Newbie to sailing and to this platform

[wanabe sailer]

Howdy ladies and gentlemen,

I am Rupert Verwey from South Africa. New to this platform and sailing but not new to being offshore. I am a senior mechanic on a drillship and currently in las Palmas busy with a reactivation.

I have been following all the major sailing channels on youtube and that was where I fell in love with the idea of a sailing life style. The tranquility of only nature around you and no mass movement of daily commuting like in big cities.

I have been on sailing catamarans now twice, once in Walvisbay, Namibia and once in Cape Town and that was where I got hooked on a catamaran and the sailing life.....

So I am currently planning to save as much of my salary as possible to be able to buy the cheapest Cat I can afford and like to start my journey of permanent live aboard.....don't think the wife would want to stay onboard so I geuss it will turn out to be just me but will see what happens.

I love the Seawind 1260, the DH550 and the Maxx Cruise 44 but my finances just laughts at me when I start to look at boats.....

My first port of call is that I will start my sailing school courses when I get back home in the next 2 weeks and will be doing that over the next few months untill I am certified.

[wanabe sailer]

At least I can say I have sailed across the Atlantic ocean from Las Palmas to Rio de Janeiro albeit on a drillship.....LOL. That was last year April and took us 19 days.

[TrentePieds]

Wanabe:

Welcome to Cruiser's Forum :-)!

We have a few members who are familiar with the waters around the Cape, but I'm not one of them. Nevertheless, I make bold to say that the coast of the Eastern Cape, and generally the east coast of Africa, is not particularly attractive as a cruising ground for a sailor - or indeed for a stink-potter :-)

So given that you seem to be home-ported in Port Elizabeth, perhaps we can afford you the best council and the most help if you spell out for us just what are the pleasures you expect to derive from your cruising.

You have put before us two hugely significant warning signals: a) you have concerns about your ability to carry the expense of a vessel (and well you might express such a concern!) and b) you have misgivings about whether your wife will share your enthusiasm.

So let us start with the very basics. After than we can talk about the choice of vessel and about the acquisition of the skills and mindsets required to cruise successfully in a small sailing vessel.

Firstly — and mark this well! — no man should ever spend more money on a yacht, whether for acquisition or upkeep, than he can walk away from with a smile still on his face. Make note that I say that both as the owner of a modest thirty foot monohull, and as a retired accountant.

Secondly, unless your marriage is rock solid, you will find that you will have to make a choice: The boat or your marriage. No sensible woman will accept that her husband spends money on a boat if the home, or the wife herself, becomes shortchanged thereby! Do not fall victim to the common male conceit that "I can handle that!". The statistics say that you won't be able to!

Now what you CAN do — out of PE - is contact people like the Algoa Bay Yacht Club:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algoa_Bay_Yacht_Club

They will have the local knowledge and the facilities to see you right. You will find that they will also disabuse you of any notion you may have that what you've done as a mechanic on a drillship bears much relationship at all to the skills you will need to develop to be a competent skipper of a small sailing vessel whether it has one hull or several :-)!

All the Best :-)!

TrentePieds

[wanabe sailer]

TrentePieds, having gone through 3 lay-offs in my life, I don't even have enough finances to finish my house but now with my new job, I am finishing it bit by bit every month. I can save a substantial amount of my salary and in 24 months will have about $250 000 saved up. My house will also be valued for the same amount when completed shortly. 2ndly me and the wife have been through a lot and have I dealt myself short in many regards and have drawn a line.....now I take care of ME. If she wants to come, good, if not, so be it.....it will be her choice.

I will be doing my radio and navigation courses as I have most other courses and seamans book already but yes, I am planning to visit the Algoa bay yacht club.

[davil]

so well put



Firstly — and mark this well! — no man should ever spend more money on a yacht, whether for acquisition or upkeep, than he can walk away from with a smile still on his face. Make note that I say that both as the owner of a modest thirty foot monohull, and as a retired accountant.

currently an active thread regarding insurance.



Secondly, unless your marriage is rock solid, you will find that you will have to make a choice: The boat or your marriage. No sensible woman will accept that her husband spends money on a boat if the home, or the wife herself, becomes shortchanged thereby! Do not fall victim to the common male conceit that "I can handle that!". The statistics say that you won't be able to!

So many marriages ended on the rocky shores of "I am getting a boat and WE are going cruising honey"

[wanabe sailer]

Davil, my last 2 lay-offs taught me a lot.....when money walks out the front door, love walks out the back door........ My wife did not know I got his job till 2 weeks before I had to fly out, she changed like day and night.......so I am not living on a miss conception that we will be happy every after, to the contrary.....just the opposite hence me saying it will most likely end up being me on the boat and her taking the house.....but it's OK, I am planning to go MGTOW any way....lol

[davil]

Originally Posted by wanabe sailer

Davil, my last 2 lay-offs taught me a lot.....when money walks out the front door, love walks out the back door........ My wife did not know I got his job till 2 weeks before I had to fly out, she changed like day and night.......so I am not living on a miss conception that we will be happy every after, to the contrary.....just the opposite hence me saying it will most likely end up being me on the boat and her taking the house.....but it's OK, I am planning to go MGTOW any way....lol

========================
thank you for your kind response.

Like most? times when I comment, try not to be judgmental and offer a thought that went through my head before disappears.

Truly wish you the best

PS

when I went cruising, my wife was a reluctant crew, did it out of love and was very grateful for her companionship.
I didn't realize it then

Best of luck

[TrentePieds]

Wanabe said: "...I am planning to go MGTOW any way"

Probably very sensible given the feelings you've expressed. Not a matter for anyone here to judge. Nevertheless, since it will/may involve any boat you buy to be your new home, DO be aware that SA is a Common Property Jurisdiction!

Best to have the division of common property settled and documented BEFORE you buy a boat! I'm an accountant - not a lawyer - so I STRONGLY advise you to spend some of your quarter million on fees for a lawyer so as to save yourself unforeseen complications. A SOLID separation agreement would seem a sensible thing to have.

One more bit of free advice: Remember that a boat bought for thirty grand can have just a much UTILITY as a boat bought for a quarter million! Anything spent over thirty grand may be booked to the "conspicuous consumption" ledger :-)!

Cheers

TrentePieds

[Adelie]

Welcome.

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.

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Rupert!