New and curious

[Peter2meter]

Hello there!

My name is Pete, living and working abroad for many many years. Very happy I found this forum for my specific question:

For the last year I'm looking for a sailboat to cross the oceans in about 1,5 or 2 years. I found a few interesting ships but sofar I didn't buy one. In august 2024 I will see a ship that really interests me and I hope thats the one.

You might ask if I can sail: well...NO, not all all and that has a reason:

I did sailed with friends, so it is not real new for me but I purposely never learned to sail myself. This is a task I want to do when I'm all in. I work in hostile environments for over 28 years and I'm used to the unexpected, following procedures and to many risks.
In 1,5, or 2 years I like to quit my high-risk work and start sailing. I need this challenge and new experience incl. all risks to maintain a certain alertness-level and avoid to be bored. (I hope I explain it well)

I can only 'survive this mission' when I sail with somebody who knows what to do, right? Thats one of many reasons why I am on this forum, I hope to find somebody in this who knows all the ins-and-outs of sailing and who is looking for a opportunity to sail the world. I also might need some advise when I buy the boat. We have months to prepare.

The ship I'm looking for is a used Jeanneau Sun Odessey or Benneteau Oceanis (or something in that direction, I'm 1.98 tall so looking for a bit space to standup straight ones a while) The boat should have space enough for two people and a proper kitchen as I don't eat do much in this hostile countries haha. If you are young or older, woman or a men is not important, (not looking for date anyway :-) as long as you know how to sail. Maybe you're also self-employed and can do some business while sailing, I know I will.

Living on the ship will be for free ofcourse and we only might share some costs for food or utilities, nothing ells.

Well that was long introduction but this is it.
Happy to be here and hope we will find each-other on this forum.

Greetings this time from Beirut, the city that never sleeps..

Pete

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Peter2meter

You might ask if I can sail: well...NO, not all all and that has a reason:

Probably just work on that first!

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with 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.

[Peter2meter]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Probably just work on that first!

Ha thanks for the reply. I understand and respect your comment but there is no law that requires me to learn how sail. Sample: I have a car but I never drive myself, others do. People with planes probably don't need to fly themselves also, right haha? And thats how it works in my life. You are right when you say I might to learn to sail but until that day somebody ells may sail the boat for me and I can learn that way too, right? Maybe somebody who does not owe boat him/herselfe would love to do that and I can also pay for it. I know it is out of the box for a lot of people but it's not impossible to owe a boat without knowing how to sail. That's why I am in this forum and few others, I'm looking for somebody who loves boats, can sail but does not owe a boat. Then we can work together..

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Peter2meter

Ha thanks for the reply. I understand and respect your comment but there is no law that requires me to learn how sail. Sample: I have a car but I never drive myself, others do. People with planes probably don't need to fly themselves also, right haha? And thats how it works in my life. You are right when you say I might to learn to sail but until that day somebody ells may sail the boat for me and I can learn that way too, right? Maybe somebody who does not owe boat him/herselfe would love to do that and I can also pay for it. I know it is out of the box for a lot of people but it's not impossible to owe a boat without knowing how to sail. That's why I am in this forum and few others, I'm looking for somebody who loves boats, can sail but does not owe a boat. Then we can work together..

Honestly, you could have lead with a brief explanation that your goal was to own and have a captain. Nobody cares why, but you've come to a forum of sailors that assume you are interested in being a sailor. There is nothing wrong with being an owner/passenger. That's how all super yachts work.

[PotentialCruise]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Probably just work on that first!

Join a local sailing club or just ask to crew and lend a hand. That's what I did. Reached out to the local club and hopped aboard!

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard CF, Peter2meter.

Sounds like you've had a pretty interesting life. At 6ft. 6+inches, you'll find difficulty in finding production boats with berths long enough for you, as well as adequate headroom. When you look at prospective boats for you, take a tape measure. You'll want at least enough length to stretch out. I once had a friend who was only 6'4", but finally, he and his dad built him a bed for land use and it was the first bed he had since growing up that he could stretch out in--and that was a big deal for him.

What you propose to do is like a partnership between people, and for it to work, there would need to be a lot of trust on both your parts. It might actually be easier in the long run to pay the skipper, as not too many younger people can afford to take the time off to do as you suggest. There ARE some skippers who would be willing to come along at reduced rates and train you. Maybe that would work better. You write your own contracts.

Ann

[Fore and Aft]

Peter2Meter I can see this working, but you really are after a delivery skipper, and you tag along as crew.
Basically, you just employ them for a voyage or length of time and then a new skipper comes along. Social media/internet makes this really easy and the prices for some of these skippers seems to be all over the show. Much like their abilities, I am sure.
If you're not risk adverse, your yacht could be ideal training for a newbie delivery skipper or competent crew that is thinking about being a skipper. I have sailed on a number of yachts where I would consider the owners attitude pretty "loose" and anyone can have a crack at anything onboard.
Cheers

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Pete! My first thought in reading your post is, who will be the skipper on this first voyage you propose? I think what you are proposing would be more appropriately the hiring of a skipper to deliver your boat and he/she is ok with you along and learning along the way. If you are looking for crew, not many experienced sailors would choose to join this kind of trip with you as skipper. I don't want to sound too negative, but you need to nail down this basic part first.

[TrentePieds]

Pete said: "I can only 'survive this mission' when I sail with somebody who knows what to do, right? "

Well, No. That is FAR from the case!

There is no reason that you cannot use your spare time in the couple of years you have left before bidding farewell to the joys of the shore to do all the book learning you will need to become a competent seafaring man. The boat handling is a triviality. Come aboard TrentePieds or any other thirty-footer, and if you are the man you seem to be, we'll have the boat handling out of the way in a weekend. Ultimately, "driving" a five-ton boat like TP is no more difficult that driving any other five-ton piece of equipment. Common sense and forehandedness are essential attributes of the driver, and as you have worked in hazardous environments, you obviously already have those attributes. Else you wouldn't still be here - nicht wahr :-)?

So how d'ye find your way around the world across trackless oceans devoid of signposts? Well, if you can see the shore, you do "pilotage". Out of sight of land you do Celestial Navigation. Yes, I know that we have wunderschöne electronic gizmos to help us do it, but that's not quite the point, is it? So spend your remaining two years ashore learning navigation, both pilotage and celestial.

Some time should also be devoted to the study of what makes sailboats do the things they do when under way. Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing by C.A.Marchaj is for many the very bible on that topic. It's a bit pricy, but available in whatever language you prefer and worth every penny!

Then you need to study why sailboats are shaped the way they are. Skene's Elements of Yacht Design by Francis Kinney is the classic there. It was used for many years as the fundamental textbook by Westlawn School of Yacht Design (now a faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AFAIK).

TrentePieds is, as her name tells you, 30 feet overall. My bunk is 6'8" (2.00 m) long. She's a pilot house sloop, so you can get in outta the rain and in the winter, here on Canada's "wet coast" where it gets pretty chilly in the winter months, you can turn on the diesel fueled cabin heater. She is big enuff for man and maid to live in comfortably for weeks, even months, on end. She was cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. A sister ship, fitted out from a bare hull by her owner, made it many years ago from Vancouver, Canada to Christchurch, New Zealand. Thirty-footers are perfectly able to do trans-oceanic voyages. It all depends on the SKIPPER's competence!

So keep yer head screwed on the right way and don't believe everything advertisers and other such folk tell you :-)

Gute Fahrt :-)!

TrentePieds