New to the Board, Never Been in a Boat in my Life, Want to Sail the World

[Bash]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

do a search honestly your question (and dreams / starting point) are quite a regular feature here. some threads run. some don't. but loads worth reading / learning from.

David's observation is worth a bit of reflection. I sometimes feel that we do a disservice by by not discouraging the dreams/starting points that "are quite a regular feature here." The sea can be a hard mistress, and there are far more sensible ways to deal with wanderlust than crossing an ocean. This would be a minority opinion here on Cruisers' Forum, however, where the "just do it!" attitude is so prevalent that even people who haven't themselves done it are dispensing such advice.

That said, I offer the following five tips:
1. The type of boat you buy isn't all that important, so long as you make it a point to purchase a boat with a parking brake. That way, if during a passage you find yourself encountering nasty weather, you can pull over and park the boat until the situation clears up. This is also a handy way to catch up on your sleep.
2. It's not true that you have to learn about meteorology, navigation, systems maintenance, marine communications, rigging, sailing, provisioning, storm tactics, first aid and emergency procedures. If you have a good EPIRB, you can push a button and someone will soon help solve whatever little jam you've managed to get yourself into.
3. Despite its reputation to the contrary, yachting is actually a sport for the masses. It has been demonstrated time after time that it's possible to circumnavigate on a budget slightly higher than one might expect to be encumbered with when joining a bowling league for a year. Indeed, many cruising yachts can be purchased for less money than a good set of golf clubs.
4. While sea time is desirable, you can substitute time spent surfing the internet, especially if you're a registered user on Cruisers' Forum, Yachtworld, and Houseboat Magazine. It also helps to have a West Marine Advantage Card, because that's something all the good sailors have.
5. Even if you're not up for an ocean passage, you can make it anywhere on the planet by hugging one coastline or another. Everyone knows that coastal cruising is far safer than bluewater cruising. Indeed, if you can stay inside the breakers, you won't even have to deal with waves, which means that any possibility of seasickness will be eliminated.

[Ex-Calif]

6. Don't waste any time learning about foreign rules, laws, customs or entry requirements. Most foreign countries don't have a clue what they are doing anyway. No matter what, the rules of your home country apply. That's what citizenship means - my rules apply everywhere. If some foreign official tells you different have him ring your local government's embassy to straighten him out.

7. Taxes are meant for avoiding. You are leaving for the great adventure specifically to unshackle yourself from that annoying societal system that you are leaving behind. There is no sane reason in the world that should convince you to continue support the corrupt system of your home country. It's not like you are ever going back or anything. So figure out how to register your boat in the islands of Lilliput. I understand they have no taxes there.

[Jim Cate]

Bash and XC: Hee, hee, hee!!

Well done, and I hope that a few folks actually get your point as well as having a good chuckle!

Cheers,

Jim

[barnakiel]

Hehehe ;-)))

Lilliput islands - with lilliput taxes ....

;-)))
b.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Hehehe ;-)))

Lilliput islands - with lilliput taxes ....

;-)))
b.

8. it's important to have "The best" of everything. and that's measured by being the highest quality and also the cheapest. that's why so many threads on CF.com start with "What's the best......."

9. to save you doing a Search (no one ever does - they just lie about it ), The best boat is:-

a) hull made of Ferrocement
b) deck made of veneered MDF
c) has 4 hulls
d) costs less than $10k
e) is over 50'
f) has a bowsprit. of at least 12'
g) has at least two masts

get that lot and you will be fighting the fanny off with a stick:-

Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Single Sailors Seeking Soul Mates

Any further questions on a ketch rigged ferrocement multihull cutter should be asked in the special CF section:-

Multihull Sailboats - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

[michaelmrc]

What do y'all think? Am I as mad as I seem or is this just an ocean dream?

Please help me escape, my soul is in your hands, I can't pay any more taxes and be stepped on by "the man". I promise to be diligent and to your replies pay heed. Tell me what you think? Is it an ocean life for me?[/QUOTE]


I say go for it. many will tell you that your budget is unrealistic and others will tell you that you need this boat or that boat and it must have this or that. hogwash. just find something that is comfortable to you and start your dream. shane acton back in the 70's without knowing anything about sailing bought a meager 18 ft twin keel sailboat and spent the next 7 yrs circumnavigating and exploring the world living his dream.
Shrimpy: a 18 foot Robert Tucker designed boat that sailed around the world
his book called shrimpy is quite a good read you can download the pdf version here
http://members.multimania.co.uk/mary...Fs/Shrimpy.pdf

[SaucySailoress]

Sounds great - but suggest you quickly download Google Earth before you go - it'll help loads with your passage planning....

And a word of advice. If you really want to go, don't start with AMsterdam, and give Iran a miss. Completely.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

you will be fighting the fanny off with a stick:-

I can tell you have never learned Australian. The translation of the line above would have you smacked by an Aussie Mod!

