Sailing to Guam

[coralpolyp]

Hello,

I am a chiropractor now after being in Biotech for 13 years and Marine Biology research (in Guam) for 4 years. I live in the San Francisco bay area. I have just been sailing again after a long absence. Grew up in Guam and after I take more lessons and will purchase a boat would like to sail to Guam from San Francisco or Berkeley. Any tips on where to take lessons, which course to take or which boat to purchase?

[Ocean Girl]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry not sure the answer to your questions but just wanted to say have a great adventure and hope to see you out there.
Erika

[NotQuiteLost]

Welcome to the community I'm pretty new to the site, but I can tell you that you'll probably have fantastic luck doing a search for things like 'beginner boat,' or somesuch in the forum threads. These discussions have happened many, many times, and they take months sometimes to get everyone involved. So, rather than waiting around for everyone to chime in, I've found it's pretty helpful to just go cruising the older threads for input and advice. Still, there are a few things that would help everyone here to provide you with some solid insight.

First, how much experience have you had? Has it been sailing, or fishing, or water skiing? All of it counts for something!

Second, how many will be in your crew? If you're married, and your spouse is going to be part of this lifestyle, that impacts a lot of the decisions you'll make along the way in functional, practical ways. We're not necessarily talking hull/sail colors

Third, what's your budget? Believe it or not, you don't have to spend a fortune to get into bluewater cruising, but you do have to be pretty serious about outfitting, and this is one of the better places to come in order to find input on that particular subject. Money does, however, allow for quite a few more creature comforts along the way, and when you're down in that Hawaii-Guam stretch, sometimes creature comforts are foremost on your mind!

There are plenty of other questions, but those are a good start, I think. Others will undoubtedly chime in. But in the meantime, take a look through some of the other threads to get a read on the general attitude regarding this all-important first batch of questions!

Hope you get your dream off the ground sooner, rather than later!

[coralpolyp]

My budget for a boat would be around $40,000. I do have a son going off to college so I can't blow his college fund on this dream. So to sum it up, I'm going to take some courses through OCSC, and I am going solo on this journey.

coralpolyp

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by coralpolyp

My budget for a boat would be around $40,000. I do have a son going off to college so I can't blow his college fund on this dream. So to sum it up, I'm going to take some courses through OCSC, and I am going solo on this journey.

coralpolyp

Good luck on your courses Learn as much as you can, and dockwalk your way around the local marinas looking for other solo-sailors. They're generally crusty old buggers, but warm considerably when a six pack is involved (at least, that's been my experience). Just don't approach if they're furiously engaged in rigging and/or deck/hull maintenance.

The things I'd say to remember are that A) Nobody knows everything, B) The dockhounds are more likely to be in the 'enjoy the planning more than the trip itself' group and C) There is no single correct answer to any given question regarding sailboat choice.

Peruse Yachtworld hard and you'll find plenty of good examples of boats fit for your needs and budget.

[coralpolyp]

Hi NotQuiteLost,

I have contacted the owner of a 1980 crealock 37 for sale. Thank you for your comments. There is supposed to be a single handed sailing club in this area I need to check out. Can't wait to sail this weekend and the keelboat certification course isn't until November. I will start looking at boats and possibilities.

Coral

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
You're in a great place to sail and there are all kinds of classes to take there.
Hope you can find the right class and the right boat.
kind regards,

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by coralpolyp

Hi NotQuiteLost,

I have contacted the owner of a 1980 crealock 37 for sale. Thank you for your comments. There is supposed to be a single handed sailing club in this area I need to check out. Can't wait to sail this weekend and the keelboat certification course isn't until November. I will start looking at boats and possibilities.

Coral

Wow, I didn't see this reply. Must have been before I figured out the User CP function to look at all the subscribed threads.

Glad to see you're out and abouting your way into the first steps of this journey. It's a life changer, and nearly all of the changes are for the better.

Keep coming back and asking questions whenever there's something you need sussed out. In general, the community is good at this.

[Uta]

Do you need crew members? I am working in Europe at present, and after a longer break in sailing am starting again this year.

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum...This may be a good start...
OCSC Sailing School | Learn to Sail - San Francisco Bay Area | Sailing Lessons | California Sailing Club
San Francisco Sailing Lessons | San Francisco Sailing School
Spinnaker Sailing | Sailboat Tours, Sailboat Rental, Sailing Classes, San Franciso Bay, South Beach Harbor, Sport Boats, Used Boats, Dinghies
Learn to Sail San Francisco Bay with Club Nautique Sailing School and Powerboating School | Sailing Club - Non Members Welcome

[Uta]

Thanks Celstialsailor

Unfortunately Im not anywhere close to San Francisco. I'll be doing a weeks sailing on the Baltic in Juli. I would be interested in getting more experience sailing in the southeast asia region.
My guess is that I cant afford SF.

[Celestialsailor]

Sorry for the confusion...I was responding to the OP, coralpolyp 1st post looking for sailing schools in SF.

[Uta]

No problem, good information, who knows where life will lead me, maybe to SF.

Any ideas of how or where I could go on as crew to get experience, late summer this year, spring of next year? Ive got 3 weeks time, give or take a bit.