Howdy and Welcome Aboard CF Antiduke!
You came to the right place (forum). I have read your intro post above, and all of the following comments posted by others. What follows is written in a friendly tone, and with respect for your experience.
Since you are new to this forum, let me mention a few things you might miss but that could help you more enjoy your time here:
There is an amazing amount of shared knowledge found in the thousands of threads on this forum. If one has a common question, the answers are usually there, often with different possible solutions. The trick is finding those threads and answers as they can be "lost" in the many threads, which are often not titled well.
Here are my favorite Tips for newcomers to this forum:
WIKI
Take a look at the
Cruising WIKI that is found via the tab up on the top menu bar of the forum. It has a LOT of information in it you might find fun, interesting, or helpful.
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Looking for Quick Answers?
This is the best and fastest method I have found to the answers I seek here.
Since you are relatively new to the forum, here is my favorite friendly forum search tip: Look at the menu bar on the forum pages for the drop down "Search" menu. Click on that to drop down a list of search functions. From that drop down menu select the
GOOGLE CUSTOM search feature (the second box down) and then enter several different descriptive or key terms for your topic of interest. That will do a Custom
google search of ONLY this site and it is likely to find answers to your questions or results for you. Note: this is VERY different from using the regular forum search box or field (which I never use because of poor search results). Also note, this is NOT found if you use the CF mobile app. It IS found if you use a web browser such as Safari, IE, Firefox, etc.
Note: The ordinary "search" field on this forum has yielded less helpful results for me when I perform searches. That is why I prefer and suggest the use of the alternative "Google Custom Search" instead. I see a very clear and big difference and find the Google Custom Search much easier for scanning (with my eyes) threads for relevant comments and information.
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For example, doing a Google Custom Search of this forum and putting in the terms or key words "trailer sailer" comes back with many threads that have many comments and suggestions for suitable boats. Check out the list of threads here:
trailer sailer - Google Search
I am confident if you spend some time trying different search terms (key words) using this method, you will find much
advice and many tips.
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If looking for a smaller boat to buy, I also suggest you look at the following website, as it is loaded with sailing info. The "for sale" listings at this particular site are generally for smaller boats, rather than big cruisers. They have listings from around the
USA. Most will be within your
budget. There are classified listings that show photos and descriptions of these boats. This is the first place I would look, in order to at least get some idea of the various brands and models of boats and their asking prices. Then I would extend my search to local yacht clubs and sailing communities.
Sailboats for sale from Sailing Texas, buy or sell your sailboat, free sailboat ads.
Good luck on your search and have fun sailing!