Sailing newbie, insane fears and storage concerns

[TrentePieds]

Start here: Power boats can capsize and when the do they mostly STAY upside down. And then, very often, they sink. Multihull sailboats can capsize, even though they don't do it often. When they do, they stay upside down. Monohull sailboats CAN'T capsize in the same sense. They get "knocked down". When that happens there are two possibilities: 1) They get back up on their feet of their own accord due to some niceties of design that powerboats and multihulls lack, and they retain their mast and rigging. The rig may not be intact but will be workable in some fashion. 2) They get back up on their feet of their own accord, due to some niceties of design that powerboats and multihulls lack, but the mast and rigging have been torn off the deck, The rig will be gone and there may be holes in the boat. When the boat is right way up again, it won't sink UNLESSW it fills with water.

The worry is never that of capsizing. That worry is always subordinate to the worry of the boat filling with water. If a power boat is rolled over, that will almost certainly happen and the boat will sink. If a monohull sailboat fills with water it will certainly sink. If a multihull sailboat is rolled over the structural damage is likely to be so severe that the boat will fill with water and sink even though if there were no damage it would likely float upside down.

If you would be a sailor, the take formal instruction till you have sufficient insight into boat design and into boat handling that your irrational worry goes away.

TrentePieds

[barnakiel]

One small step at a time.

You get some fear and this is normal. It is not truly fear, it is anxiety and is a part of all exploration and adventure. It makes you feel alive.

Never ever get too far away from your comfort cone. Life is long enough to try and learn everything without traumas.

Take a diving course and watch how your instructors manage the students' fears. Huh? You see? ONE SMALL STEP AT A TIME. And always be ready to pull out and return to the exercise next day.

Any boat can capsize. Fact of life. As a rule cats tend to be very very stable and safe boats.

Worry not, mate.

b.

[jrbogie]

Originally Posted by Eggbah

Extremely new to sailing, and by new I mean I have never sailed a day in my life. I had something that made a jon boat look huge when I was a kid and I have been at the helm of my parent's 48' Chris-Craft ages ago.

I'm absolutely terrified of monohulls and up until yesterday, I didn't even consider anything with a sail until I saw some multi cats online. Always wanted something like a motor yacht (like Hatteras, Carver, etc) until I saw the price and the lack of outdoor space.

After looking at the multi-hull cats, I'm really liking what I am seeing. However, as someone that doesn't know the first thing about sailing, I have to start somewhere and I can't bring myself to a single hull out of my insane fear of capsizing.

fear capsizing??? cats turn turtle more than any monohull ever will and when they capsize they stay capsized. the very design of a keel boat is to prevent capsizing with a very strong righting moment. i'd suggest you start with a small cat, hobie, prindle, whatever, and get to understand terms like "pitch pole" and find yourself mast down a few times and only then address the issue of mono v cat.

[Eggbah]

Thank you all for your very helpful responses! First, I am the wife I would definitely be the one that would need to learn how to fix anything and everything that can and will go wrong. My husband is not very handy at all. I'm the handy one in the house. Definitely not a newbie in the boating world, just new to operating a boat. My family (extended) owns a boat company in NC, but I don't know them well enough to ask them to show me the ropes and I'm about 10 hrs away from them. I do live beside a lake so I need to check out the marina down the road to see what they have to offer. The lake is down right now so I would have to wait until the spring, which is fine. I can study up on sailing while I wait for water.

Definitely not interested in it solely due to cost - of course that's part of it, but definitely not a huge chunk, maybe 5%. Most of the power boats have zero deck space and I hate that. If I am going to be in the water, I don't want to be trapped inside. I'm landlocked now and it's quite miserable.

I really like the cat b/c of it's shallow hulls and the ability to pull ashore w/o needing a small craft attached is a huge plus.

Sorry for the jumbled questions, it's just that the only people I have to ask have not seen me in 35+ yrs (I'm only 36) or they are my aunt's ex husbands - that would be awkward.

I have to start somewhere, right?

Originally Posted by sailpower

https://asa.com/schools/georgia/

Thanks for the link!

[bjymd]

One step at a time: go for a sail along the coast for the day to see if you even like sailing. Go on a cat first, then try a monohull captained by licensed people.
This action will tell you if you even like sailing. Take the young one with you. Great parent child bonding experience. First things first. welcome

[senormechanico]

Eggbah,

Welcome to CF.
You have asked some very straightforward questions. Good on ya for that.
As a sewing machine tech married to a quilter and most of my customers are quilters, I can assuredly answer one of your questions:

Yes, if you want a craft room you will probably need to sell a kidney to find a decent multihull big enough for quilting.
If that's your passion, keep a house for that and a boat just big enough to sail and have fun sailing. It would probably be comparable pricewise.

