# HI! Im planning a long sailing! lend advice!



## worldadventure09 (Sep 20, 2008)

Hello, My name is Robert, I am currently a MBA student at radford university and upon graduation I am planning on buying a boat and sailing around the world. I am not planing on rushing to circumnavigate the word. I really want to see the world and experience different cultures. If you think you would be interested in lending a hand and following my planing/ preparing and trip check out my blog WORLD SAILING ADVENTURE and please leave some comments with advice/ suggestions.


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## worldadventure09 (Sep 20, 2008)

havent really gotten any feedback.. advice would be greatly appreciated please leave comments on my site


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## darkseer (Sep 20, 2008)

The question is kind of broad. This kind of journy is a multi year commitment usually. The best advice I can give is choose the proper vessel and find crew that commit the same amount of time. If you are doing blue water yourself make sure the mast is stepped to the keel, you have a sattelite emergency beakon, and register your long legs with the local athorities.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

worldadventure09 said:


> Hello, My name is Robert, I am currently a MBA student at radford university and upon graduation I am planning on buying a boat and sailing around the world. I am not planing on rushing to circumnavigate the word. I really want to see the world and experience different cultures. If you think you would be interested in lending a hand and following my planing/ preparing and trip check out my blog WORLD SAILING ADVENTURE and please leave some comments with advice/ suggestions.


It does not seem from your blog that you have an extensive bluewater experience needed for a trip of such magnitude. Neither do I, btw, but the difference between me and you is that I am not planning on committing suicide just yet...


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## Stillraining (Jan 11, 2008)

09

I am not a nay-sayer just a pragmatic...your time line is whacked...you will more then likely spend 9 months finding just the right boat you want let alone prepping it for your adventure...Give yourself another year to put this thing togather so you and that frisky looking gal of your can learn to sail this said boat on some intensive shorter offshore passages to gain both experiance for yourself and experiance with the boat..

You'll get more interest in helping you out and less bashing for some half cocked idea to go kill yourself like above.

FWIW..We see a lot of this type of exuberance around here..which is good but few if any suceed with the experiance and time line your setting out for.

There is a wealth of knowledge here..If your not getting any then your not asking the right questions...catch my drift?...


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

*Chase your dream, but understand what is involved here...*

Hi Man,

Had a read of your blog and firstly if world cruising is what you guys want to do then do it, there will be and will always be a whole cast of people that will give you reasons not to do it.... because there are and will always be a whole bunch more sensible, more acceptable things to do with your life than circumnavigate the planet at walking pace in a small boat. But that my friend is why they call it an adventure 

Having said that and assuming you and your girlfriend are serious about this and its not just a nice little idea, realise that you need to develop a realistic plan in terms of gaining experience and knowledge, outfitting a suitable vessel, and last and certainly not least paying for the whole affair.....

I had a similar idea to you 6 years ago and im still getting ready, it may take you less time sure, but like anything worth doing realise its going to take a bunch of work and commitment.

For both inspiration and also for his practical advice, I would recommend the books "By way of the Wind' by Jim Moore and also its sequel 'Swan'. It is essentially the story of a guy who knew nothing about sailing coming home from work one day and announcing to his wife that he was going to build a boat and sail them around the world. If Jim had been on Sailnet at that point in time he would of gotten a bigger slamming on here than you!! However an infinitely practical fellow he did indeed build a boat, learn't what needed to be learn't about sailing and embarked on a successful circumnavigation. In turn he became a very experienced sailor, and has alot of good advice in his books for those looking to follow in his footsteps.

There are countless other tales out there that are similar about unlikely characters successfully doing what you want to do....often after being told that they couldn't or shouldn't. Read them all, read everything you can get your hands on, work out what works and what doesn't.

In terms of boats, you mentioned a Beneteau 42 in your blog, I would think long and hard about getting too interested in big pretty Beneteau's for what you want to do....I won't get into it here because there is ample discussion on this forum already, once again read it all and be informed.

Good luck. hope to see you out there one day, If i do the first beer is on me.


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## JohnRPollard (Mar 26, 2007)

Hey Robert and Roxy,

I'm always exited to hear young people dreaming about setting off on sailing adventures. It's a great way to see the world, or even part of it!

I quickly perused your blog -- learned a little bit about your circumstances. Dealing with hefty student loan payments and health issues/insurance, as well as finding adequate funds to purchase a suitable boat and finance a voyage, will be a major challenge. Not unlike the challenges the rest of us face when contemplating such a voyage.

I noticed your blog requests contributions for the voyage -- that may sound like a good scheme at first, but be aware that most of us have seen many such requests over the years with some regularity. You probably won't get too many sailors willing to cough up money to fund your adventure -- but maybe the landlubbers will see a novelty there that we don't.

I'm not by any stretch saying you can't do it, only that perhaps you should focus your boat search on smaller, more affordable designs. We have seen some very young adults succeed at what you plan to do -- but in all cases I can think of, they chose older, smaller designs that were relatively inexpensive but nevertheless solid and seaworthy. There are for instance older, smaller Pacific Seacraft designs that sell in the $15K range, that can take you around the world in safety (albeit more slowly than a 42 foot Beneteau).

Here are just some examples:

PSC 25

Flicka

Another option you might consider could be to "crew" your way around the world. There are many ordinary cruising boats (not yachts) out there that seek to take aboard 1 or 2 crew for the longer passages. I would bet that a young couple with your background would be a desirable fit in the minds of most cruisers. This approach frees up a lot of your capital, since you don't have to fund the vessel. Just a suggestion.

All the best of luck to you both.


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

Not to be negative and my son is in law school and my daughter is a senior at UB Buffalo so i have a good idea about school loans 


You made a choice to go into debt to get and education and need to take care of the bed you have made while you work towards putting together a boat that has a chance of taking you around safely 


My wife and myself worked real hard at paying off her school loans ahead of even a nice place to live 


As far as medical insurance it is a nightmare i was able to get my son on a healthy Ny plan when he aged out of ours BUT it requires that you work to be a menber  and there is a 5000 dollar drug limit BUT that is about as good as it gets in low cost insurance


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I don't even technically own a sailboat or even know how to sail yet, but I agree with many of the replies, that you might have bitten off more than you chew or swallow.....

I'ld say once you've got a boat your comfortable with, try some inter coastal and along either East or West coast for a few weeks or months at a time, just to see it's enjoyable as you think it might be....

Some Island hopping and camping would be a great experience as well. and for those I would recommend the Hennessy Hammock and a Kelly Kettle as part of your gear.... as well as a small pond net for catching bait or lunch

Then maybe to the Bahamas or Hawaii, since sail power is cheap (I hope for my own sake anyway) and boat to sleep on, takes care of room/hotel costs... supplies are you main expense, solar or wind generators to run lights, refrigerator and even small electric trolling motor in emergency will cut fuel costs, fishing and water desalination devises can cut some expenses as well.

My self, i could see living on board a boat for extended times.... but traveling to other countries and continents, not so much... too many possible problems and risks to make it worth any interest to me... but the that's just me and my opinion, take it for what its worth....(not much)


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