Hello from a Newbie to Sailing !

[SurfnRide]

Good morning everyone!

Wanted to post here to say hello to everyone and thanks in advance for all the information you have already posted here and for any future information/advice you share with me in the future. I look forward to talking to all of you and getting to know the ins and outs of sailing.

A quick blurb about me...

35 year old guy who has been a waterman my whole life. Surfing, diving, fishing etc.. I'm brand new to sailing but have been planning for a life journey for almost 10 years. Just bought my first sailboat after 10 years of saving and planning. Picked up a 23 ft swing keel Balboa and I start my sailing lessons in 2 weeks. Been working like a madman for a long time saving as much as possible and living as frugally as possible to hit my retirment age goal at 45. Planning on selling our homes and packing everything up and off we go. I'm sure this sounds familiar to a lot of you Plan on spending 5-10 years sailing the world with my wife before heading back home (maybe ).

Starting with the little 23 ft'er and then planning on moving up to a 30 and then finally to a 40 ft'er for the big trip. Got it slipped in a local harbor that I can get to in 5 minutes so I should be able to rack up a ton of hours on the water quickly.

All I can say now is I'm super excited that I've started the first leg of my journey. Been a long wait to just get to this point. I've got 10 years to hone my sailing skills and I need to soak up as much information as possible in the meantime so this forum is a good start. I'm already going through all the books I can find and soaking it all in.

So that's about it. I look forward to talking with many of you and I wish you all happy/safe travels!

Surfnride

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Surfnride.

It sounds, to me, as though you’ve got a GREAT plan going there.

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

Great plan. If you get delayed, not to worry. I'm past 60 and planning on 15 to 20 years more of cruising.

[imagine2frolic]

YES, sounds like a good plan going, and well thought out. No doubt you will soon be enjoying the gifts of sailing........i2f

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Congratulations on the new (to you) boat. Its a good size to begin with and you'll learn a lot from her.
kind regards,