From the water to paper and back again...

[CreativeIdiot]

I really hope that thread title was vague enough to catch the eye and make you curious but sense making enough to draw in some people who can lend me a helping hand!

Hi, I'm a writer and artist who got slammed in the skull the other day with an exciting idea for a book! Unfortunately for me I am not at all sailing savvy and at least a modest understanding is necessary. I have already gotten my hand on several books and read through countless websites but I find personal experiences and explainations from real people are much more valuable (and understandable). Thus the reason for my being here!

At the moment my most pressing need is finding a vessal for my main characters to use. Here are the credentials that MUST be met. Any other helpful sailing information, referance sites and/or books you can provide would be wonderful!

The vessal must:
1) be crewable by 3 people (1 with limited experience, 2 fairly competent)
2) Money is little concern in construction and outfitting of vessal but crew number MUST be 3, at most 4
3) be taken on long voyages (a month or more)
4) fair open seas (mainland US to Hawaii at least)
5) fair relatively brutal conditions without certain death (ie the occasional small hurricain)
6) main propulsion system can NOT rely on fuel that must be acuired from land (however can be an emergancy back up)

*artistically speaking I would like to find something with an old-world, piraty feel to it! So please don't limit yourselves to modern marvels but don't completely exclude them either, any suggestion is welcome!

That should about cover the necessities. Any kind of floating vessal that at least comes close to the first 4 points would be helpful! At this point I am mostly doing research and have become completely lost in this particular area, so if someone can at least tell me where to start looking I would be eternally greatful!

PS. I hope to actualy be able to experience some time on the vessal I use in my novel to get a feel for the conditions my character will be in for myself so something findable in Florida would be brilliant!

[Celestialsailor]

If you are writing a book then why would you need a physical boat?

[Ram]

I know the perfect boat and story for you check this out and let us know what you think- dig in to the story a bit
Floating Neutrinos

[Celestialsailor]

Hey Ram...That was a real gem of a ship. It's too bad we can't take the rest of the garbage floating in the Pacific and make a flotilla. "CreativeIdiot" could command a fleet. I can see it now..."CreativeIdiots of the Caribbean"!

[camaraderie]

Celestial...here ya go...a Vagabond 47' ketch...answers all your criteria and adds a salty look from the past.
View Boat Photos - YachtWorld.com
Can be sailed by 2 but will accomdate several more easily.

[CreativeIdiot]

I am glad to see at least a few people trying to help. Thank you all very much, though I don't appreciate Celestial's mocking. I don't think I showed you or yours any disrespect, though if I did please point out where and how. I posted here looking for help, not insults.
I came here because I don't like writing blindly but I love to branch out into new experiences so research is my lifes blood, this time around it concerns sailing(the closest thing I've ever gotten to it is my father's small motor boat on the St. Johns). I prefer to gather a large amount of input from varried sources and I like to take a "hands on" aproach. (Which is why I asked for vessals I could actually experience personally, heck I might love sailing and decide to take it up as a hoby! Who knows?! You never know if you'll enjoy it until you try.)
Thank you again to Cam and Ram. The ketch looks very promising and Ram, I actually think I might use your "junk Boats." They offer interesting possibilities...

-CI

[MarkJ]

The last 2 writers who jumped on here wanted someone killed with the boom and lots of sailorly like talk...

so here goes....


"Shiver me timbers watch out for the boooooo *KLUNK!* ooom!"



.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by CreativeIdiot

I am glad to see at least a few people trying to help. Thank you all very much, though I don't appreciate Celestial's mocking. I don't think I showed you or yours any disrespect, though if I did please point out where and how. I posted here looking for help, not insults.
I came here because I don't like writing blindly but I love to branch out into new experiences so research is my lifes blood, this time around it concerns sailing(the closest thing I've ever gotten to it is my father's small motor boat on the St. Johns). I prefer to gather a large amount of input from varried sources and I like to take a "hands on" aproach. (Which is why I asked for vessals I could actually experience personally, heck I might love sailing and decide to take it up as a hoby! Who knows?! You never know if you'll enjoy it until you try.)
Thank you again to Cam and Ram. The ketch looks very promising and Ram, I actually think I might use your "junk Boats." They offer interesting possibilities...

-CI

Fine CreativeIdiot...Since money is of no concern, try a charter company. I know in Santa Cruz, Ca. O'Neil Yacht charters has a Chapelle 50ft. Schooner. Very piratey for you. Probably $700 a day. You could write it off quite easily I'm sure. They supply licensed crew and you could have all the time you need to be creative. I suppose you could get monthly rates too. It might be cheaper though to buy outright a piratey looking vessel like Camaraderie suggested. Say for under $200,000. Of course slip rent would be $600-$1200 US a month. But again you could write that off too.
Hope that helps you to illuminate your path a little.

[MarkJ]

Also without being critical (and sorry if I sounded facetious in my last post) we have had a few people who are writers... one quite recently who was looking for a few months sailing around the Caribbean to research a book. He was unpublished and this was to be his first book. People here gave him lots of nice advice until it became obvious he just wanted the cruising for free part

It is very difficult to get a feeling for someones bonefides.

Finally the boundless imagination of fiction can bump solidly against our fight for a reality of cruising founded on difficulties faced daily of finances, equipment and weather.



Mark

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Finally the boundless imagination of fiction can bump solidly against our fight for a reality of cruising founded on difficulties faced daily of finances, equipment and weather.



