The Next Journey Has Begun

[dvanhout]

Greetings!

I'm a Canadian living a 'non-traditional' life in Auckland for the time being with my unmarried wife and 9 m/o son. They are currently visiting the grandparents back in Canada so I have a lot of time right now to try and stave off the fact that I miss them terribly. They're gone for a whole month, so to keep my mind off how lonely I am, I've decided to do some research on our next 'big adventure.'

We're both in our early 30's and have been talking around where our life is going to go with our little family over the next little while.

I've always been a bit of a dreamer and a, "What do you mean I can't do that?" sort of person. Between my partner and I, we've had our share of once in a lifetime adventures at a pretty young age. We are outdoor people - I currently work as an outdoor instructor.

Living in Auckland, you can't help but get drawn to the ocean and all those triangles dotting the harbour...fueling the latest obsession - I wanna sail! Over the next five-ten years we intend to accrue as much sailing-related knowledge as we can (I've lived most of my life far inland-with a good portion of that in a tent so I'm starting from the beginning). We plan to spend a whole lot of time on the water, get a suitable boat, liveaboard while outfitting and learning learning learning, and then sail back to Canada and suss out the next 'big adventure'. All while raising our son and maybe have another child - haha!

As a complete newbie, I intend to fully use the members of this forum for their vast knowledge and expertise so thank you in advance!

Cheers!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard!
This is a great place for you to start your dreams. Good place to ask questions as well.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[maxingout]

New Zealand is a great place to make your sailing dreams come true. We sailed twice to New Zealand, and it's one of my favorite countries. Lots of places to sail and things to see in a relatively small area.

If you can sail in and around New Zealand, you can sail anywhere.

[Ocean Girl]

What a great life you are giving your child(s) - a life of adventure! Good luck on your search for a live aboard and cruiser.
Happy Sailing,
Erika

[dvanhout]

Thank you for the welcomes. Gosh, only a couple of hours since I joined and already being welcomed in...fantastic!

Any suggestions where to start in Auckland? (just a small question like that...)

[Jolly Roger]

Join a yacht club. It won't cost much and you will be able to crew on all the different type of boats. You will listen and learn from all the advice which will be frequently given, and after a season or so you might become a sailor. You will then be able to make your own mind up what you want to do, and how.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by dvanhout

As a complete newbie, I intend to fully use the members of this forum for their vast knowledge and expertise so thank you in advance!

As Kiwiland is a known stop for many folks on a RTW trip you are in a good place to learn from folks arriving from accross the pacific.

Also having some sort of sailing boat (even if not yet the one for your own long term adventures) would bring you fully "into the club" and give you useful info to share / trade, as well as of course build your learning..........but even without that you being a shore based local (even if only "honorary" ), interested, and possibly helpful and mobile! should be more than enough to get yourself aboard boats for a chat about adventures and perhaps even a few trips out and about...........even if you have to trade a few bottles of Kiwi wine for the latter ...........and quite likely the chance of being extra crew for a leg to Fiji or Oz.

[Knowazark]

Hey there, welcome aboard!

We're in Auckland too and have just gone thru the process of buying a blue water cruising yacht (we take delivery on Friday). It will take us a little while to get ourselves sorted out and to get comfortable with the boat, but once we do we may start to get into the odd cruising race where we may be needing crew.

If we can be of assistance in advising on the whole purchasing process, just give us a yell.

I would second the suggestion of joining a yacht club (possibly something like the Ponsonby Cruising Club or Richmond Yacht Club) and sticking your name down for a crew position. To start with I'd suggest trying to get a crew position for a rum race or two .... the rum races are low-key, after work races where the emphasis is supposed to be on fun. The aim is to get people out sailing, particularly in the winter season, and to introduce new people to the sport. A good place to learn.

There are also sailing schools run at several yacht clubs and these focus on teaching you to sail dinghies. The principles of dinghy sailing apply directly to keelboats.

Welcome to the forum.

[Boracay]

I tried going the yacht club path and it didn't really work for me.

I think the problem was that I came along thinking that I would just step onto a boat and all would run smoothly. The reality was that the boats that needed crew were the ones experiencing difficulty. If they were good they had all the crew they needed.

I probably should have kept my mouth shut (telling the skipper why he is loosing is not a good idea for new crew), my head down and brought a nice packed lunch. Making a point of always turning up, even if there was no boat would also have been good.

I should also have kept in mind that some yacht clubs have a strong social organisation and atmosphere, which may not be totally to my liking. Again, keeping my head down and my mouth shut would have been better.

If you know someone who is a member and who can introduce you this would be best.

[dvanhout]

Thank you for all the good suggestions. Since my basic knowledge of sailing comes from tying three Canadian canoes together at the thwarts, straping a straightish jackpine to the middle canoe's bow, and stringing up a tarpaulin during an expedition to the Canadian North...(we actually achieved 15 kph according to the GPS!)... I thought I would opt for an adult "learn to sail" class first. We are in Howick and the closes it Bucklands Beach Yacht Club.

They have a fleet of J24 yachts and the classes seem fairly reasonable and in-depth for a beginner course.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by dvanhout

my basic knowledge of sailing comes from tying three Canadian canoes together at the thwarts, straping a straightish jackpine to the middle canoe's bow

Is that how you got to NZ?