Getting started sailing cheaply.

[Hard Rock Candy]

Get well from your surgery. I've done the same thing. One year and you will hardly know you had it, You need to know that what ever you can figure out for a sail boat will probably work. I learned to sail in the winter on a ho-made ice sailer. Then when summer came I sailed a sailboat that I made out of a truck tube and a plywood keel. I had more fun on that and learned more about sailing than all the stuff I learned since. the actual sailing is very simple to learn, its the other things like how to read the weather etc. that are so complicated, but interesting if you plan on sailing a large live aboard. for sure do not lend to much credence to people that tell you it won't work without spending big bucks on it. I have never met any body that was a sailer that learned on an expensive boat, say that cost a thousand dollars. I have a small 10 ft long catamaran that cost 200 dollars and I can sail it with an umbrella, down wind of course. But when I'm playing who cares as long as its fun and goes somewhere. I really would not even ask about things like this. Just build it and drop it in the lake and go sailing. You have ever bit as much Knowledge as you need to do the next step. Mac

[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

G'Day Broken,

I'm in the "buy some sort of 12-16 foot daysailing dinghy " fold, but ya gotta do what looks best to you.

The big thing is good luck with the knee. You know by now that recovery is not so easy, but in time and with a lot of PT you will be sailable again. just today, my wife (Ann T Cate), complete with two TKRs plus two revisions managed the hike to the top of Cap Ndua on the southern lagoon of New Caledonia. A couple of Ks each way, bad footing, and over 700 feet up from sea level. She's hurting a bit now, but she made it to the top and we had stupendous views out over the lagoon, clear to Ile des Pins, 35 miles away!
And of course we sailed here from Australia... yep, there is sailing after knee replacement!

I hope that your surgery and recovery go well, mate.

Jim

Thanks Jim, tell Ann I said hello. Yeah have to be at the hospital in a little less than two hours. This type of implant is for the more active type person. They have people down hill snow skiing and playing tennis on these things, neither of which that I do but so far the right one is doing good for me.

Sent from my KFOT using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by Hard Rock Candy

Get well from your surgery. I've done the same thing. One year and you will hardly know you had it, You need to know that what ever you can figure out for a sail boat will probably work. I learned to sail in the winter on a ho-made ice sailer. Then when summer came I sailed a sailboat that I made out of a truck tube and a plywood keel. I had more fun on that and learned more about sailing than all the stuff I learned since. the actual sailing is very simple to learn, its the other things like how to read the weather etc. that are so complicated, but interesting if you plan on sailing a large live aboard. for sure do not lend to much credence to people that tell you it won't work without spending big bucks on it. I have never met any body that was a sailer that learned on an expensive boat, say that cost a thousand dollars. I have a small 10 ft long catamaran that cost 200 dollars and I can sail it with an umbrella, down wind of course. But when I'm playing who cares as long as its fun and goes somewhere. I really would not even ask about things like this. Just build it and drop it in the lake and go sailing. You have ever bit as much Knowledge as you need to do the next step. Mac

Thanks Mac

Sent from my KFOT using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Scout 30]

I'm a big fan of the little Scamp. Probably the most popular new design out there right now. You can build one or buy a fiberglass version.

https://www.facebook.com/SmallCraftA...agazineProject

[Fishbreath]

one word.... Sabot
i learned on one of these.
someone gave it to me from my mothers work..
How to Sail a Sabot: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
enjoy

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Fishbreath

one word.... Sabot
i learned on one of these.
someone gave it to me from my mothers work..
How to Sail a Sabot: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
enjoy

While the Sabot is a very popular boat worldwide, IIRC Broken is a big dude and the tiny Sabot would be cramped and overloaded with him aboard. There are far better choices around for him IMO.

Jim

[Fishbreath]

i sailed with my girlfriend a few time and she was on the heavy side..

[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by Fishbreath

one word.... Sabot
i learned on one of these.
someone gave it to me from my mothers work..
How to Sail a Sabot: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
enjoy

Fish, I am 6'6" tall and 255 lbs, I have lost weight. Down from 286 last Nov just before my last knee surgery. Everything went fine this morning in surgery. Just laying here recovering and viewing the forum on my Kindle.

