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Lizzy Belle · 19-12-2015, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mariner36bob

Yuck.
I'm going to sell the boat and buy back my Harley....

Harley ... those do kinda rock

sailing_gal · 19-12-2015, 14:54

Fixing a boat is NOTHING like fixing a house. Electrical system is completely different. The engine is probably different from anything you have worked on. The water system is different. Assume that whatever breaks you will need a trained monkey to reach. I have had to almost stand on my head in a compartment to replace a waterpump. I have to say that I think you are a little naive as to what you are getting yourself into. I would really advise you to start with a cheap boat and learn on it. Then move on up.

By the way---- the IP IS AN OCEAN CRUISER. They are sailing all over the world. I have been in some very high seas and nasty gales, and the boats ride beautifully.

On the other hand, one time I was in the Bahamas and I saw an older gentleman on his very old C&C 30 with a hailing port in Canada. And I asked him, "Did you single hand that boat all the way down here from Canada?" And he said he did. I said I wouldn't be so brave to do that in that boat, and his response was, "It isn't the boat that matters so much- it's the sailor".

Learn to sail first, I recommend learning on small boats, you will learn better boat handling. Charter boats you are considering purchasing before you buy. You can charter Island Packets in the Chesapeake Bay, and lots of other boats here and there.

BTW, I have my IP 37 for sale, I would have absolutely no interest in teaching a buyer how to sail her.

Lizzy Belle · 19-12-2015, 15:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

Fixing a boat is NOTHING like fixing a house.

So true. If only - houses are much easier to fix, imho.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

"It isn't the boat that matters so much- it's the sailor".

Wise man!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

BTW, I have my IP 37 for sale, I would have absolutely no interest in teaching a buyer how to sail her.

The budget is 10-15k, so probably a little less then you're looking for

When he started this thread, the OP didn't know an IP was slightly above his budget.

**JPA Cate** · 19-12-2015, 15:04

Well, i must apologize for misunderstanding about Holland. It is rather funny: I thought CaptRican meant The Netherlands, that Holland, and was envisioning air fares and hotel bills...

To anyone here who is interested in what they don't tell you at the boat shows, I recommend the thread on how Murphy's Law relates to boating.

Finally, CaptRican, if you apply to the mods, perhaps they can remove the "senior" from the Cruiser in your avatar. One way to do that would be to click on the little red triangle with the exclamation mark in it, on the post in which you expressed that you'd like that out, and ask them if they can help you.

Ann

Lizzy Belle · 19-12-2015, 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Well, i must apologize for misunderstanding about Holland. It is rather funny: I thought CaptRican meant The Netherlands, that Holland, and was envisioning air fares and hotel bills...

There is no country named Holland

The Netherlands is divided into provinces (12 in total) and there's a North Holland and a South Holland.

A funny (but true) video on how Holland and The Netherlands often get confused:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_IUPInEuc

(Even I get confused watching that video, and I am Dutch, living in The Netherlands and getting ready to sail to the Dutch Caribbean haha!)

CaptRican · 19-12-2015, 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

You know your sailing abilities already? Then why take lessons at all? Sounds to me like you're ready to start cruising.

You do NOT know your abilities, sorry ... You need to at least get out there and actually sail -different boats under different conditions- before you can say that - and buy the right boat which is set up for solo sailing.

Do you know how to tell if a boat is set up for sailing solo? Can you tell when you look at the pics in those ads what you can do from the cockpit?
There's plenty of ads which state 'perfect for sailing solo' but they leave out the 'if you only use your genoa' part, for instance. Can you tell from the pics or when you're looking at a boat how easy or hard it is to reef the main?

What is your idea of sailing solo on an angry sea or ocean? How will you deal with seasickness (which you are likely to get on a sailboat), the cold, the lack of sleep etc.? Cos there's no pause button to hit, no one to hand you a coffee, no one to help you with even the smallest thing. And if you're so wet, cold, tired and sick you don't care you should reef - enjoy the knock-down, they're fun ...

Traveling to another island 65nm away does not compare to sailing in any way. Sorry

I've been re-reading what's been posted in some of your many threads, and all put together it is somewhat confusing and it looks to me -tho I could be wrong, that happens sometimes

- like you're more or less running away from your current life as you're not really happy.

You've talked about how you hate 'dirt people', how society 'sucks' and how moving to the water where all the amazing boat people are will make you happy - you even dedicated a topic to your soul being whole again once you're living afloat.

You've never been sailing, you're 100% focused on what boat can do what you want (which, to be honest, is nothing any well built boat can't do) and because you don't know much about sail(ing) boats or the life afloat, you're bouncing all over the place looking for "the perfect boat" with no idea how to determine what would actually make a good boat.

You say your budget is 10-15K and you're looking at boats with asking prices around 15-20k - so you want to max out your budget to buy a few more feet - and then what?
How will you pay for the upgrades? Marina / slip / mooring costs? Insurance? Etc., etc.

I have seen you ask a lot about "the perfect boat", but nothing about the life afloat. Finding a boat is easy, adapting to a life afloat is a lot harder. It's not a magic world with unicorns and fluffy bunnies.
Life aboard can be tough and liveaboards come in all shapes and sizes, just like the 'dirt people' you said you didn't like (hate is a nasty word, imho).

