Also I recommend any of Lin and Larry
Pardey books but not their book on storm tactics any edition. They are great sailors but most of the heavy
weather advice is not sufficient for the types of boats you'd be in the market for. Fatty Goodlander has a lot of great material. Gary Jobson has also written a book or two.
Don't be scared to call anyone and everyone you can to get advice. Look up sailmakers and tell them what you want to do. A good
sailmaker is a wealth of information.
Walk your local docks and just ask questions. You'd be surprised who'd help you out.
Research everything like your doing now.
Once you find a boat in your
budget you like start calling around and
posting as many questions as you have.
I did not have
forums when I bought my first girl so I typically talked to sailmakers for pricing new
sails and
rigging, yard workers (which I was) for
learning build quality and brokers to understand my resell value of your project.
I also found this little free documentary you could watch made by a kid close to your age that was working a budget less than yours.
Although these
kids are on the opposite end of the political and social spectrum I'm on I think they did a very good job with how they explained getting their boat, fixing it up and using it. I only hope more
kids watch this doc and ignore the senseless rhetoric and get inspired by their ingenuity.
Hold Fast on Vimeo