That said, my wife has a 3/4 size Bernina just for the boat.
She uses it for piecing quilts while we're on vacation and she does all the assembly on her big Bernina when we come home. (Photo is old and not the current 3/4)

[smj]

Originally Posted by jrbogie

fear capsizing??? cats turn turtle more than any monohull ever will and when they capsize they stay capsized. the very design of a keel boat is to prevent capsizing with a very strong righting moment. i'd suggest you start with a small cat, hobie, prindle, whatever, and get to understand terms like "pitch pole" and find yourself mast down a few times and only then address the issue of mono v cat.

The chance of flipping your cat is about equal to sinking your monohull, those are the facts. Sailing a small beach cat is a great way to learn how to sail, but there are no comparisons to a cruising cat. A well designed and built cruising catamaran or monohull are both great options and probably equally safe, at least that's what the stats state.

[Eggbah]

Originally Posted by bjymd

One step at a time: go for a sail along the coast for the day to see if you even like sailing. Go on a cat first, then try a monohull captained by licensed people.
This action will tell you if you even like sailing. Take the young one with you. Great parent child bonding experience. First things first. welcome

I will definitely do that! From the link provided by sailpower, I found a place not too far from me that offers lessons. They start you out on a 10 ft dinghy. Sounds like a great start to me!

I really hope I enjoy it b/c if I don't, there goes two decades of dreaming out the window.

There are so many questions I have about living aboard, luckily, I have a few years to figure it all out.

[Dave22q]

Any boat can be flipped. Some multi hulls are LESS stable than a heavy monohull. Step 1- figure out how much space you really need. I suspect no reasonably priced boat can fit your needs for a painting studio, etc. You might try some time in a RV to see if confined spaces suite you. My experience is that a reasonably large boat , say 33-35' has about the same usable space as a large studio apartment. Once you are convinced you can fit into a reasonably priced boat it becomes time to learn sailing. Take some courses and some lessons as a start. There are many good books for the newby. As you learn more about boats and how much space you need you can begin to explore affordability. Here you must be aware that bargain boats are rare. Few used boats do not require work, the key is how much is needed. You could buy for $20,000 and need to invest 40,000 more or maybe spend 25,000 and hold the repairs and fix up to 10,000. But you are a long way from serious shopping. Your dream may be attainable but you will need to work at it.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by reed1v

1. Yes, one of the hulls can leave the water.
2. Yes, a cat can flip
3. Yes, they can move very fast, even fast enough to jump over a wave.
4. Yes, they can dig into the sea if coming off a big roller and going downwind; thus doing a somersault.

Al of which are so unlikely with a typical cruising catamaran that these responses are laughable.

[Eggbah]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Eggbah,

Welcome to CF.
You have asked some very straightforward questions. Good on ya for that.
As a sewing machine tech married to a quilter and most of my customers are quilters, I can assuredly answer one of your questions:

Yes, if you want a craft room you will probably need to sell a kidney to find a decent multihull big enough for quilting.
If that's your passion, keep a house for that and a boat just big enough to sail and have fun sailing. It would probably be comparable pricewise.

That said, my wife has a 3/4 size Bernina just for the boat.
She uses it for piecing quilts while we're on vacation and she does all the assembly on her big Bernina when we come home. (Photo is old and not the current 3/4)

That picture definitely helps! My Brother is about the same size as the Bernina in the pic. I love Bernina! Great machines! I figured I could use some of the desk space in the master cabin (some of the ones I looked at had a good bit of space. Interested in the 3 cabin layouts only, a 4th would be ok, but not ideal for me at this moment. I don't want to dive into a major project. That's what my house is now. Project after project b/c I cannot stop remodeling. Seriously, my husband needs to take away my recip saw asap!

There was a boat on tv the other day that had a workshop inside. It was definitely out of my budget! So far beyond reality, but it would be very nice to have. It was some 100'+ beast.

I'm sure whatever space is available for me to sew is more than I have now. Right now, my dining room table is my sewing HQ. Lots of quilting going on in there!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Eggbah

Thank you all for your very helpful responses! First, I am the wife I would definitely be the one that would need to learn how to fix anything and everything that can and will go wrong. My husband is not very handy at all. I'm the handy one in the house. Definitely not a newbie in the boating world, just new to operating a boat. My family (extended) owns a boat company in NC, but I don't know them well enough to ask them to show me the ropes and I'm about 10 hrs away from them. I do live beside a lake so I need to check out the marina down the road to see what they have to offer. The lake is down right now so I would have to wait until the spring, which is fine. I can study up on sailing while I wait for water.

