WA State New Guy...

[h011yw00d]

Hello everyone-my name is Solomon.

I am an active-duty Army guy/dad/husband/lubber in WA state who has discovered a (perhaps ill-advised) sailing obsession. The timeline goes something like this:

1. Move to WA state (after never living near significant amounts of water before) and notice all the water.

2. Decide that it would be great to be able to move around on that water. Also notice all the cool boats.

3. Get a couple kayaks and do nothing but that and work all summer for 2 years. Continue to notice the cool boats, especially those with sails.

4. Visit Bremerton and ogle Navy ships. Start devouring historical/naval fiction (Patrick O'Bryan, C.S. Forrester, etc.).

5. Start taking walks at local marinas and browsing craigslist and boat ads for fun.

6. Dream about boat diagrams and components. Wake up in a cold sweat and the realization I need to learn to sail. Start reading manuals, learning about basic boat design and operation, subscribe to sailing mags, lurk on forums, and taking free online 'courses'.

7. Lament the cost in money and time for sailing lessons (Army keeps me on a fairly short leash). Figure it is cheaper to buy a used sailboat and go from there.

8. Buy an old Cal 20 needing 'a little work'. Work on it long enough to realize I am in over my head and repairs will cost 3 times the value of the boat. Sell it for less than I bought it for.

9. Begin to search again for one that is sail-ready. Find my T22. Buy it from an experienced sailor who helps and mentors. Curse the paperwork required for registration and insurance and so on...

10. Sail a few times for short distance on my own. Spend all my free time on the boat. Stop lurking in forums and start posting!

So here I am, hoping to get some advice and eventually contribute in a meaningful way to the discussion.
My Tanzer 22 (Christened the 'H.P. Lovecraft'...get it?) is moored at West Bay Marina (home away from home) in Oly. I have many small fixes to make and such; but she is sweet!
So...pardon my enthusiasm and thanks for having lubbers like me on here!


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[newhaul]

Welcome aboard and welcome to the insane world of boat ownership.
Thank you for your service but it seems you should have been in my navy not your army.

[h011yw00d]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Welcome aboard and welcome to the insane world of boat ownership.
Thank you for your service but it seems you should have been in my navy not your army.

I came to that realization as well....though the Navy may have soured me on the joy of sailing. Coast Guard Auxilliary may be more like it! [emoji3]

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[uncle stinkybob]

GO U.S. Army!! Welcome aboard!!! I was stationed at Fort Lewis myself in 1972 before shipping out to S.E. Asia. You'll do fine but if your like me your will have a strong desire to mount a 50cal on the bow, don't do this or you will meet the Coast Guard boys first hand! LOL. Have fun on your boat and share your experience as you learn, the fix's and how you made them. Sometimes its a first timer that comes up with new ideas, a fresh mind and all, right? Thanks for you service Brother.
P.S. whats your MOS?

[exMaggieDrum]

Welcome to the insane asylum. Enjoy your new passion.
Joe

[Stu Jackson]

Welcome.

Have you found a Tanzer owners association on the internet yet?

There are a lot of small boat sailors, more than here, here: http://sbo.sailboatowners.com/recent-fx.php

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Your story is similar to mine except I was many years earlier and in the Navy. I found that the MWR had many sailing lessons that didn't cost an arm and a leg and didn't take up every minute of a week. My advice is to check with MWR and see what the local military installations have to offer. You can use any military MWR. It doesn't have to be Army. It's always good to learn more about sailing when you get the opportunity.
Good luck in getting enough of sailing. I haven't yet and been at it for more than 40 years.

[h011yw00d]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Welcome.

Have you found a Tanzer owners association on the internet yet?

There are a lot of small boat sailors, more than here, here: http://sbo.sailboatowners.com/recent-fx.php

I have bookmarked several resources, though not a lot of new activity on any of them. Definitely some useful info out there, however!

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[wristwister]

Welcome aboard!


You've obviously passed into the obsession stage like the rest of us, so here's a word of advice from a fellow obsessee who's also a family man: get the wife and kids hooked on sailing. If sailing is "your thing" that takes you away from the family (in addition to deployments) ... well, that's not good. Hopefully they love sailing with you in your T22. But if that doesn't seem to be happening, maybe do what I did. I chartered a gorgeous 38 footer for a week in the San Juans and took the wife and girls for our most blissful family vacation ever. On the way back, my wife said "Maybe we should start shopping for a bigger boat.". BINGO!

[h011yw00d]

Originally Posted by wristwister

Welcome aboard!


You've obviously passed into the obsession stage like the rest of us, so here's a word of advice from a fellow obsessee who's also a family man: get the wife and kids hooked on sailing. If sailing is "your thing" that takes you away from the family (in addition to deployments) ... well, that's not good. Hopefully they love sailing with you in your T22. But if that doesn't seem to be happening, maybe do what I did. I chartered a gorgeous 38 footer for a week in the San Juans and took the wife and girls for our most blissful family vacation ever. On the way back, my wife said "Maybe we should start shopping for a bigger boat.". BINGO!

Well in the way to doing just that...sound advice!

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[BigNickMontana]

Welcome aboard. I'm a Navy vet, spent most of my time in up on Whidbey Island, looking at buying a boat that is in Tacoma right now and will be based out of there for a while if I do.

It is too bad they shut down the base marina up there at NAS, it was a really good resource for veterans.

[GordMay]

(Belated) Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, h011yw00d.

[Jim Cate]

Welcome aboard, mate, and welcome to the best lifestyle known to the free world! You sound like a fellow obsessive, and I reckon that you are a goner, so try to lie back and enjoy the ride. We'll help you when we can, and commiserate when we can't.

Cheers,

Jim

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by BigNickMontana

Welcome aboard. I'm a Navy vet, spent most of my time in up on Whidbey Island, looking at buying a boat that is in Tacoma right now and will be based out of there for a while if I do.

It is too bad they shut down the base marina up there at NAS, it was a really good resource for veterans.

Dang! I didn't know it was closed. That looked like a super place to keep a boat.

[BigNickMontana]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Dang! I didn't know it was closed. That looked like a super place to keep a boat.

I was pretty bumed out to see it did, if you look on google earth it looks like a section of the dock sunk, they removed it, and then all of the boats disappeared.