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Shark_Bait will receive many thanks

Shark_Bait Shark_Bait is offline

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About Me

  • About Shark_Bait
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Occupation
    HVAC Technician
    Biography
    This is mostly a copy and paste from my greeting post, I'm going to be changing and modifying this bio over time as things change.

    I got mostly all my experience on the water through the Army as a watercraft operator. 5 years working on the boat and cumulative 3 years sea time. Not a lot, I know, but enough for me to miss being out of sight of land and the feeling of true freedom that comes with it. I just forgot about it for a little while. I recently got back from a family trip to the beach and it reminded me of a dream I had since given up on as being prohibitively expensive, which I have since learned isn't exactly true through research and looking at boats for sale online. Not going to open that can of worms here, will absolutely have any potential boats checked out by people who know more than me before purchase.

    I'm an hvac technician by trade, learning refrigeration currently. Next I'll be doing loads more research and getting experience/knowledge in every system my future boat will have so when things go tits up I can at least do the work myself. If my time at sea with the Army is any indication, things will never break in port. They all have some sort of gps so they can break when you're farthest away from safe harbor, and since I'm starting out solo I need to be as self sufficient as possible.

    Right now I have a rough outline of a plan to be refined as time goes. Get on the waiting list for a local marina that allows liveaboard so I have a place to dock when I get the one. Closest body of water is Lake Travis, which would be sufficient to get experience handling a sailboat in calmer waters since as of now all mine is power driven. There are also a few clubs around here where I can take classes. I'm taking all the classes. When we were crossing the Med there were a few days our boat was going backwards at "all ahead full" and I got a healthy respect for what nature can throw at you. Blue water over the bow ramp of an LSV is rough. Exciting as hell, but rough. When I'm tested on a solo trip I will not be found wanting. Bowditch will become my bible again. Then once I get some more savings, move off the lake to Port Aransas. Continue plying my trade to build more savings while taking longer and longer trips in increasingly rougher seas where I can possibly fall back to safety if it becomes too much.

    End goal is circumnavigation at least once. I'm done being strapped to a daily job where I'll look in the mirror 10, 20+years down the line when I'm in my 40's/50's and wonder what the hell I did with my life. All it is, is grinding away so I can continue the cycle until I'm too old to work. That's just not gonna work for me.

    Fair winds and following seas

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  • Last Activity: 21-08-2017 14:57
  • Join Date: 18-08-2017
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