Taal Lake Yacht Club Boatyard

Talisay - Laurel Rd, Talisay, Batangas, Philippines

I’ve always wanted to go sailing at least once in my life, and I mean on one of the hobie cats where I can participate in and not the big party sailing yachts. I used to live in San Francisco and enjoy watching the small sailboats go out on the bay on really nice days. Little did I know that I would be doing my first sailing back home :-) Three of us friends drove to this place in Taal Lake, about 1-1/2 hours away from Metro Manila, to take our first introductory lesson on sailing. We had no idea what it entailed but were really excited. We arrived, met our instructor and he sat us in a lecture hut to give us a bit of theoretical knowledge, and off we went into our hobie cat and started our way out the lake. It was hard trying to learn the concepts and terms while at the same time applying them in real life. We each learned to steer the boat using the rudder, release the ropes on the sail and also helped balance out the boat while it turned. We also learned how to tell where the wind was blowing (was it leeward or windward, haha) and watch for signs from the waves too. For a while there, the winds grew stronger and we tried to sail on, but after a while, the instructor made the call to return to shores given that it will be too risky for newbies like us. It was overwhelming, not knowing anything about the sea to begin with. But it was definitely an exciting day for us, and we did learn a lot about sailing. If newbies like us can do it, anyone can do it :-)

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Gone Sailing For A Day

I’ve always wanted to go sailing at least once in my life, and I mean on one of the hobie cats where I can participate in and not the big party sailing yachts. I used to live in San Francisco and enjoy watching the small sailboats go out on the bay on really nice days. Little did I know that I would be doing my first sailing back home :-) Three of us friends drove to this place in Taal Lake, about 1-1/2 hours away from Metro Manila, to take our first introductory lesson on sailing. We had no idea what it entailed but were really excited. We arrived, met our instructor and he sat us in a lecture hut to give us a bit of theoretical knowledge, and off we went into our hobie cat and started our way out the lake. It was hard trying to learn the concepts and terms while at the same time applying them in real life. We each learned to steer the boat using the rudder, release the ropes on the sail and also helped balance out the boat while it turned. We also learned how to tell where the wind was blowing (was it leeward or windward, haha) and watch for signs from the waves too. For a while there, the winds grew stronger and we tried to sail on, but after a while, the instructor made the call to return to shores given that it will be too risky for newbies like us. It was overwhelming, not knowing anything about the sea to begin with. But it was definitely an exciting day for us, and we did learn a lot about sailing. If newbies like us can do it, anyone can do it :-)

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