Add Another Dreamer to The List

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Originally Posted by Teknav

Hiya M! It would be nice if you'd start a project in publishing a sailor's guide book on the facilities available in frequently sailed waters such as the Caribbean, the Mediteranean and the South Pacific, among others. This would include: Marinas, WiFi availability, laundry facility, grocery stores/fresh food markets, restaurants, hardware and marine hardware stores, dinghy access, post office, hospitals/clinics, repairs shops, bed & breakfast places, just to name a few. Every island would have a few pages listing "the stuff" most sailors need; same platform search. It would be a major undertaking, but it would also be a best seller with lots of ads to subsidize the cost of publishing; it can also be available on the web with a yearly subscription/quartely updates. "A Sailor's Guide Book To The Caribbean", for example, would probably sell for about $50 USD a copy; currently, there's nothing like it on the market. Having a guide book like that is priceless.

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

Not to rain on your parade but Active Captain and various cruising Wiki's already do a lot of that.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you posting here and I've enjoyed your writing. You've been seduced by the sea and you'll never recover. It happened to me when I was 18 and on my first Navy Destroyer. This was so many years ago that that ship and all the others I served aboard later have been scrapped.
You'll have no problem finding a crew position wherever you want to serve. Mostly this is a male dominated life for liveaboards and cruising sailors. Most male sailors who are doing it singly are looking for a female partner who can pull their weight and be eye candy or a deck bunny as well and they will find you very attractive. The trouble for you will be sorting out the ones who are single for very good reasons. It'll be pretty hard to find a skipper who really wants you to learn sailing and not be too agressive about the relationship side. So, if you really want to learn just the sailing and cruising side of the lifestyle choosing a family to sail with or a female skipper for a time until you become very competent is a good idea.
Of course, signing up for ASA or USSailing classes is the other way.
Good luck to you in whichever way you choose.
I have a very competent boatbuilding and liveaboard cruising friend here on the forum who I'm certain would like very mcuh to meet you. As would so many others here on the forum.
kind regards,

[Capt Phil]

Originally Posted by Katiusha

I would really recommend reading Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship book: Chapman Piloting & Seamanship 65th Edition: Elbert S. Maloney: 9781588162328: Amazon.com: Books. Read it from cover to cover. Yes, it's expensive, yes it's thick, but it will give you all of most of the info you need to sail.

I started sailing, learnt quickly, but it was after reading this book that everything clicked. I suddenly could dock, plan trips, plan tacks better than my other half, feel confident on e water, etc. I refer to this book as Seamanship bible. Of course, there is no substitute for practice, but with this book you'll be miles ahead.

Th scary part is that I've seen quite a few sailing instructors, albeit not American or Canadian, not displaying the skills written in this book.

Fair winds!

Katiusha's advice is sound, MM... Chapmans was the 'bible' years ago when I was in marine school back in Canada and I highly recommend it as a reading resource. It will help you sort out the maritime language as well which Deck Officer will, I'm sure, tell you is important when interviewing for a seagoing position. Good luck in your search... Phil

[MeredithMcGuire]

Thanks so much for all of your replies, John, Phil, Chris, Dave.

I'm already overwhelmed by all of the kindness I'm seeing here, by all of the advice and concern - and by the responses to my writing.

I promise to keep you all updated as things progress.

Lessons are pretty well set for this week, with the skipper I'm crewing for on Lake Lanier: laying anchor and more time on the tiller, and he's bringing me a sailing "textbook".

[boatman61]

If your seriously looking for a sail contact one of our members called TrishAffleck... she's after crew to get her from Charleston to NY... a quick 5 day intro to coastal sailing... expenses paid I believe.
Primary requirement keeping watch while the skipper grabs some sleep... I take over at NY for the crossing to the Med.
Oh... by the way..
Welcome to CF..

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by boatman61

If your seriously looking for a sail contact one of our members called TrishAffleck... she's after crew to get her from Charleston to NY... a quick 5 day intro to coastal sailing... expenses paid I believe.
Primary requirement keeping watch while the skipper grabs some sleep... I take over at NY for the crossing to the Med.
Oh... by the way..
Welcome to CF..

When is trishaffleck looking to shove off? I'm out sailing now but might be able to help in July depending on boat etc.

[MeredithMcGuire]

Originally Posted by boatman61

If your seriously looking for a sail contact one of our members called TrishAffleck... she's after crew to get her from Charleston to NY... a quick 5 day intro to coastal sailing... expenses paid I believe.
Primary requirement keeping watch while the skipper grabs some sleep... I take over at NY for the crossing to the Med.
Oh... by the way..
Welcome to CF..

Thanks for the welcome, boatman.

I'll get in touch with Trish and find out about her plans; I might be able to manage it, if the timing is right.

M.

[pilotdave]

Hello MM and welcome aboard.
Lot's of good advice given here so far. I feel your caution is justified. I'd say you already have the skill set as a chef (cook?) who knows how to trim a sail and steer the boat to be in HIGH demand in the charter/delivery/private yacht world. To make yourself slightly more marketable I'd suggest picking up an ASA bareboat charter cert. That is relatively cheap and easy and fun. It's a basic boat handling course that allows you to rent/charter boats all over the world.
I'm sure that in a very short time you could almost demand your price and pick your jobs between writing gigs. If the food pics on your blog is representative of your capabilities... well, yum.
Then of course you could find a boat to live on. I don't know your budget, but it can be done for well under 20k. Then a dock will be something under $500 a month total.
I know this because I moved onto my little ship of dreams this week. As I'm writing this I'm laying on my King sized aft cabin bed and listening to the frogs and crickets rocking out. A fan is keeping my nearly nude, tanned and chiseled body cool and refreshed while the lantern above my head sways ever so gently. I'm so happy I could just lay down and scream. Do it.
PS, There might be a couple of teeny exaggerations in my post, but it's my post and I'll describe things my way, HA!