Why I didnt Get Hired as a NOLS sailing instructor
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Last week, you saw my journey through a National Outdoor Leadership School sailing instructor course. This week, see why I didn't get hired to teach sailing for NOLS.
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I can understand the difficulty of teaching sailing, because it takes understanding how many ‘channels’ you can manage. What is a channel? Ok, Dennis Conner (of America’s Cup fame) described it like this: each aspect of sailing requires an attention channel, e.g., sail trim, boat trim, wind speed, wind angle, sail selection, course, sailing angle, navigation, crew tasks, crew positions (weight distribution), wave height, wave angle, boat trim, rudder pressure, heel angle, tacking, gybing, weather assessment, tactics, current…you start to get the picture! So, most of these ‘channels’ have to be almost constantly be observed to bring about the present status and the future status and how that will affect each other one in turn. Dennis had assessed many other tacticians, crew, situations, etc., to understand who could ‘run’ enough channels to be effective at the top level of the America’s Cup team. He said the average was about 5-6 channels, when to be really good at sailing it takes about 12+ channels constantly running, plus selective needs for others. Some are needed all the time, and others have to be known when to apply in the future and who, what, why, and how much to make things happen in a coordinated, safe and successful fashion. That is what makes a fully competent skipper or crew member. Teaching that is very difficult and getting to that level takes more than few seasons or even years of experience. Now you start to get the picture of the difficulty of obtaining a top level of status for that set of skills. For me it was a few years of the learning curve to become a consistent competitor and also successful into the trophy level of competitive sailing, both inshore and offshore short and long multi-day racing and cruising.
Yeah, I see that, but this is still a good and helpful description. Honestly, now I think I am in the 4 to 5 channel range in a sailboat, whereas in a kayak i am certainly 12+. I like that thought, its a good way to think about it.
Good to hear from you again - and great to have 'positive Brett' back :)
Thanks!
I did the 1st NOLS kayaking/sailing trip in 2009 when I was 19. Then it was called the Year in the Sonoran and Baja was the second session. It was the most amazing time of my life I will never forget it and changed me as a person forever.
It’s a great program.
I loved my NOLS sea kayaking course that I did last year in Baja, and agree that the instructors are really amazing on personal and professional levels. I’m so impressed that you continue to expand your professional competency into new areas, and not just rest on your remarkable laurels as a professional kayaker, outdoor educator, UA-camr and author.
This is just too kind of a comment. Thank you.
It feels like you had time to reflect and now have a plan in mind!
Well, in fairness, the plan is pretty similar to my pre-NOLS plan, but I wont get the bump of knowledge/experience of working for NOLS. Most of the direction Chris gave me is a more fine tuned version of what I was already doing - which is justifying the path I put myself on. At least I was doing that right!
@@AdventureOtaku that’s awesome!
In that short clip of you sailing in the small boat at about 6:00 you should be on the windward side of the boat. Hold the tiller like a microphone, and work on passing the tiller behind your back while tacking. The hardest skill to accomplish will be your COB, really try and understand points of sail, and you will be successful.
Totally understand points of sail. Have done cob in rough water and high wind with both NOLS and myself. And yes I was holding the tiller wrong. Not sure why I chose that shot. Ironically NOLS didn’t like me holding the tiller the way you describe. Because sailing….
@@AdventureOtaku Interesting, I did a slight edit to my post, saying you should be on the windward side of the boat. When singlehanding I could understand being on the leeward, when trimming the jib, or in light winds to get the correct heel angle.
Yeah, also because I haven’t sailed with my wife in a long time, I know that was shot WAY before I did my NOLS sailing course. So I was a pretty new sailor at the time. Again, poor choice in shot to use.
Love the reality statement..."You have a wife, a home...things like that..." Sorry about the assessment, but the same moments of reality hit me a few years back thinking I had time to teach and qualify for WFA Instructor. :(
Ya know, it’s a valid statement. It is really hard to balance an outdoor lifestyle (at the professional level) and having a relationship. I have a VERY understanding wife. She knows that it is something I need to do. But at the same time I love coming home. That’s one of the reasons we built the van so we could all go on adventures together.