Slickette

Just thinking....a deaf and non-speaking driver would be great.  power of concentration, feel, and all that.  plus, how many times have we yelled from the front "shut up and drive the fuckin boat!.

put your friend on the stick and you trim

Not a bad idea. All I need to do is teach him to drive.
Actually, the stick is one of my least favorite places to be. I'd rather be moving around, getting things done. So this idea is even better.

Being female, I roll my eyes.
However, I do appreciate your equal bikini opportunity ... so, +1.

Hey there,

Yes, I used to race a J/24 with a deaf guy doing bow. As it so happens, he recently moved to DC. I'll PM you with his contact info.

We made it all up as we went along, usually with him teaching us a simple alphabet based sign. "H" for halyard, "P" for pole, "J" for gybe (yeah, I know, but simpler to sign then a "G" as I recall) and so on. It was actually pretty brilliant for racing: a little tap on the deck to get his attention, a discrete hand signal, and we're into the maneuver, never telegraphing a move to the competition! We did have to teach him to slow down and wait for the rest of the boat on gybes... And if something got fucked up, he just fixed it, with utter disregard for whatever anyone on the boat was hollering  

It's really no big deal to race with deaf crew, as long as you can work this sort of stuff out together. It does make it sort of tough to include him in strategic and tactical discussion & decision making however...

FANTASTIC!  THANK YOU, Rockhead.

Knowing how to finger-spell (sign a,b,c, names, etc) will go a long way to explain all of the names and functions of a sailboat.  There is very few signs for sailboats because... Very few Deaf people sail. Extremely few.  When there isn't a sign for something, we Deaf finger-spell when mentioning it.  

I am the only one I know that sailed in Gallaudet during my years there.  The only one.  I'm sure there were other Deaf people that sailed but I didn't meet them.  Almost nonbody I knew even used boats (in a serious way), too.  I am the only Deaf person I know that also is a boat nut.  It gets kinda lonely for me, as you can imagine...

It will be a uphill battle for your Deaf friend to learn how to sail (other than observation as a passenger).  Best suggestion I have are... know how to finger-spell, have the Deaf friend observe things while sailing and find sources for the Deaf friend to read up on sailing.  

PM me if you have any more specific questions.

Yesac13, Thanks for your reply. I've done many of the things you suggest, found him reading material (kids n' boating worked great as a starter bit), met with him to go over parts of the boat and develop some common signs that we would both know, to replace fingerspelling, and invited him out on our 30' boat to get started. We are also working with SCOW (sailing club of washington) to get him involved and, hopefully, foster a love for sailing. Thanks for your message. I'll also PM you.

A few I've liked:

My Wife Is The Best
EuroTrash Girl

Out here on the bay there is a little boat named Off Like A Prom Dress, with a silhouette of a woman's dress flying through the air. I do this it's pretty funny.

of course, my fav was on a dingy ... written in all caps across the waterline "WIMSI"
when it was turtled, it read "ISWIM"

hahaha. Would include a picture, but I can't find it now...

Back in the IOR / Leadmine days, there was a boat in Sausalito with a large dominatrix painting down the side; a woman in boots, bustier and whip = a gorgeous graphic.

The name of the boat:

Leather to Weather

+1

If Gallaudet does not have a team or club, I am guessing there may not be one.  Your best shot is to find some one who is deaf / hearing impaired that is a sailor and can share some experiences / signs / knowledge.

Yup - exactly! Gally certainly does not have an official club and no sailors that we are aware of. Deaf sailors, those that use ASL, are exactly what we are looking for.

There was a guy on the forum that came out sailing on Dragon one time for a delivery in 2009.... did his own restoration on a beautiful ketch.  Apologies but I can't remember his name or posting handle off the top of my head but if I do recall it I will come back and post.  He could be a good contact. Also there is a poster here on the forums by the name of Au Pres who has sailed out in southern CA and is now in RI at school.  She is hearing impaired - she may know of resources.

I will rummage around my emails to see if I can find that guy's name.

That would be great! I appreciate it!!! THANKS SO MUCH.