Hello from Jacksonville Florida

[JGislandbound]

My wife and I live in Julington Creek Plantation in St Johns County. We both turn 50 this year. We love the water and own an 18 foot center console boat. I have sailing experience from taking sailing classes in the Navy and renting from the Navy bases. My wife has no formal training but has done some sailing with me. I retired from the Navy as a pilot and now work for Delta Air Lines. My experience has been with small sail boats and a 24 ft Hunter that I sailed while stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. We would like to try our hand at sailing larger boats. I know there is a lot to learn about larger vessels but look forward to the challenge. We are hoping this adventure can one day have us owning a live-aboard to enjoy once our youngest is out of the house in 4 years. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I like doing my own maintenance whether it’s my boat, trailer or cars.
We would really like the opportunity to sail with some locals in the Jacksonville area. My wife is super laid-back and I am of course am A-type personality who can also follow the Captain’s orders with a smile on my face.
We look forward to seeing you on the water one day.
Jay and Gina

[a64pilot]

We are in Jax, in the Ortega River, you can sail in the St. John’s, but not really very far, it’s geographically constrained and of course it’s a river, so it’s not like open water at all, no waves to speak of etc.
You can go from Jax to the Sands bridge in Green Cove Springs, but you will need an East or West wind, attached photo will give you an idea.
If you want, send us a PM and we can talk, currently all our sails are put away because of the Hurricane, and due to marina depth I’m sort of constrained when I can leave and re-enter the slip.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jay & Gina.

[tmccaffery]

We are also retired Navy with a boat (Leopard 40 catamaran) at Ortega Landing on the Ortega River.


In my opinion, the best thing you can do right now is to take some classes from a US Sailing or American Sailing Association (ASA) affiliated school to prepare the two of you for bareboat chartering. By using charters you can get an idea of how you like sailing big boats and what kind of boat suits you best (mono-hull vs. catamaran) without the investment of buying a boat that you later find doesn't suit you. After a few charters you can then make an informed decision about the direction you (an your Admiral) want to go.