Hello Everybody

[nookiemrsmith]

Just signed up for the forum and thought that I should put a thread up to say hello.

Hello.

I am new to both the forum and sailing but would like to live-aboard some day. I have always been interested in sailing and am finally at an age that I can start looking into it. Hopefully I can learn from all of your experiences and get into a great new hobby.

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard, nookiemrsmith,

Feel free to ask questions, and perhaps tell us a little about yourself and where you are.

You'll have noticed some of the avatars tell what kind of boat people have and approximately where they are located. That information allows a responder to take into consideration the area in which you will be cruising, and therefore, recommendations are more tailored to you.

Cheers,

Ann

[nookiemrsmith]

Thanks, I guess I could have put a little more info in the first one.

I am a male, and I just had my twenty-first birthday on the eighth. I live in the Southwest of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about twenty minutes from Northern Wisconsin (in the US).

As of right now I don't have any experience on a sailboat. The only info that I've looked at so far was an instructional video on Youtube (

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUoXy4Xz5A4

) don't know if anyone on here has seen it, or if it's good information.

I do not own a boat right now but am looking around for something to learn on. My father who played on a sailboat or two a long time ago said I should be looking for a small thing to start on around ten or twelve feet, but I don't know if that would be representative of what sailing a bigger boat later on would really be like.

I've been searching craigslist around Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, but I don't know anything about sailboats of any kind so I don't really know what to look for in a boat.

I guess some restrictions to my search would be that I would most likely be alone all the time so I would need to be able to sail it alone. My plan is to some day purchase a decent sized boat and leave from Lake Superior and head for the ocean to go anywhere and maybe everywhere beyond that living on the boat.

Sorry for the wall of text by the way and I couldn't figure out how to just put a link to the video, but I figured if people want to help me I shouldn't hold them up by keeping info from them in the first place. And thanks for any and all information that anyone gives. It is all greatly appreciated.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Nookie,

OK, here's the first hint: there have been numerous previous queries very similar to yours, and the subject has been discussed at length. This forum has a search feature that you can access from the upper tool bar. Use the "custom google search" with a subject like "what kind of boat learn on" or other such. You will find LOTS of ideas expressed.

What I always recommend for folks like you is to buy a much used day-sailor dinghy and learn to sail it on local waters. In your case, most likely a small lake. When I was at your stage, I bought a very second hand O'Day Osprey, a 15 foot centerboard sloop, and it was perfect for the job. Small enough to easily single hand, big enough for me, my wife and two small kids. Very forgiving of the many mistakes that a novice will make. There are heaps of such designs around, can usually be bought for well under a kilobuck, complete with trailer, and which are so far down their depreciation curve that you should not loose money when you sell her... if you don't do something destructive, that is!

Such a boat will be a great learning platform, and can be a hell of a lot of fun to boot. If there are no clubs around where you can meet other sailors and get some instruction, a basic book and some perseverance will see you through... worked for me!

By the time you have done this for a season or two, you will have a far better idea about what you want in the next step up. Meanwhile, when you have specific questions, we're here to help.

Enjoy, WARNING: sailing is acutely addictive, and you will never recover your senses.

Cheers,

Jim

[nookiemrsmith]

Alright, unfortunately I live in a very small town and the nearest place I think there might be a club of some sort is a few hours away. I did quite a few searches but I never found something that matched what I was looking for, although I did not know about the custom google search feature. I will continue to look around the site and do as much research as I can. I have always been a patient person when working on things in the garage fiddling with the same bolt you cant see for an hour and a half... so I know it's a different thing, but I think patience transfers at least a little. I guess I'm off to look for a nice small boat to take down to the lake then. Glad to hear it's addictive, I needed something to do anyways. Thanks for all the tips.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, nookiemrsmith.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
It's good to have you here. My recommendation is to do a search for Sailing Schools and take a basic sailing class so that when you go out on the water you'll be safe and learn the proper way to sail so that other boaters around you will be safe too.
Once that's done you can find an old Sunfish sailboat and play wherever there is more than four feet of water and have a great time. That'll get you started.