Following My Dream-7 Years Out

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by biker6977

Hello, I am not only new to the forum but also sailing- as in- I HAVE NEVER SAILED. I always said "if I win the lottery I'll buy a boat and sail the Caribbean" well I don't play so I decided to make my dream a reality.
I'm 50, hubby is 46 and the extent of his sailing experience was back in college with a freind that raced hobies. My goal was in 10 years. My husband is now on board with the idea so we are shooting to buy a boat within 5 years and leave in no more than 7 years. Currently I have been scouring the internet, reading books, and asking questions. I will be taking sailing lessons in 2 months. I have a little Snark (don't laugh) that I will play with in the lake across the street. Now I'm not totally crazy- we have boats (4) but all power for fishing and we scuba dive and both love living on the gulf. We aren't land landlocked dreamers- just dreamers.
Any and all advise is welcome.
Any recommendations on sailing schools on the Gulf- we live in AL but LA, MS and FL are reasonable distances to go for a weekend. I plan to take one new sailing class every 2-3 months. Hubs will do the same at separate times- then next summer we will take a cruise together and see how it goes.
Any and all advice is welcome- but no nay sayers! We are both engineers and pretty darn logical- I'm hoping this helps- though I've been told my desire to do this is totally not logical

Best Sailing School is in FT Myres Beach/Captiva foregt the Name

[biker6977]

Phitod- I sent them and email and hope to take a course in August. Thanks for the heads up about them.

[Phitod]

Originally Posted by biker6977

THANK YOU!! I saw that and for some reason I was thinking Lake Lanier in GA by where I used to live .

Well the franchise is based out of Atlanta, on Lake Lanier. Good luck, and be sure to tell them Todd sent you.

[biker6977]

I think I saw one on captiva- not ASA but Collgate? I'm taking an on line Collgate course- just learning terminology. I think the P'cola will do well for BKB since its 3 days not all in a row. Then I'll join they sailing club and probably sign up for basic cruising in MS and then the next one as well. In MS is two separate classes and I want more time between to disseminate the material, plus is cheaper 😜

I was talking to hubs about it- I want to take the first course separate- he's such a quick learner and has a photographic memory- he'll catch on real quick and I will get defensive and don't want that. Once I have more confidence we can do the others together.
Am I being silly? What have your experiences been learning to sail with a partner?


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[biker6977]

going to take my next step to getting debt free- get rid of our pricey iPhones and go basic.
Our cell phone bill is over $300 a month for three iphones (my father in law is on our plan) My phone is having issues so I stopped by ATT yesterday on the way home to get a new one. Luckily all the people were busy and I walked around looking at phones. I got to thinking that our cell bill is one of our second to highest bill. I left before getting a new one. I went home and discussed this with hubby- I will be going back to a basic flip phone with talk and text only and as each phone is due for an upgrade we will all be going basic again. We should be able to save quite a bit which over the next 5-7 years will add up to enough that my husband can get his watermaker or refrigeration for what we would have spent on phones.
What is everyone else doing to meet their goals?

[NigelStrang]

I'd get hold of and read Sea Legs by Guy Gibson - and think about the reality of dream -

[biker6977]

I"m not having any luck finding that book-
there are a few books title Sea Legs but none by Guy Gibson.

I found books by a Guy Gibson- but not Sea Legs.

Do you happen to have a link to a source?

When you suggest thinking about the reality of the dream are you suggesting it stay a dream or become a reality?

[NigelStrang]

Sorry my fault...

Guy Grieve.

Guy Gibson was an English WWII hero --- so his named popped up from myboyhood mind

[dannc]

Originally Posted by biker6977

Thank you for the book ideas- do you know if there's a list of suggested reading on this site anywhere? I also keep reading about classes at boat shows but the boat shows around here are all power boats
I'll be doing a search on line for sailing boat shows and lessons.

I have not seen a suggested reading list on this site though there should be one...

The Dashews have a couple of other books that are interesting, I just got them yesterday but they are out of print. The Dashew's still sell the books on their site. Amazon has the books for sale but they are far more expensive than buying directly from the Dashew's.

