Looking for an "IN" into the sailing world.

[Sojourner]

Ahahahaha I was gonna type exactly what the last guy did, dock walk and have fun, not as pad but because it works. However I see nothing wrong with your reply either. So then I'll say have you gone down to those tacoma marinas that aren't set up for dock walking, and put up an old fashioned flyer explaining what you would like to do? I'm not sure if most people need graphic design trade as much as maybe someone to cook lunch and clean the boat onboard, so add those things too. A photo of your face for sure. Ask the marina if you can post it up where the weather forecasts are, or maybe there is some dedicated spot. Also, call up the sailing schools that run out of those marinas. They will know all the boaties there, they sure did in Pisa where my partners got trained. Maybe they can pass on your flyer or a word to people they know are friendly and happy to teach newbies...there always are some who like the company or need a hand. Good luck anyway....

[AKA-None]

Just keeps getting better. You have your suggestions but don’t appear to care for them? Not sure what else can be suggested.

[Sojourner]

Oh, forgot one thing I didn't see yet: Yes, call all the sailing schools, or better yet, visit them in person looking and sounding your best. Ask THEM if they would be willing to trade you lessons or to 'audit' lessons in exchange for your graphic design/online work, and/or to clean, wipe and wash the boats when they come in for the day. In the school where my partners got their training, they were always asking me if I wanted to come along on one boat or another that was going out not completely full of students for a few hours just for fun. You can watch, listen, learn, make friends. As my russian wife says, Asking is free

This is actually how I got my SCUBA training back when I was a teen....asked the trainers that kept coming to the pool to let me sit in in exchange for hauling all their gear back and forth. Dove for years after without getting my C card

[Fore and Aft]

You might have to stop being a tightwad and do what many of us on this forum have done...........pay for some lessons. Admittedly I was only 8 years old and my parents paid, but it set me up for a life time on the water. Funny but when I think about it, that was only time I have ever paid for lessons and whatever it cost my parents has been paid back tenfold.
PY, your right it is a secret society where good manners and a friendly attitude opens a lot of companion ways.
You also deride being a “graceful social butterfly”, I will tell you now no likes a tosser in the cockpit and don’t be surprised if you get dropped of at the nearest public wharf on your first sail.
Cheers

[LeFevreBreeze]

The price you pay for experience is relative. One of the best sailors I know learnt the ropes on https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/ .
Her 5 years recreational experience with a 6 week trip on Clipper has rivaled and sometimes surpassed my 30 years of experience sailing with clubs.
Be prepared to spend some $’s Py - only you are responsible for your safety regardless of your attitude (be it bad ass or sugary sweet). The money goes towards Good personal safety equipment that you own & sound theoretical knowledge to keep you safe when it is dark / cold and you have been underway for 5 days without any of the comforts that a good internet connection and discussion forum brings!

[daletournier]

Do what i did,buy a littke boat and teach yourself. No shortage of infomation out there. Just jump in, learn as you go. I rene er the day i pulled the main sail up on my wharram and then just figured it out.

[Fore and Aft]

Dale that’s be suggested by a few people but PY is not interested. A quick look on Craigslist in his area and PY could be afloat for as little as $300.
It seems he is all about bringing beer and turning up for a sail, which judging by his posts we are all a little slow in understanding!
Cheers

[TrentePieds]

Ah well - there's obviously nuthin' to fetch 'ere but sound advice, so why should a fellow who's been "lollygagging", as he sez, for five and twenty years, and is now generously offering to help us "think tank", want to hang out with us, devoid of social graces and graphic design skills as we clearly are?

Thank God it's Sunday so I can sit quietly with my yard of ale while I rue, in moderation, my deficiencies. Or maybe I'll just go work on the boat. Or see if there are any little snot-nosed kids about who'd like to learn to sail.

TrentePieds

[Adelie]

Welcome.

[GrowleyMonster]

There are so MANY ways to get started! If you were in New Orleans I could probably put you on a boat on any Wednesday or Sunday during the local race season, and you would learn a lot. I am not in Puget Sound, or I could probably do the same thing. Or take you out on my boat, though I have no real interest in racing and don't need or want any crew.


