New to Sailing: Extended Passage Live-aboard Long-term Goal

[FrankC_OR]

Hello everyone.

My name is Frank and after a decade looking through posts here, I have started to take a proactive role and registered on this site.

I have taught English as a Foreign Language and plan to continue my career path teaching Business English in countries around the globe. In 2012, tired of trying to carry books, skies, guitars, scuba gear, tools as checked/carry-on luggage, the idea struck my that a sailboat could work as a permanent home to travel with me from country to country. Looking through this site inspired research into live-aboard cruising, sailing, boat repair, and of course — sailboat listings.

Unfortunately, my boating experience was limited to jet skies, pontoon houseboat rentals, scuba/fishing charters, and sailing a 10 foot cat one time in Boy Scouts. My wife at the time was not too keen on the idea. Limited bank funds also put a damper on my dreams. Then I moved to Medford, Oregon, 120 miles from the coast.

Now that I have completed a Master's degree and no unwilling partner, I can begin entering the sailing world. I have read many books, played simulators, and finally registered for ASA 101: Basic Keel Boating, but what I really need is time on the water. This means getting to know like-minded people and finding opportunities to get on the water.

Now that I have created an account with Cruisers Forum, I hope to learn more about sailing, boat repair, crew opportunities, and get valuable opinions for when I start shopping the monohull market.

Thank you for having me.

[dougweibel]

Hello Frank and welcome to CF

You will find some postings here of people looking for crew. You should also check out the several websites dedicated to linking captains looking for crew with people looking to be crew on passages and deliveries. For example Offshore Passage Opportunities and CrewBay. There are others as well if you search around.

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Frank! I wish you well in your adventures. Do you have any boating friends in Portland or Seattle area. Somehow it would do you well to make contacts there, or look into joining sailing clubs and getting yourself closer to the water. The skills you need can be learned on small boats, they transfer well into larger boats, which is what you'll need if you will be transporting a lot of stuff around!

[FrankC_OR]

Thank you Don. I do not have any friends in the US. I will begin looking into those areas to look for opportunities there.

[Ded reckoner]

I think you are on the right track taking sailing classes. I would encourage you to take these with an instructor on the coast. Lake sailing is different than the big water. Lake sailing is great because typically you tack and gybe often because the body of water is so much smaller. On a big boat in a bay, you might set the sails for a heading and stay on that for an hour or more at a time.

When you pass the ASA 101 class, you should be able to bareboat charter that boat from the instructor or company with which the instructor is affiliated. Within a month, you should bareboat charter that boat and replicate all the class instruction with you as captain and someone else as crew. Periodically, you should bareboat charter that boat and take it out and have fun. If you ever take a vacation where sailing is done, you should be able to bareboat charter a similar boat.

I think taking classes through ASA 103/104 are advisable. Most likely, these classes will be in a bigger boat. This could be an advantage for vacations that are sailing destinations. And, it will enable you to understand what you like and dislike about the different boats out there. Everything on a boat is a tradeoff, so you need to know yourself to get a good boat.

Unless you own a boat, there are limited opportunities to learn about boat repair. But, if you meet boat owners and offer to help them with their repairs, I expect you will find your phone ringing.

[FrankC_OR]

Thank you for your input. I agree. Unfortunately, the only ASA class is 101, and that is held in Eugene (landlocked on a lake). My plan is to eventually take 103 and 104, but for this year, I need to get to the coast and get some time on the water. Once I have the basic certification and some time logged, I will look into chartering some bareboats to captain to perform the basic drills until I can afford to purchase a boat.

Great advice everyone. This is why I have registered to post. These are the considerations I need to think about and make happen to become a proficient sailor.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Frank C, welcome aboard CF, where you'll find many opinions about how to get started.

If you re-locate to somewhere there is easy access to salt water, you will find some yacht clubs and some sailing clubs. That is where crew persons are most needed, and it is a social way to check out different kinds of boats. Medford's way inland, and no convenient regular salt water access. There's heaps of sailing out of SF Bay; and also in the PNW. It is nice to have lots of potential destinations.

Good luck with your plan. I hope you have fun in the sailing class, it will give you a start. I got my start in club racing, via a woman friend that i commuted with. It eventually led to a season's commitment, and then I met another sailor and we've had a long sailing life together.

Ann

[Adelie]

Welcome.

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.

[FrankC_OR]

Thank you Adelie for your welcome and input on naming my vessel as "Looking". I have done so, which should help other members know understand my current status when posting.

Moving closer to the sea is probably one of the best ways for me to reach my sailing goals. I plan to do this in the future, however, certain family obligations prevent this at this time. I will try harder to include relocating higher on my priority list.

I look forward to hearing more from you all in the forum posts.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Frank.

[TrentePieds]

Welcome to the Forum, Frank :-0

If you can find an unencumbered two weeks or so, you might like to sign up for a "crooz'n'learn vacation. I used to skipper them in my youth in the Salish Sea. Obviously you'll not need hotel accommodation when you do a C&L since you'll be aboard the boat for the entire time :-)

I do not know what is available in the US, but you should be able to find something out of one of the ports in Washington State. I'd be very surprised if there is not a sailing school operating out of the Shilshole Marina in Seattle or out of the Port of Bellingham.

Here is a link to Cooper Boating in Vancouver BC.

https://www.cooperboating.com/events...-cruise-learn/

Cooper, by way of its predecessors, is pretty much the granddaddy of them all, and they do a very good job. Schools in the US of more recent provenance have more or less copied Cooper's offerings, so checking out this link will tell you what you can expect.

Once you have your certificate of competency from a school like Cooper's you'll be fit to learn the really good stuff in a boat of your own :-)!

Bonne chance :-)!

TrentePieds