Fashion Here . . . I Want to Sail !

[Fashion]

Hello community. I'm a landlocked and officelocked lawyer in Utah. I'm planning my escape right now and my escape will include buying a boat and sailing around the world. If my current plan holds it will take about 4.2 years for me to save the money and get my life in order to successfully complete my escape.
Things I think I will need:
1. A bluewater sailboat... Any suggestions?
2. A few sailing lessons ... so far I've been out on a 13' Laser in a lake about 5 times... would love to crew for someone doing some west coast US sailing, I'm a pilot, so I could trade some flights for some sails.
3. A lady to sail the world with... working on this one here in Utah, but still keeping an open mind
4. Friends around the world to visit and from whom to get advice on everything that will be needed to complete a successful circumnavigation.

I look forward to getting to know some of you and thank you in advance for any suggestions/advice you wish to offer.

Fashion

[boatman61]

Hi Fashion..(turn to the left..)
Welcome to CF.... sure you'll find plenty here with sage advice...
Enjoy yourself...

[Capt.Fred]

Hi Fashion, Read lots of books and periodicals on cruising, heavy weather sailing, boat construction and maintenance and differeent types os boats. If you can get into that and enjoy it, then you are probably a natural for a life at sea. Some of the greatest sailors came from the middle states of America. Good luck. Capt.Fred

[sailorboy1]

4.2 years...........now that's good calulation

just get out and sail, you're know when you are ready, and even more importantly hopefully know when you aren't!

[Strait Shooter]

Hey Fashion,......... (turn to the right)

Well you certainly found a place to help you meet your 4.2 year goal.

The winds are fair, the sun is always warm and our women are prettier than other forums .........

Oh, and what Don Lucas says ....... sail every chance you get


Welcome and enjoy the process.

[Strait Shooter]

Oh, and if you're ever in the Seattle area, let me know and we'll see what we can cook up.

I remember being in your shoes 4.1 years ago.

[Wallabycreek]

Anybody who can calculate 4.2 years ahead is a long way away from ever being an ocean sailor. There is a good book that explains it all called
"Around-the-Wold Sailing Guide" at Amazon. True sailors are drivennnn and cannot stay at home.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Fashion

Hello community. I'm a landlocked and officelocked lawyer in Utah. I'm planning my escape right now and my escape will include buying a boat and sailing around the world. If my current plan holds it will take about 4.2 years for me to save the money and get my life in order to successfully complete my escape.

How did you come up with the 4.2yr number? Is there a specific $ amount you think you need that you will hit at that or are there other considerations to that length of time? Speaking of money there are 4 costs to consider for a cruise.
1. Buying the boat.
2. Outfitting the boat (figure 1/3-1/2 of boat purchase price)
3. Maintenance and upgrade costs while cruising.
4. Living costs

Giving us an idea of what you want to spend for 1 & 2 will help us reccomend boats to consider. Keep in mind the more 1 costs, the more 3 will cost in time and $. 2. has the same effect, lots of toys means more upkeep.

Things I think I will need:
1. A bluewater sailboat... Any suggestions?
Do you have any preconceived ideas of what constitutes a blue water boat, does it have to be full keel, or skeg rudder, or a particular rig or particularly heavy?
2. A few sailing lessons ... so far I've been out on a 13' Laser in a lake about 5 times...
Are you renting the Laser or do you own it? Having taught a large number of people to sail I feel strongly that for most people a dinghy is the best place to start, the only thing you really have to do in a dinghy is sail, all the cruising stuff like lights, navigation, anchoring, officialdom, etc can come later. I would suggest you buy a Laser and sail 2-4hr (excluding rigging and derigging) 2-4 weekend per month. If you find a lady friend, buy one for her too, it'll help weed out the chaff (not referring to women in general as chaff, referring to women who are not really interested in the cruising dream and likely would derail it.) In a year or so trade up to a trailerable like a Holder 20 or a Catalina 22 and start doing overnights and practicing the cruising stuff.
would love to crew for someone doing some west coast US sailing, I'm a pilot, so I could trade some flights for some sails.
If you want to drop by San Diego we go out periodically on Sundays. We could schedule something with several week forwarning.
3. A lady to sail the world with... working on this one here in Utah, but still keeping an open mind See above.
4. Friends around the world to visit and from whom to get advice on everything that will be needed to complete a successful circumnavigation.

I look forward to getting to know some of you and thank you in advance for any suggestions/advice you wish to offer.

Fashion

My stock answer for people looking for boats is go for something 28-34' solo and 30-36' for a couple. Boats designed in the 60's are for the most part pretty moderate in handling characteristics, pretty well built, priced nicely, laid out in a way that is more functional for offshore cruising and are all around good starter boats.
Consider the following:
Cal 34 - the boat I was aiming for 'til the kids started showing up.
Columbia 34.2
Ranger 33
Pearson Vanguard 33
Morgan 33
Tartan 34C
Bristol 33
Chinook 34 Arguably the first production fiberglass sailboat.
Grampian 32.2
Irwin 32
Endeavour 32
Islander 32
Islander 33
Islander 34
Allied Luders 33
Pearson 33
Seafarer 34
While some might object to calling these boats 'Bluewater', they all could reasonably be taken offshore with some preparation. Several have been around the world.

