Hello!

[bertusg]

New to the forums here, and have a question right off the bat.

Since I was young, I've yearned to sail long distances. I have a summer's worth of experience crewing on Lightning races. Currently a slave to the system & earning my way, I am landlocked for the time being.

In all the reading I've done about sailing/cruising/living aboard a boat - there's a hell of a lot of repairs to be done, and I was wondering whether this is a skill I can build without a boat to work on. E.g. It seems to me that you don't need a boat to learn how to work diesel engines, or build repair skills that will come in handy if not crucial when underway.

Are there skills that relate to, say, engine repairs on vehicles/motorcycles, or construction/repairs in home plumbing/electrical, or say, kitting out a van for vanlife?

Or is the best way to just wait til you have a boat and see what needs fixing and learn that way?

Thanks!

[skipmac]

Hi Bert and welcome to the forum.

Good plan to work on repair and maintenance skills if you plan to go sailing to remote places. You may have heard the definition of cruising as doing boat repair in exotic places. While there's a lot more to cruising than maintenance and repair that is certainly a significant and important aspect of the life.

And to answer your question, absolutely you can learn a lot of the skills that would help you on a boat. You already mentioned diesels and yes the basic engine is about the same whether in a truck or a boat. In fact very many of the boat engines are just marinized versions of truck or tractor engines. The main difference is the cooling. In a boat it's all water cooled, no radiator so a bit more plumbing. Which brings up the next skill.

Boat plumbing is a little different than home plumbing. Usually no PVC or copper pipes and you have a pump to move the water around instead of pressure in the pipe. Otherwise you have sinks, faucets, showers and all the same stuff.

Electric can be a biggy and is a mystery to a lot of boaters. The heart of most boats is 12V DC which works about the same as a cars 12V battery/alternator system. Learn car stuff and you're 90% of the way to boat DC. 120V AC is about like it is on a house with a few extra safety issues.

Carpentry is carpentry. Main difference on a boat is there are almost no straight lines so you'll be doing a lot of compound curves.

Of course it doesn't hurt to get hands on practice on a real boat. If you like you can come to my boat and do some repairs and I'll only charge you a little for the lessons.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by bertusg

New to the forums here, and have a question right off the bat.

Since I was young, I've yearned to sail long distances. I have a summer's worth of experience crewing on Lightning races. Currently a slave to the system & earning my way, I am landlocked for the time being.

In all the reading I've done about sailing/cruising/living aboard a boat - there's a hell of a lot of repairs to be done, and I was wondering whether this is a skill I can build without a boat to work on. E.g. It seems to me that you don't need a boat to learn how to work diesel engines, or build repair skills that will come in handy if not crucial when underway.

Are there skills that relate to, say, engine repairs on vehicles/motorcycles, or construction/repairs in home plumbing/electrical, or say, kitting out a van for vanlife?

Or is the best way to just wait til you have a boat and see what needs fixing and learn that way?

Thanks!

Most of those skills are interchangable.. theres a few differences but nothing that cannot be adapted to.
Learn the navigation, weather interpretation and sail handling.. you'll be just fine.

[belizesailor]

Absolutely!

You can learn small engines (gas & diesel) ashore. I grew up working on small engines...those skills transfered nicely to boats...as did my tools (old school Craftsman's which still look like they did when I bought 'em almost half a century ago...me, not so much! [emoji849]).

You can also learn plumbing, electrical (AC & DC), electronics, refridgeration, HAM radio, weather, fiberglass work, welding, knots, navigation theory, ... loads of relevant stuff ashore with no boat.

There is a significant overlap between RV/Van/Overlanding skill sets and boat systems. We recently spent a couple of weeks in camper vans in NZ...the systems are basically the same as a boat...right down to one that had an Espar diesel fired heater (commomly used on boats).

The more you can learn up front the better, it will make the transition easier. Example: a friend of mine with zero handy man/mechanical experience, boat a boat a few years ago...his learning curve was near vertical.

[gamayun]

Welcome Bert! I've learned that the best skills when offshore is to be able think outside the box and be able to Jerry rig things back together when you can't possibly carry enough spares. That said, marine electronics has been the hardest thing for me. The devices are mostly just plug and play and the wiring isn't that complicated, but if something is not giving the info I expect, it's not at all intuitive what's wrong or how to fix it.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, bertusg.


Skills, such as engine repairs on vehicles/motorcycles, or construction/repairs in home plumbing/electrical, or say, kitting out a van for vanlife, will all stand you in good stead, when you finally get aboard your boat.

[bertusg]

So many useful answers with just the info I need - thank you!