Is this an unrealistic dream?

[AdamNSheana]

Hi everyone. Been part of the forum for a half a year. Been doing a lot of reading. My question is this.

I have zero sailing experience. However very smart and lots of wood working, engineering, and outdoor experience. I am 27 years old, healthy, no ties downs (house payment, car payment). Would it be reachable to learn to sail, get experience, build my own blue water cruiser, and sail to possibly Hawaii, South Pacific, maybe Alaska ?

I know it will take money and hard work, but reading everything. I feel like I won't get enough experience and such. My goal is to try and do this before I turn 40.

I have been a law enforcement officer for over 7 years. Be brutally honest please. Thanks everyone.


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[robwilk37]

not unrealistic at all, get to work.

plenty of good boats out there already built though, youd save a bunch of money and probably time buying one of them and fixing it up. get into racing even if you don't care about racing. its a fast track sailing education and youll get an idea of what you want in your boat.

[elias1234]

yes.

on the other hand, would it be possible to reply to a thread by just typing "yes."?

no. messages apparently need to be at least 5 characters.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Your question has been asked by a gazillion people since I've joined in 2006. There are a lot of answers to your question but let me offer just a couple.
Take some sailing courses, talk to cruisers that are near you at a marina, and since this is really a buyers market it would make very little economical or time sense to build your own. Don't even think about a project boat. Save some dollars while you are deciding what you want and then go shopping for a boat that might need some cleaning and electronics update and buy what you want.
Good luck and I hope that helps.

[garrobito]

..Off course you can!! I fact, you're at the perfect moment.
Start taking few courses, get a little 20' and practice at any close water you have (or move close to the ocean and get a 30') and yessss you can!!

[krafthaus]

I'd say it can be done. It depends on your current finances, how much you plan to spend on a boat and how much per month you spend for entertainment and to live.

Check out these blogs for an idea of some others that have done it at your age and who are doing it economically.

Best of Luck!

Each of these are single handing:
Sail Panache | Strutting across the Pacific Ocean
Swell Voyage
https://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteSpotPirates

These ones double handing:
s/v Bella Star
S.V. Nyon
SV Estrellita 5.10b

[Kenomac]

Buy a good fixer upper needing just cosmetics, and get out sailing much sooner.

That's how we got started. Bought an O'Day 20 back in 1981 that needed lots of TLC to replace our sailing Kite 12 footer, and put a couple of hundred sweat equity hours into it; then enjoyed the boat for over 5 years. I was working at a custom cabinet shop at the time.

[garrobito]

[QUOTE=krafthaus;1690639]I'd say it can be done. It depends on your current finances, how much you plan to spend on a boat and how much per month you spend for entertainment and to live.

Check out these blogs for an idea of some others that have done it at your age and who are doing it economically.

Best of Luck!

..Krafthaus is the prudence and common sense talking... I'm a lot more reckless about sailing... finance?? well.. I can think about it after my next 5000000000 miles.... :bigg rin:

[FollowingCs]

Check out:

LAHOWIND | Sailing Blog | LAHOWIND | Sailing Blog | Welcome to our sailing blog! Get to know us, Jereme+Kim+Oliver the dog, as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing!
Bumfuzzle

The Pardey's books describe building their home built boats, but like others said, not the most cost effective way to go if your time is at all valuable (unless of course you really value the time building of course.)

Somebody taught you well. Debt is the opposite of freedom, no matter how low the interest rate is. Sometimes I think I raised my kids to be TOO responsible, falling right in to the rat race as good little pistons in the economic engine.... argh....

~ Following C's ~

[fallingeggs]

Sure it is.

In my opinion, I would look for options to join a sailing club to get experience and to ensure you enjoy sailing. (Easier to get out of a club membership than boat ownership.)

If there are no clubs or you just want to jump right in, now go buy a boat. If you don't want to leave in the short term (5 years?), buy a mid 20 foot day sailor / weekend sailor from the 80s. Just need something that works on day one; it doesn't have to look pretty. Keep it for a few years then move to your cruising boat.

If you want to leave sooner and have the finances, then you'll have to research what type of cruising boat you'll really need and get her now.

You can sign up for sailing classes before / during / after the boat purchase.

In summary, go buy a freakin boat if you want to make it happen. Too many people that ask this question just hem and haw until the dream fades away.

For what it is worth, I did two years in a club, purchased my cruising boat a few months ago and will leave for a similar plan in two years. I'm now 28.


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[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by AdamNSheana

...I have zero sailing experience...
I am 27 years old...
Would it be reachable to learn to sail, get experience, build my own blue water cruiser, and sail to possibly Hawaii, South Pacific, maybe Alaska ?...
My goal is to try and do this before I turn 40...

Anything is possible, just not likely that you can do all that and become a boat builder, too. By all means learn to sail. But search for a suitable used vessel to start with.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by AdamNSheana

Hi everyone. Been part of the forum for a half a year. Been doing a lot of reading. My question is this.

I have zero sailing experience. However very smart and lots of wood working, engineering, and outdoor experience. I am 27 years old, healthy, no ties downs (house payment, car payment). Would it be reachable to learn to sail, get experience, build my own blue water cruiser, and sail to possibly Hawaii, South Pacific, maybe Alaska ?

I know it will take money and hard work, but reading everything. I feel like I won't get enough experience and such. My goal is to try and do this before I turn 40.

I have been a law enforcement officer for over 7 years. Be brutally honest please. Thanks everyone.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

I have all the skills to build a boat. In every feasible scenario purchasing a good well equipped vessel is preferred to building my own.

You will have more than enough opportunities to practice your skills doing corrective and preventative maintenance and making improvements.

Wait till you find a well equipped boat in good condition at the right price.

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[meg23]

Building a boat is totally possible, however I would say that only an extremely small subset of the population can achieve this. Building a boat requires, know how, space (like land, warehouse), tools, and boatload of money, pun intended. You will be buying tools that have no use outside of boats. Ultimately, your first boat will not be anywhere as strong as a cheap production sailboat, however it will cost much more in terms of money and time. The resale value will be about $0 since no one wants to buy custom sailboats.

Secondly, as you meet more sailors, you realize that people are interested in sailing for different reasons. Some people think of a boat as an escape from life. These people buy boats and never take them out. These people are usually unhappy with their own personal situation. They think by buying a boat (or building a boat) that they can improve their situation. Sailing is easily one of the most complex hobbies and full of aggravations like boatyards, marinas, and expenses. Sailing is about experiencing life in a different way. You need to figure out what sailing means to you and pursue the essence of it, which is probably not building a boat. Take some ASA courses and join a yacht club to meet people with boats. Believe it or not, sailors are always looking to take people out on the water.

After getting some experience sailing, try a yacht charter in the islands to get a feel for what cruising is like. People either love it or hate it.

[zeehag]

the only impossible dream is one you are not able to effect.
those dreams you truly wish to have come true will as you make it so.

[Mutt]

Get to know a really good broker who will take the time to help you get good advice and the right boat for you. Maybe first join your local boat club as a non-boating member and talk to people to find out who is a good broker and who is not. Offer your services as crew for races. They are always looking for crew and you will learn for free. Don't forget to bring beer.