| 1. Take care of your boat and the sails. Wash the sails | | | | 6. Develop your sailing vocabulary. From weather |
| with mild soap and water after sailing. Keep them out | | | | terminology to vocabulary specific to sailing, the better |
| of the sun and fold the sail neatly when dry. Clean | | | | you know this, the easier it will be to communicate with |
| your boat to avoid transferring possible invasive plant | | | | your crew. Learn proper sailing etiquette. |
| or shellfish species to other sailing locations. | | | | 7. Practice adjusting the sails to take advantage of the |
| 2. Check the weather, wind and tide before you go | | | | different wind conditions. |
| sailing. Start watching the weather a week before you | | | | 8. Do not overestimate your abilities. Do not sail in |
| go out. Record wind, type of clouds and how each | | | | rough water unless you know what you are doing. |
| weather type encountered impacts your sailing. | | | | You could wind up in trouble. Make sure someone on |
| 3. Be prepared for emergencies. Keep your life | | | | land knows your plans before you go out sailing. |
| jackets (PFDs) in good condition and have one for | | | | 9. Watch out for the boom. You don't want to get hit in |
| each person on the boat. Make sure you have first aid | | | | the head or possibly thrown overboard. Make sure |
| supplies in a waterproof box. | | | | your crew and passengers are aware of when the |
| 4. If you are just learning to sail, start with a smaller | | | | boom is going to swing. |
| sized boat with one sail and practice sailing in calm | | | | 10. Watch for other boats and keep control of your |
| water where there are not a lot of people. | | | | own boat by making sure you are sailing at a safe |
| 5. Practice capsizing your boat. Think of this like the fire | | | | speed. |
| drills you did in school. | | | | |