# Hey guys!



## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

Glad to be on Sailnet.

My name is Jordan and my wife is Randi. I wanted to introduce ourselves a bit.

We used to dream about sailing the world when we retire, but then we thought to ourselves, "what are we waiting for? We can do this now, while we're still young." People don't live forever, and tomorrow is not guaranteed, so we started taking steps towards our dream.

We started sailing about a year ago when we bought an old laser, rigged it up and took it out sailing on lakes and around tarpon springs. We taught ourselves on that boat. Surprisingly, we only capsized once and that was due to high wind and having three people on the boat. It was at this point we listed our house for sale for lots of reasons, but to put it simply we felt we were putting too much money into something that was going to keep us grounded in one place, which was not our goal.

Once our house sold we moved closer to the city of Tampa and bought a condo. The condo is much more affordable than the house, and allows us to rent it out at a profit when we eventually peace out. We used some of the cash from the house sale to buy a bigger boat. We now currently own Somnium, a 1987 O'day 272, and are fixing her up for long distance coastal cruising. Our goal is to be setting off to cruise the world by 2018 on a larger boat, and we're saving every dollar we can to to work towards this goal. We may have to start off with the O'day 272, but eventually we're going to want to cross oceans, and we want a bigger, heavier boat for that.

We plan on releasing weekly videos on our YouTube channel here to document our journey from everyday people to world cruisers, and hopefully inspire and help some others along the way.

Let me know what you all think. We're glad to be a part of this forum and we hope to contribute the best we can!


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## gamayun (Aug 20, 2009)

Welcome Jordan and Randi! Sounds like you're going about it in a very sensible way. Good on ya. 

But I have to challenge you just a bit. If you only dumped the Laser one time, and it took 3 people and a puff of wind to do it, then perhaps you weren't pushing the boat hard enough  Just kidding. Maybe I'm just a bad Laser sailor because I was probably in the water every time I went out, even sliding off the side one time trying to readjust downwind in almost no wind. What fun times on those little boats! 

Anyway, good luck on your cruising plans!!


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Welcome. Through great good fortune, I was able to do my circumnavigation in my 20's and now at 70, I know how much harder it was for the elderly couples making the trip. I believe you have the right idea, and if your luck is as good as mine was, your avocation can become your profession, as mine did, and you'll never have to become a dirt dweller again.


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

gamayun said:


> Welcome Jordan and Randi! Sounds like you're going about it in a very sensible way. Good on ya.
> 
> But I have to challenge you just a bit. If you only dumped the Laser one time, and it took 3 people and a puff of wind to do it, then perhaps you weren't pushing the boat hard enough  Just kidding. Maybe I'm just a bad Laser sailor because I was probably in the water every time I went out, even sliding off the side one time trying to readjust downwind in almost no wind. What fun times on those little boats!
> 
> Anyway, good luck on your cruising plans!!


Thank you! I was a big kiteboarder before I started sailing the laser so I've had some experience with the wind before, but I probably haven't pushed myself enough either! Haha. My wife wanted a bigger boat, and the time came to get the 272 and we love it. Thanks for the support!


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

capta said:


> Welcome. Through great good fortune, I was able to do my circumnavigation in my 20's and now at 70, I know how much harder it was for the elderly couples making the trip. I believe you have the right idea, and if your luck is as good as mine was, your avocation can become your profession, as mine did, and you'll never have to become a dirt dweller again.


Great to hear it worked out for you and I really hope so. I'd love to have a career in the industry! Thanks for the support!


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

gamayun said:


> But I have to challenge you just a bit. If you only dumped the Laser one time, and it took 3 people and a puff of wind to do it, then perhaps you weren't pushing the boat hard enough  Just kidding.


Hah!

I was at a resort a couple summers ago that had a Laser for guests to use. I took it out for an afternoon and when I came back the owner asked me how many times I had dumped it. "Zero," I said. "Then you weren't sailing hard enough!" he replied.


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## chuck5499 (Aug 31, 2003)

I think you might want to take some asa sailing lessons and get the little booklet and stamps in it. Pick up some knowledge and tips and provide more learning but we have run into a few countries now that want to see your captains license. Without it you will not be able to land and just a bit of a guess but I think more countries will be asking for it. 
We use our asa booklet with our pic and stamps and it flys through. 

good luck with your dream


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

chuck5499 said:


> I think you might want to take some asa sailing lessons and get the little booklet and stamps in it. Pick up some knowledge and tips and provide more learning but we have run into a few countries now that want to see your captains license. Without it you will not be able to land and just a bit of a guess but I think more countries will be asking for it.
> We use our asa booklet with our pic and stamps and it flys through.
> 
> good luck with your dream


Good info to think about before we leave the country. Thank you for watching!


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

ASA or US Sailing lessons could be helpful.... I know that Colgate (US Sailing) has a school in St. Pete. ASA has several schools in the St Pete (I would NOT recommend Sailtime Tampa Bay).

I suspect that you may find ASA 101 or US Sailing's Basic Keelboat too basic. They are important, however, as both are foundation courses, and develop the terminology that is used in subsequent courses.

If you don't care about getting a bareboat charter certificate (you own your own boat so why would you?) you might be better served by hiring an instructor on an hourly or daily basis to show you what they know. Once you feel that you have all the terminology and the skills, then you could challenge the ASA or US Sailing course. You can find ASA instructors here: https://asa.com/instructors-seeking-jobs/


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

eherlihy said:


> ASA or US Sailing lessons could be helpful.... I know that Colgate (US Sailing) has a school in St. Pete. ASA has several schools in the St Pete (I would NOT recommend Sailtime Tampa Bay).
> 
> I suspect that you may find ASA 101 or US Sailing's Basic Keelboat too basic. They are important, however, as both are foundation courses, and develop the terminology that is used in subsequent courses.
> 
> If you don't care about getting a bareboat charter certificate (you own your own boat so why would you?) you might be better served by hiring an instructor on an hourly or daily basis to show you what they know. Once you feel that you have all the terminology and the skills, then you could challenge the ASA or US Sailing course. You can find ASA instructors here: https://asa.com/instructors-seeking-jobs/


Thanks for the info. I may challenge the courses one day if I need to.


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## rapdup (Nov 4, 2016)

Welcome Randi and Jordan,

Love to hear stories like this. I look forward to seeing your updates!

Nathan


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

In one of your videos you stated that you did not know where to get fuel for your alcohol stove. The fuel is denatured alcohol, and it is available at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, West Marine, etc. in the paint section.


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

rapdup said:


> Welcome Randi and Jordan,
> 
> Love to hear stories like this. I look forward to seeing your updates!
> 
> Nathan


Thank you for watching and your support!


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## UnnecessaryJibe (Nov 2, 2016)

eherlihy said:


> In one of your videos you stated that you did not know where to get fuel for your alcohol stove. The fuel is denatured alcohol, and it is available at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, West Marine, etc. in the paint section.


Thanks for this. I've received lots of info about the fuel to use through messages and video comments as well. That's why I always ask my viewers now for input now when I don't know something. I really appreciate the feedback, and thanks for watching!


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