Tony Eberts
The Great Outdoors
  There are thousands of miles of sheltered coastline out there, just waiting for someone like you to learn what may be the best way to explore it: By sailboat.
  Sure, there are a couple of thousand weekend sailors around, but just glance at a map and see the hundreds of islands, inlets and channels that stretch from the U.S. San Juan Islands to the northern tip of Vancouver Island. No waiting. No crowding. No noise or air pollution. No big fuel bills. Unmatched chances for fish and great amounts of some of the finest scenery in the world.
  You can't just head down to the Vancouver waterfront, rent a nice 24-footer and sail off into the sunrise. But preparing to do that can be fun, not all that expensive and not at all difficult if you are healthy, reasonably active and clever enough to tie sound knots and haul on the right line.
 There are a number of outfits in the Greater Vancouver area that will provide courses in basic cruising, with a price tag of around $600 and about four weeks of your time. Check out the yellow pages.
  I checked out the Cooper Boating Centre on Granville Island, which offers a two-part program leading to Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) certification. Courses begin every 20 days or so from February to mid-October of each year and are conducted by instructors with training that exceeds CYA standards.
  "We have pioneered the development of special clinics and seminars such as diesel engine maintenance, weather, advanced navigation and many others to meet the needs of boaters," says the Cooper brochure. "After learning to cruise you will be able to explore . . . B.C.'s cruising grounds, among the largest sheltered, salt water sailing areas in the world.
  "Sailors enjoy good winds without the heavy seas associated with open-ocean sailing. Numerous secluded anchorages and rustic harbors wait to be explored. Wildlife is abundant: the home of eagles, bears, gulls and seals . . . choose one of two main cruising areas along the south coast--Gulf Islands/San Juans or the Sunshine Coast/Desolation Sound . . . "
  Cooper's basic cruising course is taught in weekday evenings, 7 to 10, with weekend "practicals"--going sailing!--from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For those outings, you need a soft-sided dufflebag with deck shoes, boots, waterproof jacket, sunglasses, hat and assorted casual clothing. As well, a sleeping bag, towel, camera, Thermos, binoculars, sailing knife and a hand-held compass.
  Safety is the first big step, and you quickly learn about lifejackets, buoyant heaving lines, lifebuoys, fire extinguishers, flares and more. Because every boat has some kind of auxiliary engine, if only a long-shafted outboard, you must know about safe fuelling practices.
  What's in a name? Well, the practical side of sailing comes easier when you know what the parts of the boat and its rigging. The pointy end and the back end just won't do when you describe a hull. So you get into standard stuff like bow, stern, tiller and cockpit, but also terms such as pushpit, pintle, gudgeon and horn cleat. Study your manual at home.
  You also learn, of course, about how to hoist the main sail, genoa, spinnaker and jibs, using running rigging such as halyards and sheets to change or trim sails while you're underway.
  The best part is getting out on the sea on the weekends, usually with three other students, to learn as you go about the basics of tacking and gybing, which lets you sail into the wind, various reefing systems, sailing downwind, passing other vessels and such.
  Later you go on to seamanship, the rules of the road, dealing with weather changes and all the things that can let you feel a bit like Capt. Ahab--or at least, Popeye. In the more serious area are such items as the Man Overboard Drill, treating hypothermia and heaving to in an emergency.
  The aim is to be able to cruise safely in local waters as both skipper and crew of a sloop-rigged keelboat yacht of 20 to 32 feet in moderate wind and sea conditions by day. Once you have achieved that, you can charter from the Cooper Boating Centre a sailboat up to 32 feet for day sailing. And off you go.
  Another approach, for those lucky ones with some spare time and spare holiday money, is offered by Vancouver's Adventure Travel Company. On offer are hands-on cruises in which you sail away on a 32-foot or 44-foot sailing yacht for several days in Howe Sound, the Gulf Islands and onward.
  The introductory course, taught on a three-day Howe Sound cruise, is the first step on the way to getting your bareboat skipper certification, includes your accommodation and food, and prices start at $550.
  Give sailing some serious thought. People who live in the B.C. Lower Mainland have some of the world's finest sailing waters just waiting for them.