Buying/Using a Sailboat Without a Mast

[WoolPig]

My partner, Eric, and I want to move onto a boat, but we have zero sailing experience. Sailing lessons are scheduled for this summer, but that obviously won't mean that we're ready to sail on our own. We were considering buying a sailboat without a mast/with a broken mast/a sailboat in a similar situation, and using it to powerboat for a while before we put up a new mast and rigging.

This makes slightly more sense than it seems like at first, because

a)we're looking for a project boat. We really want to have a reason to rip out the interior and redo it. But, we know not a lot about boats yet, so ideally things like the engine would be in working order.

b)Eric has his heart set on junk rigging(at least at the moment), and my understanding is that most sailboat masts aren't suitable for junk sails

c)We want to be able to travel the Erie Canal, so we'd probably have to be able to take down at least part of the mast when we want to do so, which would again require a mast that the typical sailboat wouldn't have anyways.

We are just starting to learn about these things, and our ideas and plans are ever evolving as we learn more. Please be gentle with me if I've said something totally crazy!

Louisa