# Never been sailing, want to sail the world.



## LiveWild (Jan 23, 2015)

I've searched my whole life, 30 years so far, for new adventures. Ive traveled playing music for 11 years of my life and I am ready to give that a rest. Ive lived in a van for months at a time one the road so tight spaces are nothing new. I know there is more to learn than any question could really ask, but here goes! 

I know its a personal opinion but whats the better of the lengths when it comes to sail boats? Is there a better style of boat? Better material the boat can be made out of? Any websites with good information?

Im looking to take a trip with anyone here in NC as well. Even if its just a day trip as a charter so i can get a feel of what goes on behind the dream.. haha. 

Thanks again! Hope to get some good info back.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Spend a few weeks reading this and other forums.. many of your questions will be the topic of debates and discussions - some of which will be as polarized as a political debate.

But... the simplest answer to ALL your questions is... wait for it.....

"IT DEPENDS"...


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## desert rat (Feb 14, 2013)

How many people, How much money, where will you sail. All sailboats have thousands of years of design improvements incorperated. All sailboats were designed for a purpose with a dash of personal taste and ego. Best is strictly in the eye of the beholder. 
You need to supply more information.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Your question is a bit like asking "how long is a piece of string?" There really isn't one universally correct answer that would be the right answer for everyone. Individual sailors will have very different needs, tastes and preferences. Different sailing venues would suggest different responses. And different budgets would also change the answer as well.

I apologize that this is a little long and was written when someone else asked a similar question, but I think it answers your question as well as providing a foundation upon which to build an answer that hopefully works for you.

The dream of voyaging under sail can be a powerful one. There was a period when several times a month I would receive an email from someone who is considering doing just what you are proposing. I have watched literally dozens of folks go through this. Some are successful in getting 'out there', some discover that they really enjoy sailing and find that they really have no need to 'go out there’; some have discovered that the sailing life is just not for them, and others have not even gotten past the dreaming stage. 

From what I have seen, the most successful have been the ones who have been somewhat systematic about going. There is a lot to learn before one can safely venture offshore. No one would assume that they could buy a jet airliner take a few lessons and be able to fly around the world. I think most rational people would expect to start with a small plane and work their way up. But for some reason people assume that they can just go out and buy a big boat, take a couple lessons, read a few books, and then go safely cruising.

While there are people who literally taken a few lessons, read a few books and went out cruising, those that were successful following that route are far more rare than those who have done some kind of apprenticeship. Learning to sail and learning to cruise involves a lot of knowledge and no matter how much you know, there will always be more to learn, but I suggest that you at least take the time to learn the basics, and that just about can’t happen if you buy ‘a big sailboat’ and try to learn. 

I find myself saying this a lot lately, but here I go again. We all come to sailing with our own specific needs, our own specific goals and our own specific capabilities. The neat thing about sailing is that we all don’t have to agree that there is only one right way to go sailing. There is no more truth in expecting that there is one universally right answer about many aspects of sailing than there is in trying to prove that vanilla ice cream is universally better than strawberry ice cream. One area of sailing for which there is no one universally right answer involves the amount of knowledge one requires to go sailing. The other is what is the right boat to own.

For some, all they need or want to know about sailing is just enough knowledge to safely leave the slip sail where they want and get back safely. There is nothing inherently wrong with that approach. Lack of knowledge will impact the level of risk, cost, comfort, and performance, but if you want to get out there with minimal knowledge it can be done. But for others, like myself, there is much more to sailing than simply developing a rudimentary knowledge of sailing basics. If you fall into that camp, it is next to impossible to learn to sail really well on a boat as large as the one in question. 

While I am in no way suggesting that this makes sense for everyone, for those who really want to learn to sail well, I strongly suggest that they start out owning a used 23 to 27 foot, responsive, light-weight, tiller steered, fin keel/spade rudder (ideally fractionally rigged) production fiberglass sloop (or if they are athletically inclined then a dinghy.) Boats like these provide the kind of feedback that is so necessary to teach a newcomer how to really sail well. Boats like these have small enough loads on lines and the helm that you and your children can all participate and learn together. If there are other people involved, especially if there are children, being able to learn and participate, everyone will be more engaged and less likely to be bored and feel kidnapped. 

By sailing well, I mean understanding the nuances of boat handling and sail trim in a way that is extremely difficult to learn on a larger boat. Used small boats generally hold their values quite well so that after a year or even few years or so of learning, you should be able to get most of your money out of the small boat and move on to a bigger boat actually knowing something about which specific desirable characteristics of a boat appeal to you as an experienced sailor rather than the preferences of some stranger on some Internet discussion group.

From the advice that you may have already received and are likely to receive you can tell that there will not be a consensus of opinion on how to go distance cruising. 

In any event, I would suggest that at the very least you try to get some sailing lessons. If I were in your shoes, I would sit down and put together a list of all of the things that I would want to know before I set off voyaging such as:
• Boat handling
• Sail trim
• Rules of the road
• Weather 
• Routing
• Boat husbandry, repair and maintenance
• Diesel/ gas engine maintenance and repair
• First aid
• Heavy weather tactics
• Legal restrictions on leaving and entering foreign countries
• Navigation, (Piloting, Celestial, dead reckoning and electronic) 
• Provisioning
• Radio operators license exam requirements
• Safe and dangerous fish to eat
• Sail trim
• Survival skills 
• Etc………..

Once I had what I thought was a complete list, I would set up a schedule to try to develop those areas of skill that I was currently lacking. As much as possible I would try to involve all those involved in as many of those aspects as each is capable of understanding. This process could take as little as a year, but more often takes two to three years. The process itself can be very rewarding and can build the kind of bonds that are required to be cast away on that oh so small island that a boat underway represents. 

After sailing for a few years you should be able to further define your goals and develop your own sense of what is the right size and type of boat to do what ever you decide to do. 

Respectfully,
Jeff


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## barefootnavigator (Mar 12, 2012)

Search for the movie Pestilence, its free. This would be the bottom end but even they had quite a bit of money they didn't really disclose. New engine new cushions new mechanical rigging... Whats your budget


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## dhlamar (Jan 22, 2015)

LiveWild said:


> I've searched my whole life, 30 years so far, for new adventures. Ive traveled playing music for 11 years of my life and I am ready to give that a rest. Ive lived in a van for months at a time one the road so tight spaces are nothing new. I know there is more to learn than any question could really ask, but here goes!
> 
> I know its a personal opinion but whats the better of the lengths when it comes to sail boats? Is there a better style of boat? Better material the boat can be made out of? Any websites with good information?
> 
> ...


I'm kinda in the same boat but don't think I could sail the world quite yet, that's a tad bit to adventurous for me.


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## turboduck (Jun 25, 2014)

Ok, but try to be a little more specific. Where do you want to go, how much money do you have, stuff like that. I'll be glad to throw in my 2 cents worth!


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## chuck5499 (Aug 31, 2003)

first stop reading the glossy mags about how great it is sailing the world. 

second it is not free so if you have no income it is highly unlikely that you can earn money while sailing the world as many countries have sever restrictions on working in their country. 

third you may want to take a sailing lesson or just get on a boat and see if you can even handle it. 

we were never on a sailboat until the year 2000 and after a series of lessons and getting a boat and learning to really sail we set off in 2007. we have income, we planned, we worked hard at it. when we were getting the boat ready to go there were 6 other boats getting ready to go. Only one left. yea we got thousands of miles under our keel but it is one heck of a lot more than living in close quarters. 

spend some time on this board reading and learning.


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

hey, the OP hasn't been back since his original post a week ago. Probably, a one hit wonder.


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