club, sailing center, or marina and offer to join someone's boat for a beer-can race on a warm summer evening. If you luck into a crew position, all you'll need is some deck shoes, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, some gloves, and an inflatable PFD. That's for warm weather. In cold weather, you'll want to add your own set of foul weather gear, boots, and a foam-padded PFD that will give you some extra insulation while you're hanging off the rail. Once on board, if you keep your eyes and ears open, you'll quickly learn the basics of racing. You might hear a a lot of yelling and flapping sails, and you'll probably experience some frenzied excitement with mad dashes for buoys, but you'll eventually get the idea of what is going on.

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Sailing Courses Spain, RYA Sea School,RYA Sailing courses

Weather forecasts for Pacific waters are broken down into large-scale and regional segments. The regional segments are depicted by the smaller boxes lining the coast of the US.

For sailors, surface analysis and forecast charts are some of the most widely used products in making departure, arrival, and routing decisions. What follows is a just-give-me-the-facts overview of charts from the Marine Prediction Center (MPC) and the information they contain. I hope this overview whets your appetite for more detail, and if so, you can find extensive and very useful information on all the MPC charts in the Radiofacsimile Users Guide. This guide is available online at the MPC website (www.mpc.ncep.noaa.gov), where it can be viewed, downloaded, and printed. So here goes, let's jump into surface charts with both feet!

For starters, Surface Analysis charts are produced four times each day, along with two 48-Hour Surface Forecasts and a 96-hour forecast. Surface analyses depict isobars, surface winds, frontal systems (these include occluded, stationary, cold, and warm), low and high-pressure center positions, as well as central pressure.

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Understanding the Code

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