Hello

[Brendon]

My name is Brendon Coss I am new to sailing I have zero hours underneath my belt that's how I new I am to sailing but I am a very accomplished mechanic gasoline and diesel engines I am an accomplice electrician accomplished welder of all types of welding and cutting, I am familiar with AC and DC electric and wiring high and low voltage, I am also an accomplished plumber, I am very handy, I hope to expand my knowledge of sailing ,I am looking for somebody that or a couple that needs a hand like me in there crew for a ocean crossing I want to see if I like it before I buy my own boat, I have my own money I can pay for my own way, I am easy to get along with, I have worked in tight quarters all my life with people so I am used to that kind of thing ,I am also a certified diver with all my own equipment, if you have need of a man like me I can take care of any in most problems I should say on a sailing vessel, if I don't know how to fix it I'm sure the internet or YouTube will show me how to get it done ,and I am not afraid to learn, or get dirty on the job,so once again if you have a need for a man like me I'm looking for a vessel that I should reiterate I am looking for a sailing vessel that is wanting to make a ocean voyage preferably the Pacific.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Brendon

My name is Brendon Coss I am new to sailing I have zero hours underneath my belt that's how I new I am to sailing but I am a very accomplished mechanic gasoline and diesel engines I am an accomplice electrician accomplished welder of all types of welding and cutting, I am familiar with AC and DC electric and wiring high and low voltage, I am also an accomplished plumber, I am very handy, I hope to expand my knowledge of sailing ,I am looking for somebody that or a couple that needs a hand like me in there crew for a ocean crossing I want to see if I like it before I buy my own boat, I have my own money I can pay for my own way, I am easy to get along with, I have worked in tight quarters all my life with people so I am used to that kind of thing ,I am also a certified diver with all my own equipment, if you have need of a man like me I can take care of any in most problems I should say on a sailing vessel, if I don't know how to fix it I'm sure the internet or YouTube will show me how to get it done ,and I am not afraid to learn, or get dirty on the job,so once again if you have a need for a man like me I'm looking for a vessel that I should reiterate I am looking for a sailing vessel that is wanting to make a ocean voyage preferably the Pacific.

Brendon, welcome and all the best in your sailing future.
May I most humbly suggest that you complete the details in your profile, I note that at the moment you do not have a vessel, no problem, however your location would be assistance to those that may wish to respond to you in the future.
All the best and enjoy the ride.

[Brendon]

Thank you I would say that you're absolutely right

[StuM]

Not many ocean cruisers are looking for people with zero experience.



It might be a good idea to say where you are currently based.
You'd be better off looking for local resources to at least develop some basic coastal sailing knowledge/skills before committing to an ocean passage.


Do you even know if you get sea-sick?

[Brendon]

I understand what you're saying but I know what I need to do I'm not getting any younger and I've been on water quite a bit never any ocean but I am not afraid, IAM going to do this with or without anyone, all my life it's been all of it or none of it, my first bicycle was a Harley 80 dirt bike and that was without training wheels at 6 years old, I know how tough my metal is, and if I wanted the Bahamas I'd be asking for it, I thank you for your advice but I'm pretty well know myself by 55.

[Brendon]

Everybody get seasick sir, just like every dog gets motion sickness when you put them in the truck for the first time you just get over it you ever go to work with a hangover that was pound in your head, I'll have to have the same attitude with some motion sickness pills.

[Brendon]

Gentlemen I'm looking for knowledge I'm not looking for excuses to back out at anything like I said it's all of it or none of it with or without I'll find a knowledge I need somewhere I'll find a boat somewhere even if I have to buy one for myself I will get what I need, but I would like to have that knowledge before I start with a person or persons with a aptitude to teach, I'm a quick study I'm not your nowadays soy boy wimps I might and most likely will have some seasickness but I've never missed a day of work on kind of sickness and I'm not going to miss this part of my life on anything I am going to learn how to sail and I am going to see the world and there ain't no sense in getting into it but all the way right off the bat,and by the time I get to the other side of the Pacific I should have a pretty good grasp on what I'm doing everybody starts out with zero knowledge, is there somebody out there with the knowledge to teach.

[Fbfisher]

Originally Posted by Brendon

Gentlemen I'm looking for knowledge I'm not looking for excuses to back out at anything like I said it's all of it or none of it with or without I'll find a knowledge I need somewhere I'll find a boat somewhere even if I have to buy one for myself I will get what I need, but I would like to have that knowledge before I start with a person or persons with a aptitude to teach, I'm a quick study I'm not your nowadays soy boy wimps I might and most likely will have some seasickness but I've never missed a day of work on kind of sickness and I'm not going to miss this part of my life on anything I am going to learn how to sail and I am going to see the world and there ain't no sense in getting into it but all the way right off the bat,and by the time I get to the other side of the Pacific I should have a pretty good grasp on what I'm doing everybody starts out with zero knowledge, is there somebody out there with the knowledge to teach.

I appreciate your focus and enthusiasm. You have two challenges at the moment. 1) you have no sailing experience. Solve that by enrolling in a sailing class. You get out on the water, you’ll meet like minded people and you’ll learn how to sail which will make you a stronger asset to the vessel you ultimately secure a crew position on. 2) not too many boats moving across oceans these days due to travel restrictions at ports of entry. So while you’re waiting for that challenge to be resolved, use this time to focus on challenge #1.

Just my $0.02. Wishing you the best.

