Is 'this' Plain Crazy ?!

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I think dinghies are over-rated as instructional tools, and I don't picture this as a plan for someone who just wants to get on the boat and sail.

I didn't get a dinghy. I got a 25' pocket cruiser. If i'd had instruction on a larger boat to start with I probably would have bought a larger boat to start with.

I thought the suggestion to move to Toronto (during spring/summer) and get your feet wet, so to speak, with sailing, was a great suggestion, the difficulty being that how do you choose the boat that's right for you when you haven't sailed?

There's no perfect answer, but I don't think buying a dinghy (or two) and waiting a couple of years for whatever reason is the only option. I didn't go that route and I'm very glad I didn't.

No it's not the only option, there are certainly a whole lot of ways to do this and for some people dinghy sailing would be inappropriate.

But in my experience teaching people to sail, I felt it worked better for people to start in dinghies before moving up to keelboats. When they made the move they already understood the SAILING part of living aboard and focused instead on the CRUISING parts: anchoring, navigation, cooking underway, officialdom and paperwork, heads, electrical systems, plumbing systems, electronics, etc. People were a lot more comfortable on the keelboats, they were less overwhelmed with things to learn, and in the long run I felt they were safer, the dinghy people always had an edge in sailing skills.

I wouldn't have suggested 2 summer in dinghies if the sailing season in SK were longer.

[Chrisgo]

Originally Posted by Vyndance II

Could you please post links to the stories you mention? You are talking about the Bahamas right?

No, the BVI's. I basing on observations I've read here and on other forums.

[The Cooks]

Thanks again for your thoughts and time in responding to our post.you all have gave us alot of good information and ideas on how to approach and get this plan moving, we are goin to buy a small sailboat and spend the next two summers learning the ropes and spending some weekends on the lake(Diefenbaker) so we can get a feel for it, we will be planning on getting the courses we need to take and gaining as much info as we can.if anyone knows of a good instructor/charter course for the caribbean that will be our next family holiday, once again thanks for the good advice and I will be shelling out for a few beers when I bump into some of you out there...cheers....chris

[boatman61]

Of Course its Crazy..... Go for it...
Really hope you enjoy it...

[Chrisgo]

Hey Chris, how big is your truck? Can you pull a fair sized trailer? Or is it a Freightliner, which might be overkill . Just thinking you could always go to lake Winnepeg for a weekend as well. That would give you the experience of dealing with some larger waves, which I doubt you'll find on Diefenbaker.

If it's just a vacation to learn to sail you're looking for, I'm sure Florida would be a lot cheaper. And may have better schools. Scenery won't be as nice though.

[kb79]

we just arrived in new zealand, having departed san francisco with almost no experience. i just want to echo those who have said "go for it".

there's very little worth doing that isn't at least a little scary - ignore the nay-sayers

[The Cooks]

Yes chrisgo I got a semi, might be a touch overkill for a 25foote (haha), I was looking at some little sailboats on Winnipeg kijiji and for what I need there a decent price. Its going to take us a couple of years to get sorted and earn a few more pennies but im sure irt will be worth the wait when we do go,and with some sailing and knowledge behind us we will all feel more comfortable, cheers

[Hudson Force]

A little boat reacts quickly to your actions and nothing will be a better instructor for the basics of sailing than a small boat. There will be other factors involved in maneuvering a large boat in and out of docks under power, but for learning to sail, a dinghy does it all.