Bad boy!

[Sjadows]

I have not logged in to this site in half a year. Dancing the tunes to meet with honor and obligation, not ducking the duty that finds me here and there. If you choose to stay in the cage of your own free will are you free? Only the mad man dancing in the flame can answer that, and his answer is an Ouroboros - The answer is a riddle that gives itself as the answer.

I took the council to wait and plan and scrape and save, and looking at the boats I see - it'll take a quarter century. I'm tired and worn from fifty hour weeks, I'm sick of the game and the pace. I never sit back and truly let me be me, no more relaxed but that I'm up again at three. They say the life's the life for me, and honest man and hard work and numbers I can be proud of.

I've fixed twenty thousand or more by now, I stopped counting when they rolled out of the system at eighteen; I'm sick and I'm done and I've built not a damn thing. Will you council me to wait, just be, save and plan, lets not get hasty now?

I'm sick and I'm tired of the rank and the mire that sucks your strength away. I'm biking at night and cursing the citylight that hides the stars from me. I was wild, wooly and free, lived in a truck when I was twenty three - the best years of my life are gone from me now.

I won't have it, won't accept it, the pace is not the pace I've chosen; the Wild Cat walks by his Wild Lone in the Wild Wet Woods.

I can sit and plan and lay it all out, statistically show it's nothing but a pipe dream 'cause I'll never make enough because I've never had debt so I can't get a loan. There ain't no way thar from here, m'boy.

Buy the advice or grow your hair out.

I've spent a year sitting on a dream trying to save enough for a sailing lesson.

Take my advice, 8.

Don't dream on it. Start doing what you can do.

Maybe that's getting rid of everything you don't need on a daily basis. Maybe that's going to the marina and buying a beer and listening to those who live where you want to be.

I'd imagine that if you offer to spot some beer for some lessons from some old salt and you know how to tie the right kinds of knots, you'd probably get some time on a boat.

Knuckle your nose and figure out if it's eloquence and pretty words or if you're willing to do what you have to do to get where you want to go.

For me, this is what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll love it. Maybe I'll find out along the way I hate it and find a new trail. But I'll never get anywhere by doing nothing.

"... when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet Wild Woods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone."

You can plan forever, but sooner or later you have to get out and do something, or it's all a waste. You can wait forever for things to be just right.

You don't find opportunity by being the lump on the log. I've spent a year dreaming. have a dream - good. Start working on the dream - better.

Look at all the answers you are receiving. They are from two groups of people. Those like me and you who wish to try. Those who have tried and have succeeded.

Find the threads about and from those who tried and failed. I have learned more from those than any other.

From others I learn ways that may work. But from those I learn what WON'T WORK and what SHOULD NOT HAVE WORKED.

Knowledge on its own is useless. Applied knowledge is power. Knowing many things not to do and many things that should work gives you the basis to make a judgement. You cannot make a judgement not knowing what will not work.

Be careful, but not too careful. Walk softly, but not too softly.

Find the line and the balance between caution and imprudence.

Some of the best times of my life have come from doing the things I didn't know were impossible.

It's called risk analysis. You know it. Remember it. Because in the end you're at the mercy of the winds, and the sea is a cold mistress. You put your life on the line, but the terms and the risks are in many ways the result of your own choices and your own actions.

Choose wisely.

[rgscpat]

Some of the typical learn-to-sail advice assumes you have readily disposable funds. If you are husbanding your money more carefully, then the lower-budget methods become more helpful.

You don't have to take only one path to your dreams; you could be crewing on other people's boats whilst practicing basic skills on your own inexpensive "starter" boat or small dinghy, finding inexpensive or free boating classes, hanging out with sailors at sailing centres/clubs/co-ops, looking for less expensive ways of getting to sail on bigger boats, and checking out books and videos from the library.

Many people nowadays don't have the patience for an unpowered cruising boat or don't have the skill to navigate an unpowered boat close to shore in some conditions (no wind, too much wind, or severe adverse currents), but perhaps you are an exception.

Time on the water is good. Sailing on different kinds of boats is excellent.

Having a boat is good. Having friends with boats is wonderful.

And,

There is no one perfect boat
(except maybe for "the next one").

Snug lines, fair winds

[Sjadows]

rgscpat. You just made me stop and think about something.

Thank you.

[Tom and Maje]

Originally Posted by 858673

It will probably take me a year or so in prep and seamanship etc... in order to be safe to be let loose on the high seas but I'm considering a boat with a motor instead of a sailboat so at least I can go somewhere under my own steam and speed and not worry about being knocked out by the bit that holds the sail in place when the wind changes

It may suprise you to know that most sailboats do have motors. Unless you can afford a really big boat with no sails you won't get very far accross the ocean.

