Any advice?

[damonrowe]

I'm 47, retired and thinking about the sailing life. Let me start by saying I know zip about sailing. I have found a class that starts in March, so I have that lined up. I will more than likely be solo at least till I find a mermaid. Any advice is appreciated.

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard, Damon.

Maybe you can tell us some of what you have read and/or seen that makes you want to consider the sailing life. You just might have some illusions that need to be made more real....

In the mean time, sail. Sail a lot. Gain some real life experience, because "a sailing life" involves some sailing, and sailing lessons are but one small bite of the whole pie....

Ann

[damonrowe]

Hi Ann.
I lived in Hawaii for a few years and I miss that tropical life. I plan on moving to Florida and live aboard and would like travel to the Bahamas etc. I have started reading everything I can get my hands on.

[Don C L]

Well welcome Damon. Where are you located now? My own advice is to get a little fun sailboat like a Laser and just go out and make that wing of cloth make you go fast and then you'll be hooked. Beware, soon you'll be standing in a cold shower, tearing up thousand dollar bills! Then get out on the ocean with other folks and see if you love being out on the sea, even in its various moods. (Sea sickness is not necessarily a deal breaker. I can be prone to sea sickness, but curiously, not on my own very tender boat!) If you do, then you are really in trouble, the good kind. There are a few threads on this too, do a search here. If you can find a delivery skipper who needs a hand for a short trip, that's a great way to learn too.

[Steven UK]

+1 on the laser, that thing will get you hooked, just watch your head!

ASA courses to get you on a boat then read and charter. Sounds like we are roughly in the same boat. I'm behind you on the retirement by a couple of years but ahead on the sailing plans.

[s/v Moondancer]

Pick a location in FL with a 'blue collar' sailing club like mine... Where Sailors Belong!
Move close by and take Club sailing lessons.
Volunteer and make friends.
Crew for others, lots of people like crew that help with the boat.
Buy a boat and learn.
Sail to the Bahamas and keep going down Island.
Just keep going.
Good luck.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Damon.

[a64pilot]

OK, your 47 and Retired?
Seeing as how your retired I'd buy a 30ish decent sailboat, there are millions for sale and move aboard somewhere down South where its warm all the time, in a marina. Live on it and sail it for a year, travel to the Bahamas etc. That will tell you if you really want to do this or whether you have gotten it out of your system, and it won't break the bank. You can likely sell it for 5 to 10 K less than you paid for it pretty quick to the next sucker that wants to live the Jimmy Buffet life
You can pick up a good 30 ish sailboat for next to nothing, just don't immediately start trying to make it look like the bridge on the Starship Enterprise, your electronic needs will be minimum, remember this is a learning boat, unlikely to be "the" boat.
"She" will want bigger, so maintain it, but don't go spending a lot to improve it, save that for "the" boat.

Of course like me, you may one day be sitting in your starter boat and have an epiphany, that is there is nothing wrong with this boat after all, it fills all the needs. We've actually gotten kind of attached to it, why trade up?

[barnakiel]

My advice is to stick with it.

Also, since sailing is such a huge play field, try to taste a bit of everything: there are tall ships and the foiling moth, there is maritime history, navigation and systems maintenance ...

Also, start small, then move on (or not!). I mean: nothing beats the freedom of sailing a simple dinghy to the other side of your local lake and, hopefully, back.

Sailing is many things. I am sure you will like it.

You can pick up some basic vocab and a pre-taste of what it is like on the water, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B0Y...mAZNzbQsB6dYsm

Cheers,
b.

[Gregorys6601]

Damon,
I am in a similar situation. Except I don't want to sail I want to motor yacht. I know nothing of sailing, although I like the idea of farther travelling with a sail boat. I plan to retire in the next 1-5 years, between 50 and 54. I am hoping to buy a boat about a year or two before retirement and learn on the Great Lakes.

There is so much out there about sailing but not nearly as much as motor yachting. The research is half the fun for me.

BTW, I am in WI and looking forward to the winters in south Florida or the Bahamas myself.

Scott

[JPA Cate]

Ya know, 47 and never sailed. Well, man, if you like backpacking, you may well like sailing. If you like 4 star motels, maybe not. It is a physical pursuit.

Ann