Sent from my KFOT using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Fishbreath]

it will take you.. i had more weight than that in my little boat..
reason i quoted that boat is they are cheap.. and easy to sail.. you get a bit bigger sized boat.the cost and skill level goes up.. its hard to flip over these little boats.
be careful. this gets in your blood.. and your hooked.

[FamilyVan]

I've always been very curious about sailing canoes, but I've never owned one. I just bought a sailing dinghy today for $500 Canadian, so maybe $375 Us, and its almost brand new. Price wise, you won't be able to beat a used dinghy.

But if you want to sail a canoe, will you be sitting right at the stern? Maybe instead of rising the boom, you could shorten it?

I just bought a Walkers Bay 8' sailing dinghy, I'm not as big as you, but I'm not a little guy either (190lbs). She sails very nicely for me.

It might mess with your sail balance a little, but with an odd ball rig like you've described, she will not be a great sailor to start with. A cat rig, from the for end of a 15 6 canoe could be a pretty powerful rig, so maybe scale down the rig so the centre of effort is low, and the boom only comes back about 10' or so from the bow.

The boom won't hit your head if its a few feet in front of you, she'd likely still sail like the dickens, down wind any way.

Sent from my XP7700 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Fishbreath

it will take you.. i had more weight than that in my little boat..
reason i quoted that boat is they are cheap.. and easy to sail.. you get a bit bigger sized boat.the cost and skill level goes up.. its hard to flip over these little boats.
be careful. this gets in your blood.. and your hooked.

With due respect, fishbreath, I disagree with these statements. You may have had more weight in a Sabot than Broken's 250 lbs, but he is quite tall at 6'6", and those little prams just don't work well for folks of that size and weight, especially a chap who has artificial joints and other physical issues.'

And a bigger daysailor type dinghy is not harder to sail... it is far easier. MOre stability, more room to move around and stretch out legs/arms etc, better sailing performance. Much harder to capsize, despite what you claim, and easier to self recover if you do dump it. A guy his size with bum knees would have one hell of a time righting, bailing and re-entering a Sabot.

What's not to like? Price?? Well, perhaps a couple of hundred more up front, but this is recoverable money. Boats that old don't depreciate if you keep them up at all. There are heaps of 12-16 foot daysailors languishing in front y ards anywhere near a lake. A bit of scouting around will find him one if he chooses to buy rather than do his canoe project.

BTW, I owned an O'Day Osprey as my first boat, many years ago. this is a 15 foot version of their famous Day Sailor dinghy, not as popular in California. I paid 1200 bucks for it on a trailer, ready to sail. 18 months later, in one weekend I sold it for 1200 bucks, having put essentially no money in the boat, but some bearings in the trailer. I have sailed Opti's and El Toros (very similar to the Sabot), and even though I was 5'10 and 160 lbs back then, I found them very cramped and uncomfortable.

Nothing more to add... glad to hear that the surgery went well, Broken... get well/strong quickly, mate!

Jim

[Lepke]

By the time you spend your money making a canoe sail, you would have been better off renting a real sail boat and getting realistic skills.
When I was young, I did weekend work for a marina that rented 14 to 25 foot sailboats in trade for free sailing time.

[Fishbreath]

he started with wanting to make a canoe ...with no room..
and guaranteed to tip over..
you can put a sabut in the back of a truck on on top of a car.. no trailer..
my two cents is now three cents.. anyway.. good luck

[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by Fishbreath

he started with wanting to make a canoe ...with no room..
and guaranteed to tip over..
you can put a sabut in the back of a truck on on top of a car.. no trailer..
my two cents is now three cents.. anyway.. good luck

I have never said I want to build a canoe. I want to buy the canoe and build the sail kit and outriggers for it saving allot of money in the process. Still do not know what is so oddball about the plans for the lateen sailing rig that I posted here.

[IMG] http://dngoodchild.com/7888.jpg [/IMG]

Looks like most lateen rigs that I have seen even store bought rig shown here.

[IMG] https://www.sailboatstogo.com/img/ca...2009_041-2.jpg [/IMG]

Sent from my KFOT using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[brookiesailor]

What about some sort of cat boat?


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum