ASA BEARINGS June 2017

ASA Bearings Newsletter

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First Impressions Are Important

Make sure your ASA Website School Listing is up to date

In 2016 ASA.com was visited by 657,126 unique visitors, 70,832 people searched for a school, and no less than 454,473 school pages were viewed by interested sailors.

The top 10 most visited sailing schools on ASA.com all have one thing in common - they have completed their ASA school page to its fullest to include descriptions, photos, testimonials, links to social media and more.

Make sure your school listing stands out with great photos and an enticing description that make people want to learn to sail at your school.

Update Your ASA School Page Today >>

SAFETY REMINDERS

Everyone needs to know where safety equipment is located and how to stop the boat under power and under sail especially if the skipper is incapacitated or missing.

Ensure that all locker lids (including the anchor locker) are retained and secured when up. This is especially useful for single-handed sailors when down in cockpit lockers with self-latching lids. Your heads and fingers will thank you!

The skipper must know of any medical issues* with anyone on board. If there is an activity-limiting condition, know before sailing.

* If there is a confidential condition that needs to be known in case of emergency (allergy, medication, etc.) then give the information in a sealed envelope with the person’s name on it to the skipper. If there are no problems, the skipper returns the unopened envelope at journey’s end.

WANTED: ASA INSTRUCTOR COORDINATOR

ASA is currently actively accepting applicants for a new position that we’ve created called Instructor Coordinator. This position is similar to what used to be called our Education Coordinator, but the responsibilities are broader in scope. If you know of someone who is qualified and might be interested, or if you personally would like to learn more about the position, please contact Ash at Ash@asa.com or call our office at 310-822-7171.

Preparing To Conduct A 106 Class

by Elbert “Ash” Ashbaugh

The ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising class usually requires more planning and customization than other classes. A school may not offer the class very often; the instructor may not be one of the regulars at the school; the weather, boat, facilities, daylight hours, and experience may be quite different from the previous class; and it may be taught in a different location or using a new route. Many times these factors result in a very general lesson plan that can easily miss some subjects, and perhaps (but hopefully not) create a leadership bad example.

So let us take a worst-case scenario and propose some ways to conduct a first-rate professional 106 class.

You are somehow scheduled to teach the 106 in a new location, with a school you have never worked with before, on a boat you have not seen, with a general route based on facilities available in an out-of date cruiser’s guide, the school has no lesson plan because “… the guy who usually teaches it had his own plan and he is in the hospital back home”, and the students have all prepaid and are flying in arriving in two days.

There are many ways an experienced instructor can approach the situation. You probably have your own. The following is one simple systematic plan that could be used in a first-time or unfamiliar scenario and might come in handy.

Plan the route with an understanding of the facilities available at each stop and an estimate of the elapsed times and daylight hours of both the transits and stops.

Give each location or transit segment a name. Write the schedule using the segment names in route order on one page. If this looks reasonable, create a new page for each location or transit segment with the name as the header or title, maybe with some notes about the segment. Allocate time for normal start and end procedures for each segment.

Using 104 standards, plan the provisioning for the class and note it for each transit or location. Remember to include fuel and water.

Go to the Advanced Coastal Cruising Standard (ASA 106) in the ASA Logbook. Note that each content item in the course has a number 1-43. Review with the Affiliate what equipment (radar, GPS, charts, tethers, lights, cruising guides, etc.) is or may be required for each of the items and make sure it will be on the boat and working.

Go down the list of logbook content items and put the number of the item on the location or transit page that you may think is appropriate for that segment. Include new numbers “44 Review” and “45 Test”. Note how much time is to be allocated for that item. Note that you might want to break down an item and teach parts differently, or you might want to re-teach some items under different circumstances for emphasis. When you have allocated every item to a transit or location segment, review and revise to accommodate time, logical progression and rationality.

You now have a lesson plan. You might have to change it during the class, but sharing the plan with the students as an introduction and overall guideline gives a good start to the whole process. Enjoy.

ASA Gulf & San Juan Islands Flotilla

by Roger Philips, an ASA Instructor teaching at Newport Beach Sailing School.

This is the ninth year in a row that ASA has sponsored a flotilla in the Pacific Northwest, and these cruises have become very popular. We had 12 boats and 46 sailors on this flotilla, which was completely booked up 6 months in advance. Half our skippers were veterans of previous ASA Pacific Northwest flotillas. The boats are provided by San Juan Sailing who hosted this event. SJS is one of the top-rated charter companies in the world, and has provided us with superb boats and great service over the last nine years. Read More >>

Let Us Help You Tell Your Story

ASA currently runs a two page spread in the national magazine Sailing called Winds & Currents and we want to feature interesting people and stories from the ASA collective. If you have a tale or know a person you feel would interest a large national audience, please send the idea our way and we’ll write it up and include it in an upcoming issue. Please send us an email today!

Useful links for Instructors & Affiliates

www.ASA.com