A good attitude goes a long way. When you post a question on an online forum, you will not always get, or actually will almost NEVER get, the answer that you want. It doesn't work that way. If the answer you wanted was the right answer or the only answer then you would already know it and wouldn't be asking. If you want help, let people help in whatever manner they can. If a few jokesters poke a bit of fun or inject some awful non sequitur humor, or even tell you that newbies are not welcome, whatever, hey this is the internet. There are a few curmudgeons here who hate everything and everybody and look down their nose at everyone else, or argue for the sake of arguing. That's life. There are also folks here who are eager to help and share their knowledge. Sometimes these compulsive helpers are pretty smart. Sometimes, maybe not so smart. This is the internet and if you don't have (1) a thick skin, and (2) a well developed BS filter, you have no business here and I make no apologies for that remark because it is the truth.



Now, as for getting your "IN". Let me count the ways. Well, maybe not. I would be typing all day. I will name a few.


1. Cool your jets, stick around, be of good cheer and eager to learn, and maybe someone local to you will answer on the thread, and take you directly under his wing. If you keep up the bad 'tude then you will only be repelling those who stumble across this thread a week or a month from now. Not everyone reads every single post. In fact, you would pretty much have to not have much of a life, to do so. Certainly you would never have time for sailing or the responsibilities of yacht ownership.


2. Contact all your local sailing clubs and ask if you can just show up and watch what goes on, and maybe offer to crew for someone. A personal ad on Craigslist might get you some responses, too, mixed in with a bunch of spam of course. If that will put you into a sputtering red faced rage, then don't bother. Life is too short to make yourself pissed off.



3. Sailing school. NOT a bad option. Plus if you do a prescribed curriculum you will be qualified in the eyes of most charterers to charter a boat.



4. Crewed charter. Could be pretty pricey, especially in certain markets.


5. Read everything you can get your hands on, on sailing, racing, pilotage and navigation, basic seamanship and safety, and boating in general. You would be surprised at how much you can learn by just reading and watching youtubes.


6. Buy or build a sailing dinghy. This is a very fundamental niche of sailing and you will learn more about the mechanics of sailing, more quickly, with a dink than in any other form of sailing. The first dunking will teach you not to do SOMETHING or another. And it is fun. Or torture, depending on your attitude. This can be a really cheap way to get your foot in. Not as cheap as crewing, but close.


7. Buy an aged trailer sailer. Park it in the driveway, no marina bill. Easy maintenance. Hitch it up to your car or truck, and launch at the local ramp. Sail around, have fun, put to use all the stuff you read about or watched on 'tubes. Trailer the boat and drag it home. An older boat won't depreciate much if at all, and you can resell it for at least close to what you paid for it. So, pretty cheap, yeah.


8. Buy an older boat that needs fixing up. Make sure you have a slip available for it, or that the boat is in a transferable slip already when you buy it. Lots of maintenance costs, including the slip and utilities and meeting requirements such as insurance, registration, up to date safety equipment, mooring lines, etc. But as a new owner you will learn a LOT of stuff. And now the shoe is on the other foot. You will be looking for crew to teach YOU. If you really want to jump in with both feet, give up your house and move aboard. The cost then will be negative, as it is usually cheaper to live aboard than to keep a house, given a cheap boat. If you are patient you could probably pick something up suitable for day sails or weekends, with a running engine and room to stand up below and a place to crap, cook, and sleep, for well under $10k, maybe as little as $2k. Something pretty nice for local coastal cruising for maybe around $16k and of course the sky is the limit. I would stick to the low end as your first boat will probably not be your final boat no matter how carefully you shop. Again, older boats have already depreciated about as far as they can go, assuming good maintenance, and you shouldn't take a beating when you sell, if you are patient. You will of course be out a lot of expenses, but you NEVER recover expenses. Replace an engine, and nobody cares, and won't pay extra. DON'T replace one that needs replacing, and nobody is interested in buying at all. Ditto sails, mast, boom, rigging, woodwork, electrical, or any other equipment or features. Bottom job. Routine hull cleaning. Zincs. That's all on the unlucky owner. That's just how it is. And certainly nobody is impressed that you have paid a total of say $15k to keep the boat in a slip. I always laugh at the listings that catalog a long litany of recent maintenance and upgrade jobs. Nobody cares what you fixed or repaired or replaced or upgraded. Buyers expect everything to be proper as a matter of course, and only notice what has NOT been done and needs done. Anyway I digress. Just buying a boat and jumping in with both feet can be pretty expensive, or not expensive at all, depending on whether or not you choose (or are allowed to, by your marina) to live aboard and ditch the house.


