Novice Sailor, New to Forum

[Atlas86]

Hello everyone! My name is Garrett and I'm new to the forums. I'm a novice sailor who's dreamed of living aboard and cruising the world for as long as I can remember.
I'm in the midst of moving to Florida for work, and am actively putting money away into my "boat fund". I've been reading, watching videos, and learning as much as I can about sailing, boat buying, boat maintenance, cruising...and anything else I can find even tangentially related. I've found a wealth of information, but it occurred to me that these forums is probably one of the best places I can try to garner the advice and benefit from the experience of people who are doing and have done what I'm fixin' to dive head-first into.
If you'd like to chat or have some bit of experience or wisdom to impart on a novice sailor jumping into the deep end of it all, I would love to benefit from it.
Fair winds and following seas, y'all!

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Garrett! Be careful, this boat and sailing thing can really get in yer blood. I say start with a fun, simple, fast little boat you can take out on a moment's notice after work or on the weekends to practice on... you'll be a pro in no time!

[ttex]

My name is Garrett as well...….. *Highlander theme plays*

[Atlas86]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Welcome aboard Garrett! Be careful, this boat and sailing thing can really get in yer blood. I say start with a fun, simple, fast little boat you can take out on a moment's notice after work or on the weekends to practice on... you'll be a pro in no time!

Thanks, Don! Oh, sailing is definitely in my blood. As a lad, I grew up with the occasional pleasure of sailing on a few sloops owned by family friends and such; which means that I don't have a lot of hands-on experience or know-how, I just know that I love it, haha! And my dad is in the midst of refurbishing/refitting/rebuilding (a little of all 3) a 34'...uhh...y'know I can't rightly remember what it is but I do remember it's a 34' sloop. Lol.


But yeah, that's the plan...after the move to Florida, I'm going to start looking more seriously, and will likely schedule taking the ASA101 down there. My time lately has been spent doing research into boat-buying sensibly; what questions to ask, what to look for, the negotiation process, the various stacks of paperwork, surveys and sea trials...with everything that goes into it, and the amount of know-how it seems one has to have to not end up buying a bucket of problems...seems there should be a degree program for it, haha.

[Atlas86]

Originally Posted by ttex

My name is Garrett as well...….. *Highlander theme plays*

Highlander theme....lol. I was thinking more like that scene from Spies Like Us.


"Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor..." Hahaha

[Don C L]

Your taste in boats and your preferences will likely change as you gain experience. It's easy to be swayed by this or that article or the strong words of some old salt. Or some CF thread. Try to sail on other people's boats if you can. For yourself, to start off, I recommend a boat like a Laser. Easy to learn on, fun to sail because it zips along pretty well, easy to set up and pack up and only one sail to deal with.

[Capt Phil]

Feel free to ask as many questions on this forum that you can come up with, Garrett... just remember the answers and advice you get will be worth exactly what you pay for them!
Cheers and welcome aboard, Phil

[Atlas86]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Your taste in boats and your preferences will likely change as you gain experience. It's easy to be swayed by this or that article or the strong words of some old salt. Or some CF thread. Try to sail on other people's boats if you can. For yourself, to start off, I recommend a boat like a Laser. Easy to learn on, fun to sail because it zips along pretty well, easy to set up and pack up and only one sail to deal with.

Hah, yeah I'm certain that's true. That's how it went with airplanes, motorcycles, and jeeps, so I'm certain boats will be just the same. Who knows, maybe I'll find myself keen on paddleboats, lol.

[Atlas86]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Feel free to ask as many questions on this forum that you can come up with, Garrett... just remember the answers and advice you get will be worth exactly what you pay for them!
Cheers and welcome aboard, Phil

Absolutely! So far I've just been perusing the forums, crawling through topics and such. It's honestly just nice so far to see a whole community of people who love sailing and the ocean as much as I do. I'm that guy among my friends that's always on about this boat and that boat, and how great deep sea fishing is, on and on and on, and everyone is always sitting there like, "Omg don't you ever shut up about boats!" LOL


And yeah, I feel you on the You get what you pay for thing. I used to flight instruct for a living, and I always advised the same thing when my students or piers went looking for advice about various things...

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Garrett.

[tkeithlu]

Welcome, Garrett.

If you perchance take Don's advice above and want to find a Laser, I have one that I converted for recreational use (you can lower the sail without taking the mast down, a real problem with Lasers) that I will sell for $300 if you will come to the Florida panhandle to get it. Actually, I should advertise it here.

--Tim.

[Atlas86]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Welcome, Garrett.

If you perchance take Don's advice above and want to find a Laser, I have one that I converted for recreational use (you can lower the sail without taking the mast down, a real problem with Lasers) that I will sell for $300 if you will come to the Florida panhandle to get it. Actually, I should advertise it here.

--Tim.

Hey Tim! That would be wonderful! I'm in Atlanta, but actually right this moment I'm prepping for my move to Florida; heading down to Fernandina. Do you need to have it sold ASAP or could we chat about it and look at a pickup the first week or so of July? I'm moving at the end of this month, so July would be a lot easier, but if you need to get it gone sooner, I can probably make that work.

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Garrett.

Thanks, and greetings!


Thank you everyone for the super warm welcome, seriously; when I was writing the intro post I wasn't honestly sure anyone really went through them, so I'm pretty blown away. I just can't wait 'til I can have this kind of convo's at anchor rather than at my desk.