How will you deal with a boat when everything breaks? And it will, no matter how great a boat you buy. How will you deal with not sleeping cos of the wind and the not so gently rocking boat? How much will you enjoy life on a boat when it's cold, mold takes over and you can't find that one damn leak that's turning your berth into some sort of Chinese water torture device?

Have you considered that many of the magic water people on boats are usually couples who are simply living their lives, and won't always be waiting to entertain a somewhat lonely single hander? Same for other single liveaboards, by the way. Or that your neighbors in the marina may not be nice folks at all?

You want to live life on the hook, which isn't an easy life on a small boat. Now, on the hard, getting up in the morning, taking a shower and brushing your teeth takes about 15 minutes. On the hook, it'll be an hour. You may think that doesn't matter cos there's no job to get to (?), but let me tell you: it gets old pretty damn quick. Esp on those days you are in a hurry, your dinghy's outboard won't start and all the showers are taken when you finally do get there. You go back to the boat to sort-of clean yourself up there ... but damn, you just ran out of water.

You have a very romantic idea about living on the water and sailing, and some early memories of being out on the water that you feel will become a reality again when you're on your boat. You might be up for a rude awakening, I'm afraid, if you won't keep both your feet on the ground.

You're getting some very good advice from people who are living the life and know exactly what they're talking about. You're telling them they're wrong, or at least that for some reason, it doesn't apply to you -- which is of course fine if that's how you feel, but in the long run it'll serve you much better to at least think about what some of them have told you. They're trying to help you make the best choices you can and get at least one of your feet back on the ground.

Sorry to differ my love, but, no, i am not telling anyone they are wrong or that it doesn't apply to me.

But i am certainly listening to you and i am registering everything you are saying. I would be a fool not to.

But neither can i approach this change in my life with trepidation and fear, and like a coward. But neither am i stupid to think that all of a sudden at 56 years young i am going to find the "perfect life" and that there is no danger or risks involved.

In a nutshell; According to sources in the net, i read that when NASA engineers sat down to discuss how they were going to get to the moon, that someone said that it could not be done because the amount of fuel and the size of the engine would be too big. But guess what we now know that it was done.

I am sure that i am going to encounter dangerous times, I might perish out there in a storm. I might disappear with sailboat and all, i might break my back on a fall and can not move and die from hunger out there unable to move, i can get hurt by the boom and thrown into the sea and die out there alone or become fish food, i could fall and render unconscious and die from brain damage and be found dead, My engine and my mast broken and damaged and with the radio and electronics gone and i could drift for days until a storm strikes the coup d' tat, anything can happen, i could be hit by lighting and that's it end of story.

But if i were to think like that, i would have never left the island, or joined the military, or started all the businesses i did, or live the adventurous life that i have lived.

However, i agree with you, in a nutshell you are telling me to be real, and i am being real. I am well aware of the risks and i thank you for placing them front and center.

I don't always approach everything the conventional way. As far as my abilities goes, how can you say that you "know" that i do not know my abilities?

I know my abilities because i have been push way beyond what the regular Joe has been push to experience in his life.

I am getting ready and i am learning fast, and by next summer i will have a ton of hours sailing.

But trust me, mama didn't raise no fool. I may seem crazy but so do Foxes.

But thank you your point is well taken and i will do my best to be aware of all that you have said here.

Lizzy Belle · 19-12-2015, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptRican

However, i agree with you, in a nutshell you are telling me to be real, and i am being real. I am well aware of the risks and i thank you for placing them front and center.

/
As far as my abilities goes, how can you say that you "know" that i do not know my abilities?

I was talking about you SAILING abilities - or the lack thereof.
Which is totally fine - we all have to start somewhere and were all born knowing nothing at all

but the first step is to be aware of your lack of abilities / knowledge / experience so you know what you need to learn about.

See the post above about comparing fixing houses to fixing boats - you may be very capable in many things, but sailing / boating in general simply isn't one of them yet. You feel you're capable of fixing a boat because you can fix houses. As Sailing_Gal said: Fixing a boat is NOTHING like fixing a house.

Also I wasn't trying to tell you about the risks (going outside is a risk so soit, we all take risks every day, part of life) but trying to make you think about your idea of live afloat versus the reality of live afloat. Not the risks, but simply the every day stuff you have to deal with.

Stu Jackson · 19-12-2015, 15:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptRican

I am sure that i am going to encounter dangerous times, I might perish out there in a storm. I might disappear with sailboat and all, i might break my back on a fall and can not move and die from hunger out there unable to move, i can get hurt by the boom and thrown into the sea and die out there alone or become fish food, i could fall and render unconscious and die from brain damage and be found dead, My engine and my mast broken and damaged and with the radio and electronics gone and i could drift for days until a storm strikes the coup d' tat, anything can happen, i could be hit by lighting and that's it end of story.

But if i were to think like that, i would have never left the island, or joined the military, or started all the businesses i did, or live the adventurous life that i have lived.

