Hello from New Jersey

[austramazonia]

New to the forum, also new to sailing but something that has been in my mind on and off for more than 20 years. I'm 43 now. Planning on taking ASA101 at Keyport Yacht Club soon!

I have been doing a lot of research wondering what my first boat would be and whether I should focus on lake sailing for sometime to get practice with a small vessel. I'm within an hour from either Keyport/Raritan or Lakes such as Lake Hopatcong

I like the look of small wooden boats (12-18') such as the Classic Concordia Sloop Boat by Pete Culler. Seems like I can find some of these used under 5k and would be good learning boats but I fear that I will feel incline to upgrade to a 22 Catalina within short amount of time. Any thoughts on that?

In general, any areas and or boat recommendations for someone starting sailing in New Jersey?

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by austramazonia

New to the forum, also new to sailing but something that has been in my mind on and off for more than 20 years. I'm 43 now. Planning on taking ASA101 at Keyport Yacht Club soon!

I have been doing a lot of research wondering what my first boat would be and whether I should focus on lake sailing for sometime to get practice with a small vessel. I'm within an hour from either Keyport/Raritan or Lakes such as Lake Hopatcong

I like the look of small wooden boats (12-18') such as the Classic Concordia Sloop Boat by Pete Culler. Seems like I can find some of these used under 5k and would be good learning boats but I fear that I will feel incline to upgrade to a 22 Catalina within short amount of time. Any thoughts on that?

In general, any areas and or boat recommendations for someone starting sailing in New Jersey?

Forget Hopatcong too many powerboats
You want to go to
Spruce Run State Park
I believe there is a sailing club there
to help you get started
Always a few boats for sale there
limited to 24’ and 9.9 auxiliary engines
Cheers
Neil

[Nauticus]

At the danger of entering into another "what boat should I buy" thread, I'll say this.

Go out to a club and volunteer to crew on race nights. You'll get to see and feel a lot of different builds and styles and features. This will direct you towards what you like and what things you can live without.

Fair winds

[austramazonia]

Originally Posted by Nauticus

At the danger of entering into another "what boat should I buy" thread, I'll say this.

Go out to a club and volunteer to crew on race nights. You'll get to see and feel a lot of different builds and styles and features. This will direct you towards what you like and what things you can live without.

Fair winds

Thank you. I can see that but my question is not so much regarding "what boat should be my first boat" but more like I really like the 12-18' wooden boats but I wonder if I will regret that and wish I had save a bit more and invest on a 22-25' The 12-18' seems fun to trail to a lake and maybe a bay. I have a Honda CRV so I don't think I can trail anything bigger.

Thats where I am with my dilemma. Im not into competitive anything so I don't see myself in racing even though I can see how helpful that can be for learning

[Nauticus]

Anywhere 22-26 is a comfortable, manageable start out size to cruise with.

[mlydon]

You will absolutely, positively, regret getting a small wooden boat. You will spend 10x more time fixing and maintaining it, and thus not sailing.

Yes, they look nice - things like a herreshof 14’ sailing dink are absolutely georgeous. They are NOT practical. A capsize swamps the boat, with no hope of un-assisted recovery. They require extensive maintenance (varnish TWICE a season), are relatively heavy, old- school rig, etc.

Stick with a sealed-hull fiberglass boat (one that it you capsize, you can right it and climb back aboard and continue sailing (sunfish, etc., at the small end of the spectrum)

Give it the occasional was and it will serve you well.

Matt

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, austramazonia.