First Boat, No Sailing Experience

[jahillsr]

Thank you for your service AirBoyzT! May you and your wife find the balance that works for you both. I think, and hope, sailing will help you find peace.

[cfarrar]

Thank you for your service and personal sacrifice.

This could be a great starter boat. Keep it simple. A handhelp GPS is all you need for a "chartplotter." You can start with a hank on jib for now.

Place your priority on making sure that the boat's in good physical condition: hull, thru-hull fittings, rudder hardware, mast step, standing rigging. The other stuff is optional. Sure, you'll want a dinghy. But don't feel like you need the perfect Bahamas dink at this point, since you can cross that bridge when you come to it. Any old dinghy will work for now. Just get out there and sail, anchor out, and have fun.

[Bash]

The O'Day 25 has trained hundreds of newbies how to sail. Maybe thousands. Does the one you're looking at have the lifting keel? If so, it will be a great boat for Chesapeake gunkholing, and for the intercoastal waterway.

That boat is basically designed to be a good trailer boat. If trailering is not on your agenda, there are other boats in that size/price range that might serve better for passages that involve crossing the Gulf Stream.

[roverhi]

The boat sounds like a good basic boat for what you want to do. A single burner Sea Swing type stove will do most all the cooking you'll want to do on the boat. Went to SoPac without a dinghy motor or at least that worked. Rowed our Avon Redcrest all over. Never a problem and great exercise especially on 3-4 mile jaunts.

If you don't have balance problems from your injuries, you could get by without roller furling. Roller furling will ease storage issues of extra sails. Be patient and keep an eye out on Ebay and Craig's List and you can probably get a deal on the furling. Same goes for a GPS like the garmin 2/3/478 series. Some form of self steering will be mandatory if you plan on single handing much. A one armed tiller pilot with a solar panel or two for electrons would probably do just fine.

Don't know if you ever plan on trailer sailing but the center board version of the boat looks like a good boat. Plenty of lead for stability and the center board for thin water sailing and trailering.

[gjordan]

AirBoyz, make sure you learn proper anchoring skills along with the sailing lessons. More boats are lost to poor anchoring skills than are ever lost to poor sailing skills. Have a wonderfull time!_____Grant.

[smaarch]

lets talk sailing:
i cant speak to your disability but i think its important to understand what you need.
I sail a 30' mostly single handed
nothing fancy and i prefer it that way
hank on jib, symmetrical spinnaker....etc.
full compliment of sails

i manage to get out into the Atlantic dancing every year and i continuously adapt my boat for how i sail.
I'm able bodied 54yo
and i manage to get my butt kicked by weather every now and then.
my mantra has become shorten sail and reef early.
this is based on my own experience being on a foredeck in heavy seas.

I would advise you consider your own limitations realistically (objectively) and adapt equipment and procedure accordingly.

before heading out spend some time with your boat and crew.

an Oday 25 is a decent boat and can do what you want it to given the proper experience for the situation.

Profound thanks for your service.

[Pete7]

The British Army is also using sailing as a way of relaxing the troops when they come back from tours. It gets them back into a more normal way of life. I also find service personnel easy to teach and learn quickly. You already having many of the skills needed.

Sounds like you might be sailing solo from time to time. An autopilot will make a big difference in that it will maintain a steady course whilst you go to the loo, check the navigation or put the kettle on for a cup of tea. Ours makes sailing our 31ft yacht so much easier.

Something like this will be a real boon:

Raymarine ST1000 & ST2000 Tiller Pilots

[Eleven]

Go for it. Map reading, route planning, supplies. No sailor can teach you anything about those subjects. I sailed a 31ft Cat with no previous experience, and only one iffy moment caught by bad weather. With my 21ft day sailor there's a couple of tweaks I can recommend.
Add some washing line to the foresail halliard so you pull the jib down without leaving the cockpit. The main is easy to do.
With a rope and bungey rig the tiller so it stays where you put it. That gives you time to tend to other things, like sail trim, coffee etc.
I would STRONGLY recommend a tiller pilot (an actuator (piston style)) that holds the boat on a set heading. Needs a car battery and solar panel and is then self sufficient.
Use paper charts to start with. Two sheets of clear plastic cut to folded map size and hinged(tape) on one edge provide a weather proof cockpit system. These GPS things don't give the detail of water depth unless you zoom in tight. Charts show you where you have to avoid. I also biro marked mine with max currents above and below direction arrows with hours +/- to high tide at my marina because that was a time I was usually aware of without having to check tide tables.
Outboard. 4hp does my 21ft nicely. Too heavy for a small dinghy, and nowhere to put a small dinghy. Canoe, the fat ones, seem easier to store on board, and go on a car roof.
The boat can then be left on moorings and yo have the option to anchor and paddle ashore when touring.
Expect a water speed of 4kts for that boat and look at where that will get you in one day against the tide.
Camping stoves with the little aerosol cylinders are not great. Caravan ones are better.
Cast iron fry pan will cook everything, great breakfasts! Add a pan for boiling spuds and a whistle kettle. Sorted.
I would also suggest hand held Radio and GPS. They are expensive items that thieves love to pick up.
And a spare anchor in a cockpit locker makes a handbrake when needed. Tie the loose end onto something! It won't overcome a full set of sails, but it will slow things down a bit. Bucket on a rope helps in deep water, maintains a generally downwind direction too.
Living aboard? Much cheaper than living ashore, finding the right Marina is hard though.
All the very best to you.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by AirBoyzT

......
Will I need to get a dinghy to tow behind it?
......

An inflatable dinghy/canoe, foot pump and a pair of oars serves reasonably well when you have a small boat. The canoe shape rows better. Biggest drawback with an inflatable is that it is difficult to row into a strong headwind.