How Will I Ever Learn?

[scarlet]

I have a long term plan of buying a catamaran and becoming a full time cruiser when we retire.. (6 years). But, as of 4 months ago, I had never even been on a sailboat. My husband and I bought a small sailboat at the end of May so that we can begin to learn everything we need to know about sailing.

How's it going? not great!!

Here is the problem. since we bought our sailboat we've had 16 weekends in which to sail. (can't sail during the week because we work, and it's a bit of a drive to get there... )

Here is what happened in those 16 weekends:

4 of those weekends I was out of town. (family issues)
5 of those weekends my husband was working (he works shift work)
2 of those weekends we used to work on the boat. (major cleaning.. and repairs needed since it was an old boat owned by a bachelor who used it for partying.. )
1 weekend we went out on a friends boat
2 weekends the weather wasn't conducive to sailing
2 weekends .. we went out and had a good sail.

and now the season is nearing a close.. and I feel like I've learned so little. I have to learn enough in the next 6 years to be able to go on blue water passages... I need WAY more time to learn than this... right?

Or, am I just thinking that this is a way bigger deal to learn than it actually is.

so my question is... how experienced do you think I would need to be able to handle water sailing">blue water sailing? and do you think this is even feasible this close to retirement?

[weavis]

Originally Posted by scarlet

I have a long term plan of buying a catamaran and becoming a full time cruiser when we retire.. (6 years). But, as of 4 months ago, I had never even been on a sailboat. My husband and I bought a small sailboat at the end of May so that we can begin to learn everything we need to know about sailing.

How's it going? not great!!

Here is the problem. since we bought our sailboat we've had 16 weekends in which to sail. (can't sail during the week because we work, and it's a bit of a drive to get there... )

Here is what happened in those 16 weekends:

4 of those weekends I was out of town. (family issues)
5 of those weekends my husband was working (he works shift work)
2 of those weekends we used to work on the boat. (major cleaning.. and repairs needed since it was an old boat owned by a bachelor who used it for partying.. )
1 weekend we went out on a friends boat
2 weekends the weather wasn't conducive to sailing
2 weekends .. we went out and had a good sail.

and now the season is nearing a close.. and I feel like I've learned so little. I have to learn enough in the next 6 years to be able to go on blue water passages... I need WAY more time to learn than this... right?

Or, am I just thinking that this is a way bigger deal to learn than it actually is.

so my question is... how experienced do you think I would need to be able to handle blue water sailing? and do you think this is even feasible this close to retirement?

Seems to me that you ARE learning the realities of Boat ownership

Dont stress it. One day you will be out there and be sure of a good boat under you and it all will come together.

What you are doing IS what we all do.

[DumnMad]

Don't worry mate - you've got a plan and you've got time.

We had never sailed til we bought and moved onto our 1st boat a 45ft ketch at aged 71. Wondered if we'd ever leave port.

2.5yrs later we crossed the Tasman - 13days - with 2 very good delivery crew.
Had fun, 40 to 50 knots at one stage. You kids have got plenty of time

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by scarlet

Or, am I just thinking that this is a way bigger deal to learn than it actually is.

so my question is... how experienced do you think I would need to be able to handle blue water sailing? and do you think this is even feasible this close to retirement?

Keep learning, 6 years is a long time and once you get your own big boat you can spend a season learning the boat.

The more time you can spend on a small boat the better sailor you will become. Spend as much time as you can sailing.

If there is a sailing school near you take a class.

In a year or so, take a vacation and charter a larger boat.

Don't be afraid of making mistakes, we all do.

Sail on!

[Cheechako]

Sounds like what happens a lot of the time... life intervenes.... you will need to start prioritizing sailing the boat as much as you can. That's about all you can do. So something will have to give... obviously work trumps sailing... I would say of all my boats that 50% time working on them is about average. But that will lessen immensely once you are living aboard and /or cruising.
It sounds like you are doing routine maintenance... but if you start drifting into big changes.. take a breath and ask yourself if it's really worth it.
I see many on this forum talking about doing major changes, completely re doing the galley or interior for that matter! That is something to appreciate in itself... but has little to do with cruising and more to do with having fun 'messing with boats".
In reality, once you are out cruising a lot of that stuff really doesn't matter that much.
Every once in a while I would pull out my old spiral notebook of sketches ,lists and projects that were done ... or planned... prior to going down island.
I had to laugh at some of the things I wanted to do but never got done... seemed just crazy once I was sitting in the cockpit in a gentle breeze surrounded by white sand.... "Now why did I think I couldnt survive with a 3 burner stove instead of a 2 burner again?" I might have spent $1500 "solving" that problem! haha glad I ran out of time....

[MBWhite]

Here's what is read in your post:

Originally Posted by scarlet

1 weekend we went out on a friends boat

Hey, that is a great start! You've learned what some people NEVER do, that some of the best sailing is on other peoples boats, LOL!


In all seriousness, you are off to a great start. You are taking the responsible approach and by working on your own boat now you will be far far ahead of the game when you get out on the water next summer. As mentioned, I wouldn't sweat it as IMHO knowing about your boat is much more important than technically knowing how to sail perfectly. A couple of passages and you'll feel pretty secure so don't worry about the future that much. Did you have a good time this summer? That's the important question to ask yourself.


Mark

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by DumnMad

Don't worry mate - you've got a plan and you've got time.

