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Learning the ropes in Chesapeake Bay

Fixing the rigging: No problem

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (CNN) -- Five weeks' experience around the gorgeous Greek Islands on the placid Ionian Sea, and of course you get a taste for it.

So if me and my partner are ever going to have a crack at that dream to sail around the world, we had better get some training.

To Annapolis, Maryland -- home of the U.S. Navy and gateway to the stunning Chesapeake Bay.

My fellow crew members are highly qualified but so far the only technique I feel I have mastered is how to mix a perfect gin and tonic in all weathers.

If nothing else, this three-day course will tell me if I have what it takes -- and if not I can always extend my list of cocktails.

We start on dry land under the tutelage of Captain Bob. Using a scaled model of a sloop -- a boat with one mast and two sails -- he explains terms and demonstrates manoeuvres.

We are then put into groups of four and head for the dock with our instructor. The largest area of the sloop is the cockpit, which means there is plenty of room to move as we rotate through the tasks necessary to handle the boat.

The instructor sits in a small space at the stern, with the composed wisdom of Gandhi.

Tighe: Mixes a mean gin and tonic

Lesson one -- rigging. No problems. We worked in pairs on the mainsheet and jib. The only way out was under sail, but as this was lesson one we were towed.

Steering the thing was more tricky. In a car to turn left, you turn the steering wheel left. On a boat you pull to the right. This defeated poor Nanette, our fourth crewmember.

But like the road, there are problems with congestion and when a motorboat ploughed towards us, Nanette was preparing to jump overboard. Happily a collision was avoided and I got to learn some colourful new sailing terms too.

By the second day we were having reservations about that trip round the world. Gale-force winds and driving rain meant nobody was keen to sail, including the instructors. It was a shame we had not signed up at the sister school at St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A suitable time though to cover emergency procedures -- thunderstorms, running aground and crewmember overboard. Our sense of foreboding grew.

But later when we set sail from the windswept dock, it was exhilarating. Wind and rain concentrated our minds as the boat became more responsive. The clothing was not waterproof but we were having so much fun it did not matter.

The instructor was a bit tetchy and when he announced we would practise the man overboard manoeuvre, there was no doubt as to who was going in the drink. The only question, why would we rescue him?

The day's highlight was sailing to Annapolis marina. Getting in was easy, but we learned a lot getting out. The wind forced us to tack for an hour -- like driving in zigzags around traffic cones.

The final day was glorious and the hard work of the first two days filled us all with confidence. It was clear we had got the hang of this.

And we were awarded diplomas, making us qualified to serve as crew or skipper on keel boats up to 24 feet.

Maybe we will go round the world after all.