105: SAILING LESSONS BEGIN: It can’t be THAT hard? Days 1-5|Castries & Pitons Navigation Trips

It FINALLY happened…we STARTED taking sailing lessons from Ben Thompson, one of the co-owners of First4Sail. We hired Captain Ben for two weeks to teach us all aspects of sailing and boat maintenance. Boy, did we underestimate all there was and is to learn. It was overwhelming! Before you begin to sail you have to consider so many things like, engine and boat maintenance, safety, weather, wind, currents, chart planning, navigation buoys, just to name a few. This video focuses on the first five days of our sailing lessons. Every day we sailed and learned new skills related to the boat and/or sailing. Day 1 and 2, we stayed within Rodney Bay learning how to maneuver the boat in tight spaces and how to dock. Day 3 we learned how to navigate so we sailed to Castries (9 nautical miles), to practice what we had learned. And, returning to the dock, at the end of the day, we had a little accident – the bow of the boat scraped up against the cement dock. Thankfully, we did not inflict much damage on the boat, though our egos were definitely bruised. Day 4 and 5 we really put all of our skills (and newly learned navigational skills) to work as we sailed down to the stunning Pitons, about 17 nautical miles (at 5 knots, it took us about 4.5 hours to get there). We spent the night on a mooring ball in Jalousie Bay. We were the only boat in the bay; Captain Ben said that he has never seen that before. Before returning to Rodney Bay, we took our dinghy over to Souffriere and walked around the town. It had been 3 years since were last there and the changes were sadly, quite evident. The reduction of tourists has shuttered many of the businesses. After a brief stop in the church and the market, we returned to the boat to learn navigational markers and then start the journey back to Rodney Bay. The successful trip to the Pitons felt like a great accomplishment and it was really enjoyable! Our brains really needed a break, but our schedule did not permit that! It was on to Day 6 of lessons the next day! #sailing #sailboat #sailingprojects NEW TO OUR CHANNEL? We are Eileen and Brown Councill. Welcome to our channel and a glimpse into our life adventure! 2020 was a year of uncertainty and change (for all of us, right?), but we overcame the challenges and decided it was time to chase our dream, to sail around the world! Did I mention that we had very NO sailing experience? Before leaving Qingdao, China, our home of 4 years, we sold almost all of our earthly possessions and started our international search to find the right sailboat that we would call "home." After 5 months of unanticipated twists and turns, we found what we were looking for, a used Leopard 44' Catamaran located in St. Lucia. So, here begins our journey, filled with unmatched excitement and honestly, a bit of trepidation as well. We have much to learn as we travel the world on our floating home and we intend to document that journey and share it with you. We are so glad you have decided to join us, and we hope that you will find our story so compelling that it will inspire you to chase your dreams too! As a viewer, we consider you to be part of our family and look forward to getting to know you. Don't hesitate to comment on our videos and ask questions. We will do our best to answer every correspondence! All we ask is that you have patience with us as we work really hard to improve our camera/video techniques and ability to tell a story. Hopefully, you will be as BLOWN AWAY from watching, as we are in experiencing and producing our adventures! HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US? If you wish to support our video efforts, all we ask is that you SUBSCRIBE, give a THUMBS UP, SHARE our videos with your friends, AND COMMENT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET TO KNOW US MORE DEEPLY? It would be an honor and pleasure to deepen our relationship with you as a Patron. Please click on the following link to see how: https://www.patreon.com/sailingblownaway WOULD YOU LIKE TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY? https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6040796987916288 WHERE CAN YOU FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Instagram - @sailingblownaway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingBlownAway Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eileen.dietrich/ YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/sailingblownaway