The Pardy's book on storm tactics is very good, Storm Tactics Handbook: Modern Methods of Heaving-to for Survival in Extreme Conditions, 3rd Edition: Lin Pardey, Larry Pardey: 9781929214471: Amazon.com: Books and they have other books and DVDs that might be of interest.

Amazon does a decent job of suggesting books that might be of interest.

Later,
Dan

[dannc]

Originally Posted by biker6977

...
I was talking to hubs about it- I want to take the first course separate- he's such a quick learner and has a photographic memory- he'll catch on real quick and I will get defensive and don't want that. Once I have more confidence we can do the others together.

Am I being silly? What have your experiences been learning to sail with a partner?

No, you are not being silly. You are being very smart.

There are plenty of couples who have had gotten into relationship troubles from being on a boat together.

Later,
Dan

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by NigelStrang

Sorry my fault...

Guy Grieve.

Guy Gibson was an English WWII hero --- so his named popped up from myboyhood mind

Thank you, I just ordered it of Amazon for under $10 with shipping from the UK.

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by dannc

No, you are not being silly. You are being very smart.

There are plenty of couples who have had gotten into relationship troubles from being on a boat together.

Later,
Dan

We are pretty lucky- been together 10 years in Sept. and we do a lot together- hunt, fish etc. but we do a lot apart as well, off and on through out our marriage we've lived in different states due to work and a couple times in different countries so we are used to our space. We are currently trying to be more aware about our communication patterns and spending as much time as possible together and addressing issue as they arise that might be a problem on a boat. It's difficult to put emotion aside but we have gotten quite good at removing the emotion from a conversation and taking a logical look at what we are doing and why we are saying or feeling what we are. I feel this will be a positive for our up coming lifestyle. I also found a seminar at the 2015 Miami Boat show for couples if anyone else is interested Strictly Sail Miami | Miamarina at Bayside | Miami, FL

[autumnbreeze27]

Sail with as many different mentors as you can. Each person has their own tips and tricks to share and then you can decide which one is the one for you.

Fixing boats is a good way to learn to be self sufficient and save you money, but it's not as fun as sailing. Those boat club/rent places are good stepping stones before you buy your own boat. You can see what you like, and what you don't.

[markmccain]

Originally Posted by biker6977

What is everyone else doing to meet their goals?

Hey,
I am 27 and I have the same goal. My wife and I plan on setting out in around 8 years. I get pretty excited about financial planning. I have an accounting degree and I specialize in financial advising. Some things we have done to reach for our goals are:

• We only have one car. (This save a huge amount in insurance, maintenance, registration, etc.)
• We use our savings to invest in rental real estate (This might not be for everyone but if you know what you are doing the returns are great and the risk is low. Plus it can be a substantial form of semi-passive income while cruising)
• We live in the smallest attic apartment that we own (A huge expense for us is housing and if we can reduce this even by a small amount it can add up to large savings over time)
• We keep track of all our personal expenses each month and set budgets for items like food, auto, and entertainment expenses.
• We realize that dept isn't a bad thing if the loan is invested wisely.
• A portion of every paycheck is automatically transferred to our savings. This way we never need to think about saving. Its done for us.
• To reach our long term goal we have yearly mile stones so that we can analyze how we are doing and what changes we can make to reach our long term goal quicker.

My feeling is most people who are cruising have a good personal financial understanding and are thrifty. Without these traits they would have never been able to make the transition in the first place. Maybe some of the long time cruisers have some pointers for how they did it?

[biker6977]

Originally Posted by markmccain

Hey,
[*]We only have one car. (This save a huge amount in insurance, maintenance, registration, etc.)

I like that idea- I am actually in the process of getting my BMW Z3 ready to sell and am considering not replacing it as we have a truck (required to haul hubbys boats around) and a car. Issue is that many times we are working in different locations, right now we are under the same roof. If I do replace it I will get an older reliable car with good fuel milage or even an older motorcycle for the fuel cost savings. Insurance is a big issue with us and it just dawned on me that I did not cancel my motorcycle insurance for the bike I sold last week! Thank you for the reminder!!!!!!