We had never sailed til we bought and moved onto our 1st boat a 45ft ketch at aged 71. Wondered if we'd ever leave port.

2.5yrs later we crossed the Tasman - 13days - with 2 very good delivery crew.
Had fun, 40 to 50 knots at one stage. You kids have got plenty of time

oh wow!!! you are my hero!! seriously... I want to be just like you when I grow up.

It can be just so overwhelming.. everything you have to learn. Last year, over the winter.. I spent it studying my "sailing 101" course book.. and plan on doing 103 this winter... but reading and studying isn't the same as doing. I want to get a feel for trimming the sails.. and understanding wind direction.. etc.. etc.. etc...

you can only do that on a boat..

[weavis]

Originally Posted by scarlet

oh wow!!! you are my hero!! seriously... I want to be just like you when I grow up.

It can be just so overwhelming.. everything you have to learn. Last year, over the winter.. I spent it studying my "sailing 101" course book.. and plan on doing 103 this winter... but reading and studying isn't the same as doing. I want to get a feel for trimming the sails.. and understanding wind direction.. etc.. etc.. etc...

you can only do that on a boat..

One cruise with a good sailor will straighten you out. Seriously. Then its reinforced with another cruise. It will happen. Dont panic Lassie.......

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Sounds like what happens a lot of the time... life intervenes.... you will need to start prioritizing sailing the boat as much as you can. That's about all you can do. So something will have to give... obviously work trumps sailing... I would say of all my boats that 50% time working on them is about average. But that will lessen immensely once you are living aboard and /or cruising.
It sounds like you are doing routine maintenance... but if you start drifting into big changes.. take a breath and ask yourself if it's really worth it.
I see many on this forum talking about doing major changes, completely re doing the galley or interior for that matter! That is something to appreciate in itself... but has little to do with cruising and more to do with having fun 'messing with boats".
In reality, once you are out cruising a lot of that stuff really doesn't matter that much.
Every once in a while I would pull out my old spiral notebook of sketches ,lists and projects that were done ... or planned... prior to going down island.
I had to laugh at some of the things I wanted to do but never got done... seemed just crazy once I was sitting in the cockpit in a gentle breeze surrounded by white sand.... "Now why did I think I couldnt survive with a 3 burner stove instead of a 2 burner again?" I might have spent $1500 "solving" that problem! haha glad I ran out of time....

well.. our boat is pretty old.. but it doesn't have a lot on it.. But, sails needed to be repaired... and wood maintained... and we had to put in a new battery... and fix the electricity so that we could sail at night.. And honestly one of the reasons we bought the boat was to learn how to make repairs.. so.. I know there is value in that...

but DARN IT!!! I want to SAIL!!!!!!!

[gjordan]

This is advice from an old cruiser that has done very little racing. RACE! as crew on large or small boats, as much as you can. You will learn how to handle a boat much faster than if you go out for weekends and putter around. You are already learning about boat ownership (money and time) but sail trim under pressure will help you for the rest of your sailing years. This doesnt mean that you have to push your own boat like a race boat, but you will know how to get the most out of it that you want. The other advantage of racing, is that you often get to learn with the only cost being sandwiches and beer. The most important thing is to have fun. ______Grant.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Scarlet...

It's too late... you got the bug... I've seen all of your boat show posts, and the Christmas morning-like hyperexcitement....

This is the crap that happens... sooner rather than later though... You'll be laughing at all of the silly things you didn't know:

The first trip...
The first season...
The next spring...
And all of the outings you had...

Keep going, keep asking questions, keep reading...

After all...

You are a sailor...

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by scarlet

I have a long term plan of buying a catamaran and becoming a full time cruiser when we retire.. (6 years).

<snip>

so my question is... how experienced do you think I would need to be able to handle blue water sailing? and do you think this is even feasible this close to retirement?

6 years is a lot of time. Make the boat a priority and keep plugging away at it.

You'll get more boat time as long as you stick after it.

You've go the boat and all of it is learning for the "big one"

[maytrix]

You've got plenty of time and what you experienced this summer isn't unusual. We have a boat in charter that we plan on living on 8 months out of the year starting around 2017 and got a small boat just to get more practice in all things boat related. Last year was the first full year we had this smaller boat and we used it a fair amount and did a decent amount of work too. This year we had less worth to do, but we only left the mooring ball twice and two other times we sat and enjoyed a few hours on it on the ball. We just lost many weekends to other stuff. Two sailing on vacation, two just getting it ready a few to weather and then the rest to family stuff and other priorities.

Just get out as much as you can and try to prioritize next season as much as possible. You can learn to sail in a weekend. Mastering may take a lifetime. I've been sailing of and on since I was 5 and in still learning (I'm 40 now).

[a64pilot]

You've never been on a sailboat before, but you know you want a Cat?

[ontherocks83]

More importantly what did you learn and become comfortable doing during your 2 weekends sailing? Bet if you really think about it you learned more then you realized. You'll absolutely get there no doubt. My guess is your getting the end of the season blues like everyone else above the snow belt and are realizing how fast summers go by. Next year if your husband is working take a friend sailing instead and teach them what you know.

Ask lots of questions. Keep studying and remember to be "irresponsible" and just go sailing. You have the rest of your life to apologize for missing your 2nd cousins kids 1st birthday party.