Hello from Illinois

[littlegoodjohn]

My wife and I are planning to buy a sailboat in a couple of years and then do some major cruising. We have enjoyed reading many of your postings. We have never sailed before but are anxious to learn. We plan to travel to Charleston at the end of October and would like to charter a 38-45 foot sailboat for about a half day to get a small taste of the liveaboard lifestyle. Of course we are not planning to sail it ourselves, so we will need someone to sail it for us. If any of you have chartering sources in the Charleston area, please send there contact information.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Welcome Aboard Cruisers Forum

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, littlegoodjohn.

I don`t think you`ll find what you`re seeking in Charleston; but check out `“the (self-proclaimed) only bareboat charter company in town”the
➥ http://www.oceansailingacademy.com/chartersrates.html

[MarinerJo]

Greetings

[Khagan1227]

Welcome to CF!

[littlegoodjohn]

Thanks for the welcome. We appreciate the link GordMay!

[imagine2frolic]

Where from in Illinois? I have lived in, and outside of Springfiels, and all over the Metro East of St. Louis........i2f

[littlegoodjohn]

We live close to St. Louis but on the other side of the river in O'Fallon IL.

[imagine2frolic]

O'Fallon, lived there too just outside of Belleville, and all around the area. Brother still lives in Collinsville, WELCOME........i2f

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Hope you're far enough away from East St. Louis : )
Good to have you here.
kind regards,

[imagine2frolic]

SkipperJohn,

Thiose are 2 different worlds, O'Fallon, and E. St. Louis. I owned my first home in E. St. Louis in the early 70's @ 58th & State St. Then moved out to O'Fallon......yep 2 different worlds alright..........i2f

[SkiprJohn]

Nearly ran out of gas in East St. Louis at about 4AM just shy of the bridge over the Mississippi headed toward the airport a couple years ago. Had me sweating bullets for awhile there.
Stayed overnight at the Air Force Base there. Great accomodations and a nice base.
There's a nice lake near there where there seems to be quite an accumulation of sailboats. Mostly around 28 and under in length. Pretty shallow lake but there seems to be a lot of sailing in the summer.
kind regards,

[SkiprJohn]

Carlyle Lake and Scott AFB. Great places near you.
kind regards,

[littlegoodjohn]

There isn't much water around here other than the Mississippi and Lake Carlyle. I do not frequent either but we are planning to move down south somewhere and purchase a sailboat in the next couple of years. We want to test the sailboats out before we make the decision. As you know, many things seem ok but when it comes to actually doing it, it may not be like you originally thought. But right now, both my wife and I are very excited about it.

[imagine2frolic]

Take some lessons, even if it is in a dinghy. Will will provide valuable skills for the future. I know we rented Hobies on Carlyle.......i2f