Go big or training wheels?

[Cheechako]

I'm thinking go for the big boat now. It takes a couple years to get everything on it sorted out how you want it anyway.
An alternative would be to buy a smaller Non trailerable. Trailering a sailboat is a PITA. You will be worn out by the time you setup the rig, launch and reverse all that!
Or , rather than invest big...., maybe a smaller but a boat that stays in the marina, you will be able to go out and really see if you both like the cruising part... for weekends, vactions etc...

[hoppy]

I went from zero to hero, sort of.

I sailed a lot up until about 21 on my fathers 27 and then 34 foot yachts. For one winter whilst we still had both boats I had full access to that the 27 out. Then I did not sail again for another 25 years. I had a motorboat for a couple of seasons before I got bored of it. Sold it and bought my first yacht, my 40ft Jeanneau.

I arranged a skipper to "hold my hand" for the first 5 days, then had 2 weeks with my family. Since then I have mostly sailed solo, no problem.

Life's to short to take baby steps in the buying game. Go for it...

Hire a skipper to give you a training course on your boat for a week or until you feel confident enough.

[Legend1673]

Thanks everyone for the replies. As much as I want the Morgan now, smaller first is seeming to make more sense.

A couple additions (to answer ?s).

My recent experience entails about a dozen day trips and 2 overighters with different skippers on different boats. Amazing what you can find at the local yacht club.

Budget (now vs later) is not a huge concern for us.

7 years is as far out as we will go. We are debt free except for the house which will be paid off in 7 years...hopefully expedited to 5 years.

Planning on long distance cruising without plans or schedule. Renting the house plus savings should allow us to stay gone as long as we want.




Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[hoppy]

If you are unsure that you will actually do it in 5-7 years then take the baby steps, but if you feel you will certainly do it, get the boat you want to do it on now.

If you buy smaller, you will end up having to throw money at it which will feel wasted, then you'll have the hassle of trying to sell it.

If anything, do your training course, crew as much as possible at the local club and perhaps even do a 2 week charter. Then buy the boat you want

[Tayana42]

Understand there are several different aspects of sail cruising to learn. How to sail a boat, shape sails, manage ballast, maneuver to a dock, minor fiberglass repair and some rope work are all easier to learn on a smaller less complex and less costly boat. Living aboard and cruising involves many skills you will not learn on a small boat. Diesel mechanics, electronic navigation, pressure water systems, waste water management, handling big sails in bigger wind and rough seas, anchoring systems and techniques, bottom cleaning, provisioning, dinghy management, storage of spare parts, route planning, weather...are all necessary skills requiring study and practice.

So, no really right or wrong approach. There is a great advantage to both. Whether you buy your cruising boat now or later, try to find time on a small light simple boat, racing, club or just daysailing. That will be the easiest part and the quickest to learn. Then give yourselves time, preferably a couple of years or more to get to know your cruising boat, and to experience living aboard before cutting the dock lines.

Best wishes for you on the start of your sailing adventure.


S/V B'Shert

[Cadence]

I believe you should go slow. Get the experience and take some courses the insurance industry will recognize. You may find you have bought the proverbial hole it the water that is not what you want or worse yet you can't find live aboard insurance or even liability to meet marina requirements.


For what it may or may not be worth?

[IntoMyHealth]

Originally Posted by hoppy

I went from zero to hero, sort of.



I sailed a lot up until about 21 on my fathers 27 and then 34 foot yachts. For one winter whilst we still had both boats I had full access to that the 27 out. Then I did not sail again for another 25 years. I had a motorboat for a couple of seasons before I got bored of it. Sold it and bought my first yacht, my 40ft Jeanneau.



I arranged a skipper to "hold my hand" for the first 5 days, then had 2 weeks with my family. Since then I have mostly sailed solo, no problem.



Life's to short to take baby steps in the buying game. Go for it...



Hire a skipper to give you a training course on your boat for a week or until you feel confident enough.

This thread is great. Everyone's opinion is right for the particular poster. The one above is so close to mine it's a little scary. We closed on a "modern" 47 footer five months ago and find it easy to handle and very comfortable. But it took us two years of weighing, shopping, and educating ourselves to get there. And we consider this the beginning. Go with what feels right. My only advise is to not kid yourself financially. Burying yourself will only breed frustration and resentment, which are both anti-sailing. I'm excited for you! Good luck!



Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[DefinitelyMe]

I would go stright for the 38-footer if that's the one you want. Buying and selling boats is a pain and you're also bound to lose money in the process. No matter how nice a boat is when you buy it there will always be things you don't like and want to change.

