I'm new to sailing and having a mid life crisis

[richie1978]

Afternoon all

Like the title of the thread implies, I've just started sailing at 45 and I have a plan to sail to Holland by the time I'm 50.

I live in Kent and I'm not sure what I have to do to reach my goal. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

[boatman61]

Here's a start..

[noelex 77]

Welcome to the forum.

[Fore and Aft]

Richie1978 that's an easily achievable goal. This guy below sailed across channel in less than 90 minutes. I see you can buy a windsurfer set up for a hundred pounds of Gumtree, pick up a life jacket at Tesco's and off you go.
Cheers
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Hampshire/Dorset | Windsurfer crosses Channel

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum! Would that be the Kent south of Seattle or the Kent in the UK?

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[Star Fire]

Go small, go simple, go now. Start small and work your way up to the bigger adventures. Remember, you’ll break before the boat breaks. Meaning, sailboats are built tough. They can handle much bigger water than you’d think. Stay close to home while you learn the basics. Then start with overnight adventures to an anchorage and back home. When you’re comfortable, hit a couple different anchorages. Then just go for it. If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll never go.

Sailors are problem solvers. It’s not so much about never having problems so much as, keeping a cool head and fixing the problems when they arise.

You’ll need to know a little about navigating and choosing a good weather window. The Channel is notorious for bad weather.

The more you sail, the less fear you will have. Fear is like fire. It’ll keep you warm at night but, if you’re not careful, it’ll burn the house down. Learn how to hoist the sails, grind the winches, set up whisker poles, reef the main, etc. at the dock. There are many great YouTube channels to learn from too, on sail trim as well as all the above. Most importantly, always be sailing. When you divert your attention from handling the boat and watching the wind/weather/water, that’s when bad things happen. When you’re on watch, that’s the only thing you’re doing.

And remember to have fun! Sailing is one of the most liberating things a person can do. If you’re not racing, getting maximum speed from the boat isn’t the most important thing. Sailboats run on happy vibes. When everyone is in a good mood, that’s where sailboats are the happiest.

[TrentePieds]

Ritchie:

Welcome to CF :-)

Addressing your desire to SAIL from Blighty to the Low Countries: From Ramsgate to Zeebrugge is 65 of 70 sea miles. In a small sailboat such as a 26 foot Westerly Centaur (which would be an EXCELLENT "first yacht") that would be a twelve-or-fifteen-hour voyage when the wind is anywhere from nor-nor-east, west about to south. The required boat handling in a Centaur I could tech you in an afternoon. There is nothing to it! So don't get hung up on that! Remember you DON'T need to handle sail trim and such to the standard of hotshot racing skippers. You just need to get to Holland in one piece :-)!

However, boat handling is the least of seafaring.

What you DO need to be acutely conscious of is that the water you'll be crossing carries some of the densest traffic in all the world, and that a 100K ton container carrier is one big hammer! Worse: Those big ships may very well never see you, and even if they do, they cannot steer or stop very well at all, so it'll be up to you to stay out of their way, and, when you deem it necessary or advisable, to hail them on the radio so you and the ship can agree on who is to do what and to whom.

These kinds of things lie in the realm of skippering. MOST of what you need to know in that department you learn from books. Using that knowledge at sea is merely a matter of demonstration that you DID learn what is in the books. That is why we have marine academies for the commercial boys. For what you'll be needing, you can learn it by self-study, particularly if you are willing to take guidance from the shellbacks in forums such as this.

So to come the point: Get yourself a little boat - a LITTLE boat - such as a Centaur - and get down to the learning. NOW! A Centaur you can buy for very little money these days. Boatman already gave you references to sailing clubs on the Kentish coast. you will find good fellowship and guidance there. Boatman knows his stuff. Learned it Ganges at Shotley Gate if I'm not mistaken :-).

A word of warning: Do NOT be misled by people from beyond the seas telling you that you need all sorts of fancy electronic and digital gizmos to sail successfully. 'Tain't true! You will learn faster, more easily and more certainly the simpler your first boat is.

All the best :-)!

TrentePieds

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard! This site, run by a gentleman from England, may be of help for general info:
https://www.sailboat-cruising.com/

[ChrisJHC]

Hi, Richie,

FYI you live in the home of the RYA (Royal Yachting Association).
They provide world-class sail training that will guide you on the right path.

Their Competent Crew course will start you off if you’re a complete beginner.
The Day Skipper course will teach you a lot of what you need to do the passage you’re looking at.
Even better - you get to sail on their boats so you can get a feel for what you’d be looking for.

https://www.rya.org.uk/training/sail-cruising

Disclaimer - I am an RYA instructor but on the other side of the world from the UK.

[John_Trusty]

Great advice above, including getting some RYA training so you know what you don’t know and how to ask for help. One piece of advice missing is getting on some other people’s boats. From this site, you see that experienced sailors love to talk and show off their knowledge, AIA “teaching”. Get with some sailing group, local sail racers, etc and ask for a demonstration or to crew in a race. Be honest about your skill level, buy the beer, and you should be welcomed. Good luck and we’ll see you out there in a few years.

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[MikeHoncho]

Kent, Washington USA to Holland is one heck of a first adventure.....

[TravelingLike21]

Originally Posted by Star Fire

Go small, go simple, go now. Start small and work your way up to the bigger adventures. Remember, you’ll break before the boat breaks. Meaning, sailboats are built tough. They can handle much bigger water than you’d think. Stay close to home while you learn the basics. Then start with overnight adventures to an anchorage and back home. When you’re comfortable, hit a couple different anchorages. Then just go for it. If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll never go.

Sailors are problem solvers. It’s not so much about never having problems so much as, keeping a cool head and fixing the problems when they arise.

You’ll need to know a little about navigating and choosing a good weather window. The Channel is notorious for bad weather.

The more you sail, the less fear you will have. Fear is like fire. It’ll keep you warm at night but, if you’re not careful, it’ll burn the house down. Learn how to hoist the sails, grind the winches, set up whisker poles, reef the main, etc. at the dock. There are many great YouTube channels to learn from too, on sail trim as well as all the above. Most importantly, always be sailing. When you divert your attention from handling the boat and watching the wind/weather/water, that’s when bad things happen. When you’re on watch, that’s the only thing you’re doing.

And remember to have fun! Sailing is one of the most liberating things a person can do. If you’re not racing, getting maximum speed from the boat isn’t the most important thing. Sailboats run on happy vibes. When everyone is in a good mood, that’s where sailboats are the happiest.

What a great reply. Excellent advice!