# Hello New Mid-life moron here!



## SeanL (Mar 29, 2012)

Hello everyone,
Mid-life moron here... nice to meet everyone. O.K. I need help.... mostly for my life choice's, anyway I already know I am an idiot so if your going to reply to this just to chew me up don't bother I don't care. I need everything the only things I have in great abundance is time and effort.
Looking for a free/really cheap live-aboard I know they can be more trouble and expensive than buying. I can fix anything. I live on the Maryland shore on a back bay with land to pull/block/work on any thing less than 6' in draft I know boats and the ocean sailing not so much. But I AM GOING TO LEARN
I know I don't want a wooden hull, I'm just not doing it.

OK what would be the best live-aboard for one man to handle 
ie: Ketch, sloop....what also where can I get the best info on sailing tips tricks...already have everything kindle has to offer.
Also anything you think would be of use to me I'm all ears and thank you.
I just missed out on a beautiful daysailer for free on craigslist.
keeping an eye out will be learning on a 25 footer not hard to find here in good shape but cruiser's are a different story.

I do not know what I am saposed to be doing all I know is I am not doing it.
this is the only thing I've always wanted so im getting started.

help a guy out at least it will be interesting!
thank you for all your help no matter how little


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

Welcome Sean. I can tell that you have been reading the forum. 

You said that you want to get a smaller boat to learn on. I suggest doing that as your first step so that when you find your live aboard boat you'll know how to sail it back to your dock to work on it. 

As for pulling the boat onto your own property from the bay, unless you have your own travel lift, that isn't happening with a large boat. 

I'll leave boat choice to others. Good luck!


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

OK, your post was a little confusing. You say you want a live aboard boat and then you mention missing out on a free day sailer.
Which one do you want? A day sailer or a boat you can live aboard?
As to the type of boat...often boats that make great live aboard boats aren't great sailing boats and often great sailing boats aren't very comfortable to live aboard.
If you do want a live aboard boat, are you talking 24/7, 365 days a year?
If you are looking for a full time live aboard boat, you need to decide what creature comforts are must haves and what would be nice to have but not mandatory.

My first sailboat was a 30' Catalina. it's a very large and comfortable 30 footer, but my boat was pretty bare bones. No shower, no hot water, no refrigerated icebox and only had an alcohol stove that we never used. We did have a hatch style AC unit which was a must for us on hot summer nights.

The Catalina 34 we now have has the creature comforts we want. Hot water, shower, gas stove, refrigerated ice box, microwave and an installed reverse cycle heat/AC unit.

I suggest walking the docks at your local marinas, and going aboard some of their "for sale" boats. Look them over carefully and ask yourself, is this a boat I can comfortably live aboard all 4 seasons a year.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

At least you had a good thread title for the common "dreamer" questions!


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## Lake Superior Sailor (Aug 23, 2011)

Dive on in ! I did. Grab the boat & go on Ebay start buying parts, Just remember it's about sailing not boat repair...Dale


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## Richard61 (Mar 31, 2012)

Don't be so hard on yourself. If you want to talk with anouther midlife moron it would be me. I haven't ben in a sailboat for over 35 years. (and that one was a sailing dingy at a summer camp) So what did this moron do ? went out and bought a 26' Paceship from a charity auction. now that is a big mid-life chalange. All I can say to the people sailing the Green Bay area is please look out because this moron is going sailing. good luck on your search Richard


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## brehm62 (Mar 27, 2011)

Not too far from me a guy on craigslist had a Coronado 27 for $1,200 (which seems like quite a bargain). What price range did you have in mind?


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## rjo55 (Jan 23, 2011)

Hi Sean,

I guess I'm part of the club also. I started taking classes at the Cocounut Grove Sailing Club in Miami, in 2009. I tried renting one of the club boats on weekends and could hardly get one (812 members and only 178 members with boats). So I began looking for something similar to the 23' Ensign that I learned on.

I found a local non-profit organization that received boats as a donation and they would then sell them. I ended up picking up a 1976 23' Carl Alberg Sea Sprite a few months later. She had a 5HP Nissan kicker, a good main & jib, roller furling (cage had to be repaired) and two Lewmar self tailing winches.

I ended up taking her out of the water, scraping barnacles off till my fingers bled, sanding the bottom, fixing a few dings and dent, painting the bottom with anti fouling paint - which I found out has to be done every few years. Spent a lot of time on the electric, getting light inside and outside working. Finally got her in the water after three months of working on her.

I've had her now for almost two years and I'm in the process of moving up in size to a 33' Pearson with a drop keel. Yep, I want to live aboard also. I figure $600 a month for a slip is cheaper than $1800 for a one bedroom apartment in Miami and a lot more fun.

My friends think that I'm crazy, but I ask them if they can take their apartment with them to the Keys.

)

Enjoy your Journey!

Bob


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

it would be nice to hear back from the original poster.


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## Lou452 (Mar 2, 2012)

Welcome! I am also new so we can see what all the old salts have to say. So far they have been kind to me. They can only click a mouse from whatever place they are at so you are safe form the chew crew. I would like to see what other new ones do keep updating with the that mouse GOOD LUCK


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## Kenn43 (Feb 3, 2012)

Good luck. Keep us posted on your progress.


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