The first day begins with the sailing coaches delivering a condensed sailing lecture to the cadets. The cadet section then breaks up into crews of three or four to each Colgate and learns how to rig the boats from the boat’s Safety Officer. After a lunch break, the crews get underway from the pier and practice various sailing maneuvers on the Thames. Each cadet is rotated through the different positions on the boat to gain experience steering under sail and trimming the jib and mainsail. After a couple of hours tacking and jibing on the river, the basics have been remastered. 

The day begins with cadets holding a Navigation Brief to discuss environmental conditions for the day’s transit, the point of destination, hazards and aids to navigation along the route. Here, cadets begin to get in the mindset of how wind, current, and tide can affect various parts of the trip.

Furthermore, in studying the charts, cadets pick out specific navigation aids that they expect to see along the way. When the boats get underway, the cadet skipper runs the show; he/she decides when and how to maneuver, and calls out the commands to do so. As the navigation aids are spotted, cadets go to the charts and figure out what aid it is. Piecing together the navigation picture this way proves to be a valuable introduction to coastal navigation for cadets. They begin to gain the big picture in time for the Luders trips: both in navigation and sailing fundamentals.