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[Lost Julie]

Before I start just want to warn everyone I will ask a lot of dumb questions and I am not sure which section I should put them in so here goes.

I have no experience of sailing but in my fantasies I sail across the globe on my own boat. While in Spain last year we went to a boat auction and I left a bid on a boat that has not been sailed for seven year and not used for three. I was surprised to have won the bid and the boat yard in Spain has fixed her up at a cost of €21,000, including new electronics, rebuilt engine, new fuel tanks, new wind generator, sails.

A friend has offered to teach me to sail by bringing the boat to North Wales from Spain end of April, I intend to quit my job and go off sailing in May. Most people go off to the med, I want to go to Norway and Iceland, am I being over ambitious?

How do I know what my boat is capable off?

Can I also ask what sort of budget do I need.

I have watched many You Tube videos and wonder if fishing is compulsory.

Thanks if anyone answers.

[jwcolby54]

Originally Posted by Lost Julie

Before I start just want to warn everyone I will ask a lot of dumb questions and I am not sure which section I should put them in so here goes.

I have no experience of sailing but in my fantasies I sail across the globe on my own boat. While in Spain last year we went to a boat auction and I left a bid on a boat that has not been sailed for seven year and not used for three. I was surprised to have won the bid and the boat yard in Spain has fixed her up at a cost of €21,000, including new electronics, rebuilt engine, new fuel tanks, new wind generator, sails.

A friend has offered to teach me to sail by bringing the boat to North Wales from Spain end of April, I intend to quit my job and go off sailing in May. Most people go off to the med, I want to go to Norway and Iceland, am I being over ambitious?

How do I know what my boat is capable off?

Can I also ask what sort of budget do I need.

I have watched many You Tube videos and wonder if fishing is compulsory.

Thanks if anyone answers.

ROTFLMAO!!

Naw, just quit your job, go hop on your boat, hire an instructor to teach you how to sail and go for it.

Understand that is probably NOT what a lot of folks are gonna tell you.

I just went out to SailboatData and looked her up. What a sweet looking boat. And just in time to join the Old Clunkers club. There are many of us Old Clunkers owners on here.

Congrats on doing what you want to do.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Julie.

[svHyLyte]

Lets see. You've gotten a tiger by the tail, he's pissed; and Now you're asking what to do with him? I think you would be wise to keep your day job and hire a sympathetic, understanding, patient sailing instructor--preferably female. And Read a lot. Perhaps starting with Debra Ann Cantrell's "Changing Course--A Woman's Guide to the Cruising Life". You might also contact/join the (click on) Cruising Association in Limehouse Basin, London.

[skipmac]

Hi LJ and welcome to the forum,

Sorry to be another naysayer but you propose a fairly ambitious voyage with zero previous boating experience. I think you are not aware that there is much, much more to going on an extended trip by boat than there is to do the same in a caravan.

Some very few, unique individuals have managed to do something like you propose but the huge, overwhelming majority of those that attempt serious cruises with little to no experience fail. Most just require rescue or end up abandoning the boat somewhere on the voyage, usually quite close to home. More that a few come to grief, losing the boat and sometimes their lives.

I sincerely recommend you spend some time closer to home learning boating, sailing and how to manage your specific boat before taking off across the North Sea.

Best of luck.

[WindwardPrinces]

Sounds like a peach of a boat, but I do agree with the others here that I'd sail her in calmer waters and get some experience before quitting my job and taking her into the North Sea!

Otherwise you'll likely earn your moniker the hard way!

[boatpoker]

I leaned to sail in the North Sea, not a place for novices. Get your feet wet somewhere a little easier on the leaning curve .... I do admire your willingness to 'go for it"

[socaldmax]

Welcome to CF!

It all depends on you.

Are you a fast learner, intuitive and observant? Are you tough as nails, capable of laughing at a hurricane and looking forward to whatever is around the next corner? Are you disciplined, determined, organized, logical, calm under pressure and willing to practice fire drills, MOB drills, flooding drills, etc? Are you mechanically inclined, good with tools, or at least willing to follow the directions in a book or manual? Can you sew well, splice a line, bleed a diesel fuel line and track down an electrical problem?

If so, you have a very good chance at success. However, if you get nervous when you're more than 200 yds from a Starbucks, you might consider selling it or just sailing in the harbor.

Start small, get a good teacher, get plenty of good books on navigation, sailing and boat repair and be willing to take good advice and be able to separate good advice from bad.

First thing is to do a little local sailing and figure out if you're prone to seasickness and if so, what works for you. It's hard to handle a boat when you're bent over the rail, turning green, retching your guts out, feeding the fish. Not to be gross, but there's no way to romanticize it.

[siamese]

Ya know, you want to believe the best about anyone, but lately the sailing forums have been besieged with posts like this one. I have no experience. I want to go sail the oceans right away.

I'm just not prepared to believe any of this.

You have a friend that is going to sail the boat and teach you. And the friend doesn't know if the boat is capable? Really? Is the friend capable? Why haven't you asked your friend whether fishing is compulsory (which, by the way, it is)?

If I thought there was a tiny chance that the OP is legitimate, I would have to say what is proposed is a bad idea. As has already been mentioned, there are some hardy, capable, independent souls out there that could do it, but I doubt any of them began their journey with a post like this one, that I will venture to say has a slightly goofy quality to it.

