Hello from Jacksonville Beach, FL

[Wailin]

Hi,
New to the forum and to sailing. Living aboard a sailboat has been a long time dream of mine. Children, wives and other things had kept me from going forward with it but with my children grown and gone, my wives just gone and other things now less important, its time for me to start a new chapter.

I've spent the past 15 years mostly engaged in skydiving as my passion. Burned out now on that sport, having lost too many friends to it and just growing tired of it, as I said before, its time to start a new chapter.

So, I found this site by Googling "Liveaboard sailboats", started reading a great thread on the subject but realized how little I know and how much there is to learn. So the adventure begins. My thought is to sign up for some sailing classes and continue to read.

I would appreciate any suggestions about how I should go about this. Books you recommend. Whether starting to look for a boat would be foolish. I tend to jump right in things and learn on the fly. I could see getting a liveaboard sailboat and learning from my mistakes. I'm not great on patience - at 55 I don't have the time to study this for 5 years first! But I don't want to be stupid either.

So, fire away, and thanks in advance.

Wailin'

[imagine2frolic]

Welcome neighbor,

It's not all that hard. I took lessons every Sunday for 3 months. 3 months later I had a 30 footer.. It wasn't long after that I started single-handing, because there wasn't always someone to come along. I got tired of being stood up

Within a year I was on my way to a divorce, and living on the boat. Within 18 months I was sailing under the Golden Gate alone, and turning south for Mexico. Desire is all you need, and wee bit of common sense...............

[Wailin]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[johneri1]

It's never too early to start looking for a boat; you will learn a lot in a short time by perusing Yachtworld.com. Welcome!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Wailin,
Welcome aboard!! There are lots of books in the public libraries that just sit on the shelves waiting for you to come down and take a look. Every possible title. How about "The Intricate Art of Living Afloat" by Clare Allcard?
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Jolly Roger]

Hey Wailen,
Take my advice mate, I'm older than you. Get off this forum immediately!! If not before!! It’s not safe; it’s full of crazy yachty’s - like me. You only have to read some of the postings to see we are a bunch of loonies. I ask you, who in their right mind would choose to live two feet below water level, except a badger? Escape while you still can my friend - before you become fixated with dismantling heads, (that’s a toilet), scrubbing bottoms, (not as romantic as it sounds), not to mention a morbid fascination with masturbation…...
Don’t say I didn’t warn you……..

[gonesail]

the thing I found with sailing is that it seems similar to flying in that the sails use the wind to lift the boat forward. and the best part is that there is no engine running while you are doing this. perhaps you should start with a smaller boat and go from there. take care.