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01-03-2018, 02:32
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2017
Boat: Callisto 435
Posts: 3
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Should I join a yacht club
Hi all, my first post so please be gentle.
I am setting up to sail/cruise permanently around the world on my newly acquired Callisto 435. I am a relative newbie to the sailing family so would appreciate some advice. Other than this forum obviously, where will I find the best / most comprehensive information and advise for sailing around our big blue planet. Should i join a sailing club in the UK to enable reciprocal benefits around the world, or would I be better served in joining something like The Cruising Association or both? Thanks for your advice.
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01-03-2018, 03:00
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#2
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Little Compton, RI
Boat: Cape George 31
Posts: 2,978
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Joining things usually costs some money--if it's in your budget, and you want to do it, fine. But the advice you'll get from club members won't be any different than the conflicting, contradictory advice you'll find on the internet or at any marina common room.
Problem with advice is that is comes in all forms, from people with all different levels of experience, and usually with the conviction of religious fervor. I found it so overwhelming in my early days that I just stopped listening to it, went out and sailed, and eventually could parse out the decent advice from the completely imbecile.
What worked for me was to read seafaring stories--not how-to's, and never a youtube video--but just stories of people sailing, and I gleaned a lot of collateral information from them. The data I gleaned enjoying Arthur Ransome, Tristan Jones, Joshua Slocum, CS Forester, Richard Henry Dana jr., etc. was then refined by my own experience--sometimes confirmed, sometimes modified.
So if you're the social type with some spare coin, join a club for the society, but don't take anyone's advice as gospel until you've proved it's veracity for yourself.
__________________
Ben
zartmancruising.com
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01-03-2018, 03:16
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2017
Boat: Callisto 435
Posts: 3
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Thanks for that Ben. Pockets are only so deep.
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01-03-2018, 03:55
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#5
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2017
Boat: Retired from CF
Posts: 13,317
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
I really enjoyed some yacht clubs and joined when I felt like it, but just for the racing fun and socializing.
Reciprocal rights did come in handy sometimes.
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01-03-2018, 04:07
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#6
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,143
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, spikeyrp.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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01-03-2018, 04:17
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Lake Ont
Posts: 8,547
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
If you're going to be just coastal-sailing from one home base for a few years, before heading out on the big adventure, then joining a club might make sense.
If your plan is to head out almost right away, then joining a club probably isn't worth the expense, and they might not want you as a member anyway if you aren't intending to hang around.
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01-03-2018, 05:42
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2017
Boat: Callisto 435
Posts: 3
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Thank you all. I intend leaving my home waters in 2019, cruising the Western Isles of Scotland this year then heading down to the Canary Islands next. I don't think I'll be joining a club but may join the CA.
Thanks again.
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01-03-2018, 05:45
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#9
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Cruising the northern Bahamas until June
Boat: Leopard 40 2009
Posts: 593
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
I'd never be a member of any club desperate enough to have me as a member!
Seriously, I have no idea if my yacht club really cares about reciprocity, only about if we let you dock here you won't keep us up all night with your wild party or trash our boats if we let you near them. It's more about risk mitigation than "social status". I'm a member of my local club for their convenient marina and I like the folks I race with, certainly not for any social status or reciprocity agreements. For cruising, I've found that the ability to pay for a transient slip trumps any membership in some club. Why not call a marina 200 miles up the coast, or in the Med if you're so adventurous, and ask what it would cost for a slip for a week and how long in advance they'll need a reservation. I'll bet they either have slips for rent, or not, but not ask about reciprocity. I'll also bet if you say you're a member of the hoity-toity yacht club (HTYC), no one asks for a card or referral letter.
__________________
John Trusty
Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt." -- Eric Sevareid
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01-03-2018, 06:55
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#10
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Now on the Dark Side: Stink Potter.
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Palm Coast, Florida
Boat: Sea Hunt 234 Ultra
Posts: 3,962
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
You know that Tristan Jones was a liar right?
He made up a lot of the stories he wrote and the rest should be taken with a grain of salt..
__________________
Life is sexually transmitted
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01-03-2018, 08:19
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Southern California
Boat: Catalina 320
Posts: 1,308
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
He wasn't a liar, just an embellisher "I'm a story teller, not a historian" - Tristan Jones
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01-03-2018, 11:50
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#12
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2017
Boat: Retired from CF
Posts: 13,317
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
History books are rarely objective truth either, all depends on POV, whose ox is being gored.
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01-03-2018, 11:54
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#13
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
If you are looking at joining a club or association just for the reciprocal benefits, the way to look at that is to find out what you can join, what that costs, and where they offer what benefits. If they can get you reciprocal free overnight docking at 50 fellow clubs...but those are all in the UK and you plan to sail globally? That might not be worth anything.
This is another one of those times when you REALLY need to break out a No.2 pencil and a pad and start tallying up numbers.
I had a friend who did join a club just for the reciprocal benefits, and they actually joined a very much distant club that allowed for non-local members at a very reduced rate. (As opposed to the rates someone actually in the area and using the club facilities would pay.) That's another option to look it, to see if "foreign" or other odd membership categories are allowed. No, I don't recall what club that was, but I suspect you needed to be nominated by existing members in order to apply.
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01-03-2018, 12:24
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#14
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Now on the Dark Side: Stink Potter.
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Palm Coast, Florida
Boat: Sea Hunt 234 Ultra
Posts: 3,962
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calif.Ted
He wasn't a liar, just an embellisher "I'm a story teller, not a historian" - Tristan Jones
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Whatever, but those who are interested should read this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Wayward-Sailo.../dp/0071440283
It is a biography on Tristan Jones, after reading it I changed my view on him.
Story teller, or rather Bull Sh...er
__________________
Life is sexually transmitted
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01-03-2018, 13:37
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: On the Ocean
Boat: Lagoon 40
Posts: 273
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Re: Should I join a yacht club
Look into the benefits of joining the yacht club you are interested in. for instance, we are members of Pensacola YC, which is part of the Florida Council of YCs....this gives us a free night at any member club in Florida. This is typically worth $100-200+ per night we stay to us, and very worthwhile. In addition, the camaraderie, new friendships, expertise of members etc. is priceless!
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