The following are boats that would cost somewhat more but would generally be considered 'Bluewater
Valiant 32 - The smaller sibling to the original performance cruiser.
Westsil 32 - Probably too heavy to be a good first boat, it weighs like a 45' boat with all the handling and anchoring difficulties that involves.
Alajuela 33 - The best laid out boat of it's size I have seen.
Contessa 32 - The smallest boat to finish the 1979 Fastnet race where about 1/2 the fleet dropped out, 15 people died and 10 or so boats were abandoned.

[zeehag]

welcome, fashion..


dont see any formosas in there--garden designed cruising boats to sail seas and oceans. they do a good job of it. same with ct and hardin sea woldfe, spindrift, hardin 45, hudson force---many boats not on lists as folks look down upon them. funny--they have sailed round the world and are perfectly good heavy cruisers--now can be found for much or little money.
also overlooked were gulfstar--many sizes.made in usa. good boats.
i woudnt sail another irwin if it were paid many million dollars-- or even given to me free. i dislike the way they feel when sailed and the bad tracking. handful. weatherhelm.
the answer to what you should buy lies in the boat you feel sails the way you like it to-- means sailing lot of boats and seeing what you do and do not like,.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by zeehag

welcome, fashion..


dont see any formosas in there--garden designed cruising boats to sail seas and oceans. they do a good job of it. same with ct and hardin sea woldfe, spindrift, hardin 45, hudson force---many boats not on lists as folks look down upon them. funny--they have sailed round the world and are perfectly good heavy cruisers--now can be found for much or little money.
also overlooked were gulfstar--many sizes.made in usa. good boats.
i woudnt sail another irwin if it were paid many million dollars-- or even given to me free. i dislike the way they feel when sailed and the bad tracking. handful. weatherhelm.
the answer to what you should buy lies in the boat you feel sails the way you like it to-- means sailing lot of boats and seeing what you do and do not like,.

I left those boats off my list because they were outside the size range I would reccomend. In really bad weather or a bad anchoring situation a 36' boat would be a strain on even an experienced sailor, let alone a boat over 40'. Fashion has indicated he is a newby so I offered suggestions tailored to his situation. Leaving them off the list was not a knock against them because I look down on them.

[Fashion]

Thank you everyone for the advice and well wishes. I will definitely have a lot to consider as I start my planning. I have been attracted to boats in the 38' to 42' range, simply for the ability to more comfortably fit my 6' 6" self on them. But understand that handling a boat of this size may be much more challenging. My 4.2 year number is based on living on Ramen soup and saving one paycheck per month for the next 4.2 years, paying off all my debts and saving around 200k to buy the boat, provision the boat, have the money to sail for over a year and have some leftover when I come home. Boats I was considering were in the 100k range, but the ones I really like (not knowing anything about boats) were in the 150K-200K range (Hallberg, Shannon, Malo).
That would not leave me any money to sail however, so I need to rid myself of these ideas quick. I like the Norther Europe boats the best based on comments of owners, quality, and layout, but would be interested in finding an US and less expensive alternative as well.

Since I have a plane, getting to San Diego or anywhere on the West Coast is a 3-5 hour flight for about 200$ so if anyone is headed out sailing and could use an extra crew member and a scenic flight, please let me know, I'm your man.

Best,

Matt

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Fashion

Thank you everyone for the advice and well wishes. I will definitely have a lot to consider as I start my planning. I have been attracted to boats in the 38' to 42' range, simply for the ability to more comfortably fit my 6' 6" self on them. But understand that handling a boat of this size may be much more challenging. My 4.2 year number is based on living on Ramen soup and saving one paycheck per month for the next 4.2 years, paying off all my debts and saving around 200k to buy the boat, provision the boat, have the money to sail for over a year and have some leftover when I come home. Boats I was considering were in the 100k range, but the ones I really like (not knowing anything about boats) were in the 150K-200K range (Hallberg, Shannon, Malo).
That would not leave me any money to sail however, so I need to rid myself of these ideas quick. I like the Norther Europe boats the best based on comments of owners, quality, and layout, but would be interested in finding an US and less expensive alternative as well.

Since I have a plane, getting to San Diego or anywhere on the West Coast is a 3-5 hour flight for about 200$ so if anyone is headed out sailing and could use an extra crew member and a scenic flight, please let me know, I'm your man.

Best,

Matt

Columbia 34.2, 7'+ headroom under the bubble, 6'+ elsewhere in the boat.
Here's another link for this boat.
Columbia Yacht Owners Association

[Unicorn Dreams]

Welcome Aboard Cruisers Forum

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Adelie's got a pretty nice list. Check out the links after my signature for some other folks recommendations. I too think that 32 - 36 is plenty big enough but headroom is an issue in some.
I recommend sailing lessons if you haven't had them.
kind regards,

[Block Island]

I too am 6'6" and have spent weeks at a time on small boats, I now can't imagine spending time on a boat that I can not stand upright in. For that reason a boat for me will be large, the largest that I can single hand and sail fast, because speed is safety.

I settled on a 1986 Shannon 43 ketch which has 6'6" head room and has been setup for single handing and has sailed 194 blue water NM in 23 hours. I hope this helps.


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