# CapnElan



## CapnElan (Jun 16, 2018)

Hi to all. I am a new sailor. I waited till my 50s to start working on this dream. My starter boat is the Coronado 27 1973. As you can imagine I bought it for peanuts. I put it on the hard and repainted and refitted it. I sailed yet last summer quite a bit. I found it easy to handle a good solid boat. I know it’s not the sailing communities favorite boat but for me it’s a great starter boat. 

My goal is to transition to blue water down the road. I currently have the boat in Carlisle lake Illinois seems to be a great place to learn the basics. Any thoughts and considerations are welcome.

I’m looking forward to becoming an experienced Sailor.


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## CapnElan (Jun 16, 2018)

Here is the boat that I purchased as my starter board. This is after I cleaned it and painted it


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## vpo3 (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks for posting this. Enjoy your new hobby / lifestyle.


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

I think it looks very nice! Great job and enjoy sailing. Unfortunately, you have a bigger boat than mine so I cannot offer any good advice.


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## chicory83 (Dec 21, 2009)

I have never really understood the concept of a starter boat and working your way up through progressively larger boats. Between commissions and taxes etc. It is a slow and pretty pricey process, and they all sail pretty much the same regardless of size. Some of the mechanical systems can be a bit more complex on larger boats, but even that has its limits. Before purchasing my first boat, which was a Bristol 35.5, I read Nigel Calder's book "Boat Owner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" cover to cover a few times. I found a knowledgeable and competent broker when I was ready to buy and took my time learning about the qualities of the boats I was interested in by buying the two volume set of Practical Sailor boat reviews. I also read some of John Vigor and Don Casey's books. I bought the B 35.5 over ten years ago and am still happily sailing her today. 

Of course you can't learn everything you need to know about sailing by reading books, hands on experience is key. While sailing your own boat is very rewarding, you can only learn so much that way. I think it is important to get out and sail with a wide variety of different people and learn as much as you can from them. It is surprisingly easy to find people who are in need of crew with enough sailing experience to make themselves useful. This applies both to cruisers and racers. I still go out sailing on other people's boat's just about every chance I get despite the fact that I have been sailing for the better part of 50 years. I learn something new every time. 

One piece of financial advice about boat buying, is try to find a boat that has been as well outfitted and maintained as you can afford. Buying a cheap boat to fix up is often a penny wise, pound foolish operation. You can easily spend $20k on upgrades that raise the value of your boat by $5k. Let somebody else do that and then buy their boat!


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## acetylcholine99 (Jun 25, 2018)

Welcome on board


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## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

I went through the 2’ itis syndrome. I continue to think it’s the best way to learn. You progress as you gradually add levels of complexity. By doing so aren’t overwhelmed. I’ve been willing to put in elbow grease so haven’t taken much of a financial hit while doing so. As you increase in size so does your horizons and your non boat specific skills(DR, trip planning etc.) does as well.
The current occurrence of a nouveau riche buying a 40-50’er as a first boat is a recipe for disaster regardless of ASA rating.


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## jephotog (Feb 25, 2002)

outbound said:


> The current occurrence of a nouveau riche buying a 40-50'er as a first boat is a recipe for disaster regardless of ASA rating.


Even if they have ASA 104? A person should be totally qualified to sail a 50 foot boat after 12 days of instruction.:wink

I could see the argument for both sides in term of sailboat progression. You know what you want from sailing and you can afford the 30-50 foot boat right off the bat, go for it. If you can afford a 30+ foot starter boat, hopefully you could afford an instructor for your first few months and beer for the live aboard at your marina that knows how to sail and can mentor you for a year.

Not everyone has the firm commitment to a big boat or the money for it. Just as in sailing there is a learning curve to owning a boat. It is a lot cheaper and easier to maintain a 26 foot boat than a 36 footer. It is also a lot easier to sail solo or short handed, so you could likely be mentor free sooner the smaller the boat you own. Even if you loose a couple of thousand dollars on each boat you own and then upgrade over a decade it is still probably cheaper than caring and feeding a 40 footer for that same decade.

Welcome aboard CapnElan. I once looked at a Coronado as my starter boat. It looks like you did a beautiful job of painting her.


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## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

Jep we totally disagree. From experience a 104 grad is nearly completely clueless as to how to run, maintain, plan a 50’ passage making boat. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to help out a fellow cruiser who has followed the course you suggest. Unfortunately nothing teaches like experience and there’s no short cut to gaining it. 
In spite of being a long term sailor it was a significant jump for me to move on to my current boat and after 4 years with her just starting to feel comfortable with the various systems.


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

outbound said:


> Jep we totally disagree. From experience a 104 grad is nearly completely clueless as to how to run, maintain, plan a 50' passage making boat. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to help out a fellow cruiser who has followed the course you suggest. Unfortunately nothing teaches like experience and there's no short cut to gaining it.
> In spite of being a long term sailor it was a significant jump for me to move on to my current boat and after 4 years with her just starting to feel comfortable with the various systems.


I think you missed his emoji.


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## outbound (Dec 3, 2012)

My bad!!! Isn’t the first time.


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