Out of all those options, I personally think building or buying a dinghy is overall your best way to get started. Second best, BE A NICE GUY, and get yourself into a crew spot, by your own request or by invitation. If your feelings are hurt so easily as we have seen here, though, you might best forget about that option, because nobody will have you. Next best, buy a trailer queen and piddle around with that. A tie, in general, among the remainder though I personally might lean toward the aged coastal cruiser with a slip, in need of TLC, and living aboard her. You might not be in a life situation that would allow that, but for a single or for SOME couples, life aboard is great.

[Hardhead]

If I lived in Takoma, I'd take the OP out sailing. Probably a great time. Life works out that way.

[redhead]

Well we're in the Puget Sound north. We love to teach people to sail (matter of fact we're going out next week with various people who've been asking "how do the two of you sail that big boat by yourselves?").

But putting up with that much attitude for more than an hour or so?
Probably not.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by pyr8gfx

I appreciate all of your well meant responses but they fall short of the only question that I require be answered...


"If there is anyone in the Tacoma area that will teach me the ropes?"


Over the last 20 years and all the research I've done don't you think that I would have already looked into the obvious suggestions that you offer? Been there, tried that, researched it! That is why I have posted here on this forum, as a last resort to reach out.


Good lord you all act as if it is the Freemasons or some other secrete society that I am trying to join and I have to either be the graceful social butterfly or offer up my unborn child or both just to get in. Well, I'm no butterfly and I'm not having any kids.


Apparently, none of you are familiar with the Tacoma area clubs and marinas. They are not really setup where I can just hang out and randomly ask people if they need crew.


So, enough with the obvious pad answers and suggestions. Been there, done that...that is why I am looking for an "IN"...get it yet?


Tacoma area, willing to teach. That's it.
The only response required, "Meet me at the marina at this time and bring beer!"

Good luck, and perhaps you could print off your comment (above) and just hand it out. It'll tell people exactly who you are and what you want.

[Mare Nostrum]

Hello Lee,
As the old saying goes, "it is never too late to start!".

All the best to you... I think you'll find that your enthusiasm increases as you learn more and you get out on the water...

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by pyr8gfx

I appreciate all of your well meant responses but they fall short of the only question that I require be answered...


"If there is anyone in the Tacoma area that will teach me the ropes?"


Over the last 20 years and all the research I've done don't you think that I would have already looked into the obvious suggestions that you offer? Been there, tried that, researched it! That is why I have posted here on this forum, as a last resort to reach out.


Good lord you all act as if it is the Freemasons or some other secrete society that I am trying to join and I have to either be the graceful social butterfly or offer up my unborn child or both just to get in. Well, I'm no butterfly and I'm not having any kids.


Apparently, none of you are familiar with the Tacoma area clubs and marinas. They are not really setup where I can just hang out and randomly ask people if they need crew.


So, enough with the obvious pad answers and suggestions. Been there, done that...that is why I am looking for an "IN"...get it yet?


Tacoma area, willing to teach. That's it.
The only response required, "Meet me at the marina at this time and bring beer!"

At the best, there is a communication difficulty here.

You say you've been "trying" to get into sailing for 20 yrs.? It's not rocket science. .... and you have some fairly strange ideas about sailing, else why call yourself pyr8 anything? Rape and pillage, and losing one's boat are all negative visions for sailors.

The practical advice offered above, in great detail is how one does this. There is no "in", no way to do it without paying your dues. You learn either by lessons or by doing. You make yourself attractive as crew, or you don't. If you've really been trying for 20 yrs., you've been doing something ineffective.

Knocking the very forum where you are asking for help smacks of trolling, in any event. It does not demonstrate a flexible, helpful attitude. Why would ANYone want to mentor someone inflexible and unhelpful? Maybe you need a different dream. Becoming a singlehander within a year is a pretty difficult goal, in any event, particularly if you want to go offshore.

IME mentoring is where you find it, and you find it through doing the thing in which you want to be mentored. If you present personably (friendly and helpful), and cooperative, it should flow easily.

*