Sailing a 38-foot boat isn't inherently any harder than sailing a smaller one, it's just more expensive if you screw up! There are also many things that apply to small boats that don't apply to big ones and vice versa, so you'd have to re-learn a lot of stuff anyway if you started small and moved up. It will be daunting and the learning curve will be steep, but in my experience if i have a lack of skills in some area it's never been too hard to bribe someone more knowledgeable with beer to teach me!

[Divevac]

Go big and get a Laser\Laser II. Sail the hell out of the dinghy and you will be rewarded in short order with incredible sailing knowledge, experience and confidence. Time in is time in. Everything I needed to know (including spinnaker work) about sailing I learned in my Laser. All that dinghy experience has served me well in all my sailing endeavours over 40 years (racing around buoys, distance, ocean) and cruising. There is no substitute for experience and confidence on the water. Dinghies will demand a great deal of you initially but reward you with invaluable experience and confidence without breaking the bank!

Good luck...

[thomm225]

It looks like you have very little experience on boats.

What if you find cruising a bit slow for your taste then maybe the 32' boat would be all you need for daysailing, weekends, and short trips of a few weeks.

I see lots and lots of boats that rarey leave the marina.

There's a Hylas 44 here that is an awesome boat, but it never moves expect up and down with the tide. After 5 years, it is now for sale I believe and that's just one of 100's.

[FamilyVan]

I actually frequently miss my 30', cost is a factor for me, but not a crippling cost, my 35 is paid off and I'm debt free.

The reason I miss my 30 is she was so easy to sail. I'd finish work at 5:30 and actually go out for a half hour sail in the evening. I just don't do that on my 35. It's more work to set the sails, douse the sails, get in and out of dock etc. I do this all on my own to boot. Not only that but my 30 was more performance based and we could really sail the snot out of it with no concern. 25-30 knots- to heck with it- put everything up, we'll go faster! I don't really do that with our live aboard.

I'm seriously thinking about trading down in size for cruising.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[WindwardPrinces]

Get the boat you can use now. Smaller = cheaper. You can learn a lot on a smaller boat that will save you money when you get a larger boat. You'll also build confidence a lot quicker, and find out what you like and don't like.

Depending on the size, it wouldn't surprise me if you could completely pay for the smaller boat just in the difference you'd pay for maintenance/slip fees for the larger boat.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by WindwardPrinces

Get the boat you can use now. Smaller = cheaper. You can learn a lot on a smaller boat that will save you money when you get a larger boat. You'll also build confidence a lot quicker, and find out what you like and don't like.

Depending on the size, it wouldn't surprise me if you could completely pay for the smaller boat just in the difference you'd pay for maintenance/slip fees for the larger boat.

And then some.

[GILow]

I grew up sailing since I was four, owned lots of odd boats on the way, but I am still very glad we did not rush into our current 42 footer but went via a 20 foot trailer sailor for a few reasons.

1. The trailer sailor was my first boat with the inclusion of a galley, bedding, electrics etc, and it got my thinking on such things in a much better space. I was much clearer on what was important to me.

2. It was the first boat I owned where I could not just get out and push, weighing in at a bit over a ton. The sails were big enough that they needed to be manged, while still being manageable. So in summary, the boat was big enough to be treated seriously while not being so big that a mistake was likely to be a disaster.

3. Finally, we owned the 20 foot boat for about five years, during which time it halved in value, mainly due to the GFC. But in the same period the 42 footer we were looking at halved in value too. Needless to say this translated to a huge saving.

If I were doing it all again I would do much the same. Maybe a slightly bigger trailer boat, simply because getting around decks on a 24 footer is generally a bit easier than a 20 footer. And since many clubs offer hard stand storage with the mast up the launch and retrieval is not such a drama. I had launch down to less than ten minutes including parking the club tractor. And FWIW I plan to go back to a trailer boat one day when I've had enough of the big boring 42 footer. I still miss it.

Matt


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Don C L]

Lot of good advice here. I like what divevac said. And I don't like the term "training wheels." Get 2 lasers or Hobie Cats (one for you and your wife, better to learn solo) and have lots of crazy, wet, fast fun with them and when you both have really caught the SAILING bug you will then be in a much better mindset for big boat shopping. you can do both at the same time if you are POSITIVE about your big boat choice, but even experienced sailors change their minds about their dream boats. Check Bluewaterboats.org for a bunch of good ones. all my humble opinion...