Mark

Very nicely put...Perhaps there is a book in your future...

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Creative,
Welcome aboard the forum. I've read many "sea" novels that I could spot immediately as extreme fiction. The reason is that the writer knew little to nothing about sailing or boats. It would be much better if you learned to sail and had a bit of sea experience before trying to write about it.
Read the book "Shipkiller" if you want to get a sense of someone who knows how to sail and then writes a fiction novel.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[CreativeIdiot]

Mark, I have met tons of skeptisism so I understand where your coming from, apparently tons of people do just as the writers you've mentioned. I'm unpublished as well so it doesn't help my case but I'm not looking for free fair either, but that's a whole other can of worms(apparently the marina by my house doesn't get many young women seriously looking to learn to sail, particularly as part of researching a book) though honestly between work, school and a two year old I barely have the time to write these days much less mooch long cruises off of people!

Also, Celestial, I like your less sarcastic attitude, I'm sure it was a huge effort, but it's my characters who don't have budgeting problems while unfortunately I do, thanks for your suggestion though! Maybe if the economy picks up, until then I'm trying to trade labor for lessons so that if I ever get my own boat I won't acidently kill it.

And thank you to John for the book recomendation!
~CI

PS. Mark, I'm not going to be killing anyone with the boom, however I am very tempted to have a shark eat someone. I'm also using a modern time, though seeing as one of the main characters is a rather immature young man there may be some pirate talk!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by CreativeIdiot

Mark, I have met tons of skeptisism so I understand where your coming from, apparently tons of people do just as the writers you've mentioned. I'm unpublished as well so it doesn't help my case but I'm not looking for free fair either, but that's a whole other can of worms(apparently the marina by my house doesn't get many young women seriously looking to learn to sail, particularly as part of researching a book) though honestly between work, school and a two year old I barely have the time to write these days much less mooch long cruises off of people!

Also, Celestial, I like your less sarcastic attitude, I'm sure it was a huge effort, but it's my characters who don't have budgeting problems while unfortunately I do, thanks for your suggestion though! Maybe if the economy picks up, until then I'm trying to trade labor for lessons so that if I ever get my own boat I won't acidently kill it.

And thank you to John for the book recomendation!
~CI

PS. Mark, I'm not going to be killing anyone with the boom, however I am very tempted to have a shark eat someone. I'm also using a modern time, though seeing as one of the main characters is a rather immature young man there may be some pirate talk!

My sarcasm was only an attempt to pointing out the way you are going about it. It is no effort for me to be sarcastic or not. And if you think I was the only one using tongue and cheek, you have missed a lot. Every journey is a process...a beginning, middle and an end. Writing is a process. To write a book about sailing, it would be best to be someone who sails. It has been suggested time and time again in Meets and Greets that a new person take the minimal time and learn to sail through some form of sailing program. In reality a sailor doesn't sail the Ocean...they feel the Ocean.
I have been a published writer in the area of sailing. It's not difficult to get published if you know what you are writing about. Just hanging around the docks you hear plenty of (true) yarns of sailing adventures, it's easy to put something small together and send it out to a few magazines. For me it is a hobby and the extra cash was quickly gobbled up in boat maintenance.
So take my suggestions with a grain of salt. But look at the situation honestly and try to see things as they really are. Perhaps I could have taken you a little more seriously if your name had not been creativeidiot.

[s/v Jedi]

I prefer to gather a large amount of input from varried sources and I like to take a "hands on" aproach. (Which is why I asked for vessals I could actually experience personally, heck I might love sailing and decide to take it up as a hoby!

The above is just one sentence you wrote, but:

Varried = Varied
aproach = approach
vessals = vessels
hoby = hobby

4 spell errors in that one sentence might make it a bit harder for me and others to believe you are a writer. Your first post was not much better either and many sailors find a description like "Any kind of floating vessal" not a very kind one for our boats.

As you are in Florida, You only have to look out of your window to see lots of boats that meet your criteria. Yachtworld.com is another source well worth of researching. Tons of people learn sailing in Florida so that shouldn't be a problem for a resident, would it? But yes, you need to pay for instruction and I fully understand why the sailors in your local marina are very surprised when you ask them if they want to take you out and learn you sailing. You can do that if you know the person or just take some lessons if none of your friends have a boat.

Also, why not self publish your stories? Start with a blog for the ones you don't think you'll be able to sell and put your real name or writers-alias under it so it gets known.

cheers,
Nick.

[CreativeIdiot]

I admit, Nick, spelling is my weakest point, has been since highschool and old habits die hard. As for the marina, I had a friend introduce me to a few more experienced sailors as he didn't feel qualified to teach me himself, I wasn't quite so foolish as to just walk up to a complete stranger and say "Hi! Can you teach me to sail?". They were all very nice but also use to women like their wives and daughters who would much rather sun bath and leave the work to them.

I'm also sorry if my attitude came off as flippant or if I was offensive in my first post, I was rather desperate, frusterated and sleep deprived at the time. Unfortunately hindsight is 20/20 though I really should have learned not to post after midnight by now, I get myself into trouble!

Celestial, you've actually been more help than you know, in a different area but help all the same. Critisism and insult have been two things I don't take well and commonly misinterpret. Becoming less dramatically defensive has been very hard but thank you for the lessons in it. I'm also very use to art forums and the personalities and perceptions are vastly different as I've learned. I'll be much more careful from now on.

~CI