Welcome to the listserve.

Maje

[858673]

RiverRat - Part of my job is playing on words and changing peoples minds but because I'm such a generous soul I let them keep the change they've been looking for. Thanks for your words, they reflect what I've read and thought.

lost - I'm a familiar face in the land of the lost, used to be a worker bee but now I'm a boss. The tension in the hive makes my dreams thrive and seek another reason to be alive than the pursuit of paper, that all consuming caper, that seems to control the minds of the drones as they fly around between job and home...

Lancerbye - A coward dies a thousand deaths, a soldier once. Those that speak don't know a thing and those that know don't speak. 2 ears, 1 mouth - that speaks for itself

David_Old_Jersey - I imagine that a lot of people wash up here bright eyed and bushy tailed as you've intimated. If this is such a regular occurrence why have none of you salty seadogs created a FAQ with the basics of this here game that you are all so familiar with instead of allowing the same threads to play out again and again?

As I know nothing about sailing I (erroneously) assumed that hugging the coast would be a safe option, if it is not then what is the best method for a novice sailor? Thank you for the links on the boats, its great to have a starting point from the eyes of experience.

barnakiel - In this life there are two prime motivators, one away from a source of discomfort and the other toward pleasure.

Therapy - Are you in the therapy trade of did you randomly pick that moniker? As for the boat recommendation, if I was to go that hardcore I might as well grab a paddle and a barrel and see where I can get Need a bit more comfort than that as I've grown accustomed to luxury in this land of milk and honey...

Blue - Once, without any experience at all, I bought a motorbike. Not just any bike but a race tuned ZX9R. Life is fun at 200mph until I wrote it (and 2 cars - long story) off and walked away without a scratch. I took that as my hint to go back to 4 wheels, do not pass hospital and do not collect wheel chair. Looks like my 7 year itch needs a scratch again...

Bash - Thanks for those tips, you're worth your weight in helium.

Ex-Calif - A lot closer to the truth than you actually realize there my friend.

David_Old_Jersey - What's the best for you may not be best for me, I just want something that keeps the water on the outside, me on the inside and pointed toward adventure on the horizon.

michaelmrc - Thank you for that link, I will devour its content to fuel the fire of my desire.

Saucy Sailoress - Why would you recommend missing Amsterdam? They have all the best drugs you know A friend of mine also suggested similar, he stated to go from the UK to France then around the Med basin and back for my first spin. I agree that it sounds sensible.

Sjadows - Are you my shadow? The dark on the light side of me? Whilst you appear more sedate and I more feral I fear we both come from the same place with minds in the same space. Excellent advise to read those who've failed, goes along with my mantra of the best criminals avoid jails. The ones locked up inside proclaim innocence but its lies, the ones that remain free say they are guilty - so sue me

rgscpat - Thank you. As I mentioned earlier I think my first call will be to tag along on a boat from the marina and see what I can see to see if this is the life for me on the sea, you see?

Tom and Maje - I ask questions to learn from those that hold answers, for me my experience of boats was a loooong time ago and they were made of plastic and bobbed around in my bathtub


Once again, thank you for the deluge of responses, each word shows me a soul and each pointer a direction to know - Where I go is up to me but the plan has once again evolved to get me out to sea.

When I was a young tike I loved the idea of driving, but at the age of 10 noone would allow me behind a wheel no matter how much I complained and squealed. Instead an old sage said these words which stick with me to this day:

"Shut up, sit down and pay attention to what I do - You may learn a thing or two".

From that day I was a quiet as a mouse, learning and watching the way to move cars. 2 years later I stole the keys to his truck and drove around the yard for an hour then parked it back up. Ha ha

I was over the moon in the morning when he hadn't realized my trick, words can be powerful weapons - Choose carefully, the ones you pick...

[boatman61]

Well.... if you go 'Motor' I can't see you doing all those things you stated in your OP... not on 35k anyway...
But sailboats have engines too... and a decent 30ftr can be got for half your budget... motor while you learn how to duck
Westerly Longbow 31 Boats for sale UK, Westerly Used boat sales, Westerly Sailing Yachts For Sale Westerly Longbow for sale - Apollo Duck

These may look like a Campervan but the underwater profile with the long fin keel has her sailing like a dream.... mine took me from the UK across the Biscay and into the Med where we cruised for 3yrs... I then stupidly sold her when I was offered 5k more than we'd paid in my hand...
Yup... 'Deep Water of Cowes' was a damn fine boat... get the 'Stick n Rag'

[rtbates]

Before casting off and sailing around the world you might consider sailing on anothers boat IN A HELL OF A STORM, 40kts+...

Survival at sea depends on knowing what to do and when to do it. That usually takes some experience...

It's not what you don't know that will kill you, it's what you know that is wrong that will..

good luck to you...