Definitely not interested in it solely due to cost - of course that's part of it, but definitely not a huge chunk, maybe 5%. Most of the power boats have zero deck space and I hate that. If I am going to be in the water, I don't want to be trapped inside. I'm landlocked now and it's quite miserable.

I really like the cat b/c of it's shallow hulls and the ability to pull ashore w/o needing a small craft attached is a huge plus.

Sorry for the jumbled questions, it's just that the only people I have to ask have not seen me in 35+ yrs (I'm only 36) or they are my aunt's ex husbands - that would be awkward.

I have to start somewhere, right?



Thanks for the link!

I don't know? I have maintained friendship with an ex uncle. But I wasn't 1.when she left.

The pros and cons of mono vs. cat is purely an opinion expressed many times. It may be better to narrow down your intended usage. Coastal sailing or rounding the Horn.

Best of luck.

[Eggbah]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Any boat can be flipped. Some multi hulls are LESS stable than a heavy monohull. Step 1- figure out how much space you really need. I suspect no reasonably priced boat can fit your needs for a painting studio, etc. You might try some time in a RV to see if confined spaces suite you. My experience is that a reasonably large boat , say 33-35' has about the same usable space as a large studio apartment. Once you are convinced you can fit into a reasonably priced boat it becomes time to learn sailing. Take some courses and some lessons as a start. There are many good books for the newby. As you learn more about boats and how much space you need you can begin to explore affordability. Here you must be aware that bargain boats are rare. Few used boats do not require work, the key is how much is needed. You could buy for $20,000 and need to invest 40,000 more or maybe spend 25,000 and hold the repairs and fix up to 10,000. But you are a long way from serious shopping. Your dream may be attainable but you will need to work at it.

Definitely fine in confined spaces, as long as I can escape to the deck.

If I dump the car payments and the mortgage, I'd take what I pay (husband pays, really) and slice them in half and then some, I could get a decent size boat. Will it be a million dollar boat? Goodness no!! Not even remotely close! That would make me sick to my stomach. I know many have the budget for that, not knocking the million dollar buy, it's just not for me. A decent size to me and a decent size to others is subjective and like you and a few others have stated, I will not know until I attempt a trip or two.

The thing I really like about the multi is that if I need a bit of peace and quiet, I can trap myself in the other hull! Haha!

One thing I've definitely figured out since my first post is that I need to learn how to operate one and buy a smaller cat sooner than later to really get a good idea of what I need vs what I want before diving into becoming a full time cat resident.

My wants far exceed my needs.

[Eggbah]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I don't know? I have maintained friendship with an ex uncle. But I wasn't 1.when she left.

The pros and cons of mono vs. cat is purely an opinion expressed many times. It may be better to narrow down your intended usage. Coastal sailing or rounding the Horn.

Best of luck.

By rounding the Horn, do you mean the Horn of S. America? If so, I think I'd avoid that for a bit...until I get a wild hair or something.

I'd probably stick to as far north as Newfoundland to around Grenada, over to the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and along the panhandle to see some family. I'd probably go through the canal twice to go up the west coast. I say twice b/c if it's a pain, I have to get back east somehow.

In reality, I will not be sticking to any sort of set in stone plan. The weather would be my guide for the most part.

[varkpilot]

Hello, Eggbah. I'd like to play the devil's advocate, in a manner of speaking. I've boated all my long life, both power and sail. The physical requirements of sailboats, now at least in my case, limit me to power boats. The only boat I've ever partially sunk was a catamaran when its port hull opened to the sea. The starboard hull remained afloat and I got her pulled into shore and eventually repaired. My wife and children were with me, and no one came even close to harm. Your statement that power boats didn't have deck space was a little confusing to me. What power boats are you familiar with? My 47 foot Chris Craft Commander has more floor space than a 2-bedroom condominium, and any of its 3 staterooms (plus the salon/living room and galley/kitchen) could be converted to any use you choose. I use my middle stateroom/bedroom as an office. It contains a desk and a washer/dryer, plus a lot of my books and junk. It's not crowded, either. I have the safety advantage of 2 8-cylinder diesel engines and enough speed to never get bored with 6 to 8 knot (less than 10 miles per hour) passages. The boat cost me 45,000 and came equipped with full electronics, including radar, and a power generator for times I want to anchor offshore and still enjoy all the amenities, such as 3 air conditioners for Texas summers, a full size refrigerator and large screen television or my desktop computer. Capsizing that boat would require seas that you would never allow yourself to enter. I did love sailing and owned sailboats up to a 65 foot schooner, but that was many years ago. All I'm saying here is don't pin yourself to a single type of vessel. When you're looking at boats, include some power vessels just for tickles and grins. You might be pleasantly surprised.