I'm so envyous.

[5user5]

I enjoy reading your posts so much. I will start my first sailing instruction next week on a lake but i hope to be on the ocean soon.

I was wondering if there were any 20 somethings on this site who sail on blue water. If there are then i would love to hear how you got your start. It seems so pricey to buy or even upkeep a boat and im just wondering what you do to get by.

I will do whatever it takes to travel the world and avoid touristy locations. I want to see places few have seen. I want nothing more than to see the real world and not gift shops.

Thanks for reading, Josh

[Lynx]

Welcome and enjoy your searches (on this site and others). I have not done much bluewater as such. By that I mean more than 2 days from land.

I stay coastal. I thought about getting a small blue water boat and fixing her up or buying new. It was just too expensive (and rough) for me so my option was to stay coastal - east coast/Bahamas. The only way that I could get out there. There is really no places where no one has gone. Just not visited often. You can get that in the Everglades.

If I could have affored a big boat, yes I would have gone blue water but staying on the hook everynight and being on anchor when the storms blow threw is far more my style. To rough in a little boat.

You have started on the right path. 2 ways to go. Buy your own boat or crew on somebodys. Traning and time on the water is a must. How you get on a boat is the question.

Good luck, read and study and be on the water as much as you can. Lots of lakes in Dallas area. You can learn a lot on a small boat.

[swagman]

G'Day Josh and welcome,
I'm 100% sure you'll achieve your goal - and look forward to hearing from the many younger sailors who are living it now.
JOHN

[David_Old_Jersey]

Where their is a will there is usually a way

Although it doesn't help you, a lot of folk "manage" to go cruising after many years of hard work and saving...........others go on a shoestring with whatever they can and work the money out as they go along.

If you buy an unsophisticated boat (that does not have expensive toys to buy and then maintain) and the smallest you can get away with then once you are onboard your living expenses can drop markedly, principally cos' you are not paying rent / a mortgage (if you keep outta marinas that is).

Alternatively the "cheapest" way to go sailing worldwide is probably to crew for others (especially on the long legs where a 3rd(or 4th) pair of hands / eyes is always useful). Quite often however folk want a contribution for expenses, but this I guess would depend on how much they need the extra crew..........

As my memory was jogged on another thread, you could go and build (or buy) one of these



It's a Wharram Catamaran

Wharram Tangaroa Cat

This one apparently needs a bit of refurbishment, but for USD10k (ish) 39 foot is a lot of boat.........

[Iain]

5user
I am far from a bluewater cruiser but im 22 and have the same dreams as you and last may I purchased a 73' Sabre 28 for 12K It only has the basics but the boat has only one previous owner and what is there is in great shape. Im planning on taking a few months to make some costal passages down towards FL and the Bahamas this May then i will go from there.
Iain

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha 5,
Welcome aboard!! I'm a long way from 20 something but that's when I started. Didn't get to cruise and liveaboard until I was 30 something but always kept the dream alive and still want to do it again.
My advice is keep learning and talking with others about what they've done.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[5user5]

Thank you all for the information and support. I should be on the water for the first time 4 days from now. It should be quite fun!

[rtbates]

Good for you. Buy a dingy to learn to sail. You'll learn more about sailing in one summer on a dingy than in years on a 'big' boat. In the meantime, as you learn in you dingy, crew on anything and everything you can. Round the buoy racing will teach things that cruising won't. And visa versa. It took me around 12-15 years of sailing before I wasn't quarunted to learn something new with every sail. After 30 years I'm still learning.

[Pblais]

It seems so pricey to buy or even upkeep a boat and im just wondering what you do to get by.

Mostly because it is. Just no way around it unless you want to be a fool and just ignore it. You could buy a wreck and get yourself killed. Probably not what you had in mind but it does take a lot to maintian a larger boat. That includes time and money.

Best advice is: Sailing is sailing and you either like or you don't. If you really like it any sailing is better than none. It does not matter where you are and you sure don't need to be any place because you are already there sailing.

You can coastal sail a long time on a budget and still have a whole lot of excitment. You don't have to be 10,000 miles away to be looking at things brand new while sailing.

[Cruisingdad]

Hello Josh,

I started sailing long before my 20's in sailing dinks, but by my 20's had a 25 foot Catalina, then 32. Had kids and had my first on board at 5 days old, and we have not stopped from there. I am currently 35.

You can do it, just don't follow the American Way. Live under your means. Don't buy a house (they are nothing but expensive). Live in a cheap apartment and work your butt off. That is what I did, and the wife.

If you want to learn a lot about boats, move about an hour north to Lake Texoma. That is where they build Valiant's, one of the best ocean crossing boats in the world (believe it or not). Cedar Mills Marina & Resort. They are VERY nice and as long as you don't look like a modern rock star, might let you walk the docks and look at some awesome sailboats. I have no idea if they are hiring, but it is worth asking. Pay is low, but knowledge is high. Valiant yachts: (903) 523-4222. Good luck. PM me if you have any questions. I will help if I can.

- CD

PS The advice on being crew is good too. PM me for that too if you need help there.