We're all very glad you're "into" this. You wouldn't have gotten thsi far if you didn't have the abilities to do what is up in your last clipped paragraph.

However, to even get to the FIRST long paragraph, you HAVE to learn how a sailboat works, which includes ALL the systems that boats of that size have. You can't do anything without electricity. You need to know your diesel engine, backwards & forwards. You need to learn how the water system works. Then there's that old thing called navigation.

All of us are trying to tell you that LEARNING all this stuff takes TIME.

And that the advice to buy a smaller boat and START learning is one of the better ways to go, but, but, but: that's one OPTION. Like life. When you reach a fork in the road, take it --- Yogi Berra.

The other option is to find the ONE right boat right off the bat. Some of the skippers here have, but they all had sailboat experience, so they knew what they were looking for. You simply don't. YET.

The "right" boat for me is one with an aft head, others have wonderful times with a traditional layout. You already heard on this or one of your other disconnected threads, about access. Almost as important as conidtion.

And all the reading in the world won't help when you have to learn how to bleed YOUR diesel engine. (In general, it's a lot easier to do than most people think, but you have to learn how to do your engine, not another kind that you may have tried in a diesel engine school.)

Again, good luck, but you're still arguing with us...

sometimes. Think about it.

Lizzy Belle · 19-12-2015, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

The "right" boat for me is one with an aft head, others have wonderful times with a traditional layout.

Yes to the aft head!
Mine is the traditional layout (like I said - it's all about compromises) but I much prefer aft too.

Talking about heads ... I'm off for some boat yoga, cos my shut-off valve (hope that's the right English term) is stuck. And since this boat is so cleverly designed, it's just out of reach ...

(Something else for the OP to keep in mind ...)

Edit - Stu, I just noticed the Rocna 10 in your sig. You happy with it?
I'm thinking of going with exactly that model for my boat too.

boatpoker · 19-12-2015, 16:13

CaptRican : Anyone can learn to sail. Maintaining and affording the maintenance on an old boat in your budget range is going to be the challenge. May I suggest you look at the two articles below which may give you a hint of what you are up against.

Salt Water Corrosion Photo Album

Marine Survey 101

Dr. Sea · 19-12-2015, 17:21

Capt Rico, Lizzy Belle may have gone further in her analysis of your motivations than the data you have provided warrants, but she is spot on with all she has pointed out regarding the extensive variety of issues that you are facing. Others have also given you good advice about settling back and getting realistic about what you are proposing, except for the two folks who encouraged you to sail single-handed down the east coast to the Caribbean by saying that they had done so. Yes, it's possible, but extremely unrealistic and unsafe for a person who has not yet learned to sail a boat single-handed in "controllable" circumstances. Ask those two what their sailing resume was before they did this. Ask them what their training and preparation was. Ask them how much they had invested in their boats and what their annual maintenance budget is. And then ask them if they would trust you to sail their boats single-handed down the east coast of the USA to the Caribbean.

You have admirable enthusiasm for the cruising life, but at this point you know too little about boats and even more importantly, too little about sailing to be able to realistically assess your readiness to set out on a single-handed cruise down the Atlantic coast in an old and undoubtedly ill-equipped boat. Take it slower. Boats and water will still be there when you are (realistically) ready.

reed1v · 19-12-2015, 19:13

Holland, Michigan is not in the Netherlands, unless someone towed it over there. Second, lived in Puerto Rico for a time. Great people,wonderful island, and might as well be part of the US. Ponce is perhaps the best urban area and the most relaxed part of the island. However, even the old town area of San Juan is interesting and never had a problem navigating between the prostitutes, drug pushers, and con artists.

Finally, beware of folks trying to dump their Island Packets. We knew a couple who had their IP for just about five months when they had enough of its lousy sailing abilities. Great liveaboard but they felt it was exceedingly uncomfortable sailing in any seaways. As long time sailors out of St. Francis, they had the experience to know boats.

The OP should just get whatever boat he can afford and go for it. Learn by doing and then he/she will have a much better idea what they want. figure the first two years will be in the wrong boat, doing the wrong things, and learning a ton of stuff. Key would be to get a full or modified full keel sailboat that will be able to stand up literally when going aground, jumping off waves, and getting stranded at low tide.

**Don C L** · 19-12-2015, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptRican

I am going out to the sea dead or alive and i don't want to deal with the problems that living on land brings. I want peace, serenity, to be alone, i want to enjoy the solitude of the sea, i am paying all of my debts, and i am out of here me and my sailboat and i rather die from a heart attack at sea than stressed out sitting on the toilet. Did you know that most heart attacks occur while you are sitting on the toilet pushing? Not me!

God I just love that quote!

CaptRican · 19-12-2015, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Here's a great boat for a beginner that's actually in your price range. These are good quality boats that are very big for their length & really simple to sail.

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/5303851937.html

That's too small, i think, for me...but we will see.

CaptRican · 19-12-2015, 21:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

There is no country named Holland

The Netherlands is divided into provinces (12 in total) and there's a North Holland and a South Holland.

A funny (but true) video on how Holland and The Netherlands often get confused: