New to Sailing and Struggling with Plan

[Svsilvergirl]

Bigjer40 , amazing how close to identical our plans are. Me and my lovely wife belong to island sailing club , and this will be our last month with dues. After completing the basic asa101 class we sailed their boats as often as we could. We also spent slot of time sailing on people's boats in Portland. My wife joined owsa (Oregon women's sailing associate. ) and that has been a great learning experience , and opportunity to meet lots of boat owners , and get out on lots of different boats. We looked for a year at different boats , and just bought an islander 44. So far we love it. If you want to check out a cat up close , I have a friend with a 38 seawind and it's here on the Columbia river. He loves it. His wife also belongs to owsa. Our islander silvergirl is the first boat that both of us fell in love with , after looking at a lot of damn boats. She is still up in Olympia , and we are bringing her home July 22.
Good luck with your search

[bigjer40]

Hey Silvergirl! Congrat's that is awesome. I can't wait to get to that point. Allen with Island Sailing took us out on Catalina 22 on Saturday. What a beautiful day. You know how strong the current is right now! After several tacks, we had to motor to avoid getting personal with the I5 bridge Any who, would you do anything different? I think Island is right for us, but not completely sold. Not sure how my girl is gonna sail all day with me in their boats with no head. OWSA is something she wants to do, but she is shy and nervous about it. She realizes the experience and friendships would be great, it is just taking that first step.

[Svsilvergirl]

Bigjer , my wife would be more than happy to bring your wife to a meeting . The next one is this Wednesday. I truly think we have gotten more benefit from owsa , than island sailing. No substitute for all the contacts she will make , and all the classes and presentations that owsa makes available. And learning from somebody besides you is a great thing. If your wife is interested drop me an email at svsilvergirl.bob@gmail.com , and I will get you my wife's contact info.

[rorider]

Originally Posted by bigjer40

Hey Silvergirl! Congrat's that is awesome. I can't wait to get to that point. Allen with Island Sailing took us out on Catalina 22 on Saturday. What a beautiful day. You know how strong the current is right now! After several tacks, we had to motor to avoid getting personal with the I5 bridge Any who, would you do anything different? I think Island is right for us, but not completely sold. Not sure how my girl is gonna sail all day with me in their boats with no head. OWSA is something she wants to do, but she is shy and nervous about it. She realizes the experience and friendships would be great, it is just taking that first step.

If memory serves me correctly, ISC has porta-potties for use. I know, not ideal, but when you gotta go...
You could always plan stops at the 42nd Ave ramp to use the facilities there.
I'd sail everything ISC has for at least a year, at all of their locations; then begin looking for what you really need in a boat, and what you really don't want in a boat.
Good luck,

[Jblume]

Hey bigjer40 and Svsilvergirl! I'm also in Portland and my husband and I have similar to plans to yours. I going to be checking out Island Sailing Club and have just recently joined OWSA. If your wives/girlfriends would be interested in meeting up with me sometime as one of the general meetings or elsewhere, have them drop me an e-mail at iamjenblume*at*gmail*dot*com.

[Tingum]

Most people make the mistake of buying a boat for their dreams, not for the area they will actually use it in. There is a boat for every purpose. Many "sailors" in the southern coastal states have a deeper draft sailboat that they can only motor up and down the ICW. They would have mre fun and get more use out of a pontoon boat. Buy a small inexpensive boat to learn on in the river and see if you both actually enjoy sailing! If so work your way up. Charter a saltwater boat and see if you like limited cruising.