But, like I said, I'm not believing it.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by siamese

Ya know, you want to believe the best about anyone, but lately the sailing forums have been besieged with posts like this one. I have no experience. I want to go sail the oceans right away.

I'm just not prepared to believe any of this.

You have a friend that is going to sail the boat and teach you. And the friend doesn't know if the boat is capable? Really? Is the friend capable? Why haven't you asked your friend whether fishing is compulsory (which, by the way, it is)?

If I thought there was a tiny chance that the OP is legitimate, I would have to say what is proposed is a bad idea. As has already been mentioned, there are some hardy, capable, independent souls out there that could do it, but I doubt any of them began their journey with a post like this one, that I will venture to say has a slightly goofy quality to it.

But, like I said, I'm not believing it.

You're not entirely right. She doesn't want to just jump out there and sail, she's asking for advice here about the whole endeavor.

To me, that indicates a willingness to learn, to listen. I also want to sail, possibly around the world, in the next 5-6 yrs. So that's why I'm here, to learn as much as possible in the interim.

I agree, her time schedule is unrealistic, but at least she's asking for advice. That's a good sign.

[Stu Jackson]

Read, read, read.

Practice, practice, practice (ESPECIALLY DOCKING & ANCHORING - THE SAILING PART'S RELATIVELY EASIER THAN THOSE TWO ).

socaldmax's first two paragraphs are priceless and very good.

None of us were born eletricans, plumbers, or diesel mechanics.

We all spent time learning.

It is a PROCESS, unlike learning how to drive a car, because it involves so many more moving parts, including navigation, weather, etc.

If you do a search on this or any other boating forum under BOOKS you'll find lots of places to start.

If you're only practicing on weekends, it will take 5 times longer than if you do it daily.

Good luck, safe journey.

[siamese]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

You're not entirely right. She doesn't want to just jump out there and sail, she's asking for advice here about the whole endeavor.

To me, that indicates a willingness to learn, to listen. I also want to sail, possibly around the world, in the next 5-6 yrs. So that's why I'm here, to learn as much as possible in the interim.

I agree, her time schedule is unrealistic, but at least she's asking for advice. That's a good sign.

Okay, you're right. I take it all back. In fact, upon further reflection, I'm quite certain that with all the time between now and May, that she'll gain the necessary skills, quit her job, sort out her budget, and sail off to the North Sea in perfect safety. What was I thinking? No, really, I was so wrong.

[Dockhead]

As you can see, you will get all kinds of opinions on here.

I'll try to give some actually helpful answers.

1. The Moody 33, one of the last Angus Primrose designs for Moody, is a solid vessel which will stand up to a lot more punishment than the crew can. Not only solid but actually quite a lively sailer, so this actually a very good choice for an old clunker.

2. The boat is not as important as what condition it's in. You'll learn pretty fast what things break and what things need to be renewed. Reserve a serious budget for this -- for capital repairs and improvements. If you were to set aside a sum equal to the cost of the boat, you would not find it grossly excessive. You might get by on less, but hard to be sure.

3. Yes, you can learn to sail as you propose to do. But there are a lot of other skills you need -- navigation, pilotage, harbour maneuvers, docking, managing the systems, anchoring, electricity, mechanics, etc., etc., etc. It takes some years to achieve something like competence in the essential skills. But what you propose is a fairly classical approach, which can be supplemented with RYA courses, crewing on other people's boats, your own reading, study, and of course trial and error.

4. Norway and Iceland are dream destinations -- go North, young lady. Also Scotland, Denmark, the Baltic. To get to these places, you have to cross some of the toughest bodies of water in the world, however, so take baby steps.

5. The UK and the English Channel have some of the best sailing in the world, which would take a lifetime to explore. So your best bet might be to find a base somewhere around here, somewhere where there is an active sailing community and infrastructure, and start off with modest cruises along the coast.

6. If you're really crazy about it, it is absolutely feasible to get rid of your land life and land possessions, and live on your boat. Either with a fixed base and your own mooring, or just wandering around. Many of us here do it. You don't have to be an expert sailor, to be a happy liveaboard.

7. How much does it cost? How much is a piece of string? It's like asking what it costs to live on land -- the range is infinite. As a rough guide, many people find that they spend roughly the same amount of money, living on a boat, as they do living on land. You spend less on some things and more on others, but the total often runs about the same. It means if you maintain a land home as well, the housing part of your budget will roughly double.


Good luck and let us know how you get on. There are lots and lots of helpful people on here (believe it or not), so don't be shy to ask questions.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by siamese

Okay, you're right. I take it all back. In fact, upon further reflection, I'm quite certain that with all the time between now and May, that she'll gain the necessary skills, quit her job, sort out her budget, and sail off to the North Sea in perfect safety. What was I thinking? No, really, I was so wrong.

No, you're right, only a superhuman with a lot of luck could do all of that and not have a lot of bad things happen through a combination of lack of preparation and ignorance.

But she's here, asking questions. Maybe if we tell her to add a year or two to her schedule, and/or aim for less treacherous seas until she has a couple of years experience, it might all work out.

Nobody here is telling her she could be ready by May. You're right, it's totally unrealistic. Now instead of being so negative, if you offer some actual advice with a realistic timeline, it might be helpful to her. If she takes it, great. If not, at least you're not the reason she tuned out and made a rash decision.

[Lizzy Belle]

Wow, you guys are a LOT friendlier to a women with these plans then to a guy!



I was going to post something with "SA" in there. But I'll refrain and bookmark this topic for when a man posts something like this