Quote:
Originally Posted by mvweebles
Wonder if OP will update this 2021 thread?
While not circumnavigation speciific, I don't think sailing skills make or break a cruising dream. Seamanship skills can be learned fairly quickly. Biggest seamanship shortcomings I've noted are weather routing abilities, anchoring, and close quarter maneuvers.
Lack of money and, relatedly, lack of mechanical prowess kill more cruising dreams than lack of sailing skills. Being able to keep a full-time underway/anchored boat lit with electricity is challenging, especially in low latitudes where refrigeration saps watts at an alarming rate. Everyone starts thinking they'll anchor 99% of the time but there is no way to tell if that's realistic for your style until you do it long-term - anchoring full time for a week long BVI bcharter is idyllic. Reality is transient slips in many places approach $70/night for a 45-foot boat (with overhang plus water snd electricity).
There is a long list of practical prep that folks miss when taking classes or watching YouTubers. A lot of it can't be learned without school of hard knocks experience. In my opinion, the sailing part is over emphasized.
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I got a boat last year with 0 boat knowledge. But a career in radio/sat comms and now an aircraft
mechanic. I can fix basically anything on the boat, or do enough
research to figure it out.
I keep it in a marina during the season so I get to interact with other boaters often. It’s unbelievable how much people will spend on boat
repairs. They’ll go out for a day
cruise and come back with a $500 bill because their
raw water intake clogged and they don’t know what to do.
Those little bills add up quick. I spent the first year focusing hard on just
learning the systems of the boat. Chasing everywire, checking out
plumbing, lifting every floor board. This year will be focused on actual cruising skills. Anchoring,
route planning, etc.
The sailing part is the least of my worries.