[Brendon]

Well a year ago I bought and restored a catamaran houseboat that's 15x54 ft, it has two 160 horse inboard outboard and I had no experience with that either with something that big but and I got it on bull shoals lake here in Arkansas I got to slip for x amount of dollars a year, and before I got into that big old houseboat I have never had a boat that big before and I learned a maneuver it quite well I've never tore up anything while docking it never punched a hole in either one of its tunes never ran into the ground or it didn't take me no time to figure out how to operate it and I'm quite good at it anything that big on water and you don't slam the tunes into the front of your slip when you're docking it I say you're doing all right I don't think I have zero experience in sailing and I believe I can bring a motor sailor into dock without tearing one up that's some experience, and before I had that houseboat the biggest boat I ever had before that was a 16 ft bass boat, my biggest attribute is I've never heard it or listened to anybody that told me no, I figure I could do as good as the next man can and I've always went with that all my life and it served me well, and like I said I can't find somebody to teach me I'll buy my own boat just like I did that catamaran and teach myself here in the middle of Arkansas it's kind of hard to find somebody that could teach you on a sailboat not too many sailboats around here I don't live on the coast, so like I said it's all of it or none of it I can't find somebody to help I'll help myself.

[LittleWing77]

Love your gumption, Brendon - and welcome!

Where is Omaha Ar? Is "Ar" an abbreviation for Arizona?

LittleWing77
(Toronto, Ontario)

[Malabarista]

Hi Brendon
When i was 45 I had a similar dream. I too had a mantra that had served me well ( and still does). I call it ‘go big or go home’. I had a problem with skippers not wanting to take on a novice for a cruise and the two racing skippers that gave me a chance were more interested in winning than teaching. However i did learn that i wanted to do this more than anything else. Sure i got seasickness but powered through it and ( mostly) kept my sense of humour ( humor). I decided to go small and teach myself as a stepping stone. I was given a Minisail with no mast, rigging or rudder and copied a photograph to fashion the bits i needed from aluminium scaffold tube ( found in a skip) and some bits and pieces i had lying around. I truly had no clue of what i was doing when i put it into the water in a river where there was a big wide bend. A Minisail is like a big surfboard with a rudder and centreboard for fins. After a couple of weekends playing in the mud and reeds i launched it into the Solent at Southampton and pointed the bow at the Isle of Wight ( only a couple of miles but with some interesting shipping lanes) and made it. Then i sailed it around the island ( didn’t make it all the way round as i was exhausted so drove up the beach and slept. Sailing back to Southampton was one of the more difficult sails of my life and i learned about tides and currents. However i could now claim i had limited experience and at least one ‘passage’ ( albeit solo and with no clue what i was doing.)
This eventually led me to an Atlantic crossing and Yacht ownership myself. As you say sometimes you just gotta do it yourself. Funnily enough just knowing the right names for bits of the boat and what they do ( book learning) allowed me to converse with sailors who ( may) have assumed that i knew more than i did. What i am trying to say is that larking around in a small dinghy will teach you more about sailing than a Pacific crossing will and a lot quicker. When you get on a ‘big’ boat you will be amazed at how much it is ‘just like a big dinghy’. Ebay is full of neglected small craft with sails that can be had for a song. Get one, put it in some water ( a lake is better than a river as there is more room before you plough up the reeds) but a large pond will do. Work it out. Get on the water with some sail up. Prepare to get wet and hey
Suddenly you are a dinghy sailor. In my experience ‘big boat’ sailors LOVE to teach dinghy sailors as they are not novices and can stand a watch with a little further instruction. After all it’s the same wind and roughly the same ropes.
I wish you good luck in your quest.
Dave

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Brendon.

Brendon, you may not be as “easy to get along with” as you think (“my biggest attribute is I've never heard it or listened to anybody that told me no”). You seem a little sensitive to, even the gently implied, cautions/criticisms some respondents have expressed.
Best of luck!

Omaha is a small town (pop. <200) in Boone County, Arkansas.

[Brendon]

LOL excuse me sir I should haveput just a little bit more of an explanation , no it's Arkansas we have a lot of beautiful lakes around here but everybody seems to be in powerboats and things like that, and there's not too many sailing rigs around here or people that can teach where you can get a certification out of it but I promise you I'm not a foolish person before I would ever attempt sailing deep blue Waters I would have my own boat I would take an experience semen with me and I would be taking classes from somebody that would be well educated and I could get some sort of well I'm not sure if there I've never took a class before on sailing and I don't know if they're certifications but I'm surely satisfied that there would be something to that effect, I've never put myself into a situation half cocked that could have ill effects on my life, that would be like sticking my hand in a thrasher not expected to get took off, in every bit of advice that you have gave me me has been very solid,, and if I did buy a blue water cruiser even though I'm very mechanically inclined it will have a survey done on it,I'm not going to get halfway to the destination and have anything that I own polluting the oceans worse than what they are now by sinking, and risking my life or somebody else's that may be with me, I will have a sturdy horse up underneath me.

[Brendon]

I was just hoping I could kill two birds with one stone as a kid I could throw a rock fairly well but maybe or maybe not I can get it done

[Brendon]

My life I should say my work life has been very hectic, and I just wanted to slow down and smell the roses, if you know what I mean the sooner I can get on with it the sooner I'll be happy, and I guarantee you I will get over the seasickness but I understand even for Old-Timers that do this when you're running to rough enough C's even they get sick