# New around here



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

Hello all! I am an utter newbie. I have never been on a sailing vessel and can count the number of times that I've been on a boat of any kind on my fingers. I have however had a life-long dream of doing some blue-water sailing to find those interesting secluded spots. Retirement now looms off on the horizon. Not too near mind you but certainly far more near than I'd like (how did I get so old so fast?) So I will have plenty of time to float around full-time then. For now, I need to get ready. I'm at the very beginning of this though so I'm going to need lots of help with getting started. I'm certainly always open for tips and pointers. I've recently moved to the greater Seattle area, so if any of you have any more location based pointers, I'd be very glad to hear them!


----------



## Garbone (Jan 18, 2016)

Heyo,
I am new to this forum also but not sailing.

We took a introductory sailing lesson before buying. I had sailed on a sloop as a child but it had been years so knew I would love it but the wife had never been sailing. Best $20 I ever spent. 

You can always crew but having a boat in a slip can not be beat imo. 
Start smaller. Our first boat was a 27 footer that if we hated cruising we could walk away and not feel horrible. That lasted 2 years until we needed a bigger boat...


----------



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

It's a tad chilly here for sailing lessons yet and frankly I've not had much luck finding any in the area. Hopefully someone nearby can point me in the right direction...


----------



## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

G_Man said:


> It's a tad chilly here for sailing lessons yet and frankly I've not had much luck finding any in the area. Hopefully someone nearby can point me in the right direction...


https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Seattle+Sailing+schools

A start?


----------



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

I can clearly google it... But every class I've seen online is talking about $300+ for a weekend course. How do I know whether I'm getting my money's worth or not? I'd prefer some local references and suggestions... pointers for which providers are good, bad or indifferent. Also, being new to all of this, is it even worth the $300+? Do I need a better more expensive course that covers a more exhaustive set of information? I'm thoroughly new to all of this and venturing into uncharted waters for me. If you know what I mean...


----------



## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

Any US Sailing (USS) or American Sailing Assocition (ASA) accredited 101 course ("Basic keelboat sailing") should give you a running start and should include both classroom instruction as well as time actually sailing their boats. 
I'd venture that these courses cost more like $500; and yes, they are worth it.
Some USS & ASA affiliated schools offer courses in warm places like Florida, the Caribbean or maybe San diego, if you are willing to combine a vacation with sailing classes.

There are probably some yelp reviews of the sailing schools near you in Seattle.


----------



## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Yeah... honestly if you're balking at $300 course costs boat ownership may not be for you. That's money well spent.

You could figure it out yourself eventually, but maybe you can buddy up to a boat owner and get some 'free' lessons that way. Volunteering for local racing fleets as 'railmeat' is another way to get introduced to the right people and also learn by osmosis.. Be reliable and willing to learn and help. If you're enthusiastic and participate you'll probably move up the crew list in responsibility and get some real hand's-on training.

You'll also get exposure to a variety of boats which will give you a better idea of what you're after when you start shopping for yourself, and a better idea of the priorities you want when you start choosing between them.


----------



## MacBlaze (Jan 18, 2016)

You certainly don't have to do any bluewater sailing to find isolated anchorages in the PNW!

What we did: charter a boat for a week (about $3000), find 3 or 4 friends, have the charter company set it up as a cruise and learn which essentially means adding a skipper for $200-300/day. Read the books ahead of time and explore the beautiful cruising grounds while you learn.

You can do this pretty much anywhere from Seattle to Desolation Sound, but I would recommend the Gulf Islands or Desolation Sound...and your US dollars and getting a huge bang for the buck up here.

Bruce


----------



## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

$300 ? I just spent more than that on shackles.


----------



## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

MacBlaze said:


> .... but I would recommend the Gulf Islands or Desolation Sound...and your US dollars and getting a huge bang for the buck up here.
> 
> Bruce


You Canadian, Bruce??? go into you profile and change the country, and get the Maple leaf instead of the S&Bs


----------



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

MacBlaze said:


> You certainly don't have to do any bluewater sailing to find isolated anchorages in the PNW!


Why would I want to only hang out in the PNW when there are so many pretty little exotic green dots way out in the middle of nowhere to explore? :wink



MacBlaze said:


> What we did: charter a boat for a week (about $3000), find 3 or 4 friends, have the charter company set it up as a cruise and learn which essentially means adding a skipper for $200-300/day. Read the books ahead of time and explore the beautiful cruising grounds while you learn.
> 
> You can do this pretty much anywhere from Seattle to Desolation Sound, but I would recommend the Gulf Islands or Desolation Sound...and your US dollars and getting a huge bang for the buck up here.
> 
> Bruce


Thanks for the suggestion. There are a lot of places I want to check out up here for sure though... (San Juans, Inner Passage, etc...) As for friends... Well we need to somehow overcome the "Seattle freeze" first. People here seem rather reticent to the notion of accepting new people into their circle of friends for some odd reason.


----------



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

2Gringos said:


> $300 ? I just spent more than that on shackles.


I don't care if it's a buck! Wasting money severely irritates me. I'm not shy about shelling out a pretty penny as long as I'm getting my money's worth though. Some people might get off on displays of conspicuous consumption more power to them. I grew up on a farm and am unlikely to ever start that habit. If you're one of those people who don't mind tossing money out the window and getting nothing in return, let me know next time you feel so inclined... I'll take all the excess you wish to dispose of. LOL!


----------



## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

You ain't going to make it as a cruiser. Sorry. Mast lights will cost you more than $300. An anchor will cost more than that. If you go into sailing thinking you are going to get your "moneys worth", prepare to be severely pissed off 24 hours a day.


----------



## G_Man (Jan 18, 2016)

2Gringos said:


> You ain't going to make it as a cruiser. Sorry. Mast lights will cost you more than $300. An anchor will cost more than that. If you go into sailing thinking you are going to get your "moneys worth", prepare to be severely pissed off 24 hours a day.


That's the point! I couldn't tell you if a mast light cost a buck or a thousand but I'd certainly hate to spend a thousand if they're going for a buck.


----------



## Effit (Apr 10, 2015)

G_Man said:


> 2Gringos said:
> 
> 
> > $300 ? I just spent more than that on shackles.
> ...


My wife and I got the bug and started just hanging around marinas any chance we got, talked to a bunch of sailors (and people with sail boats ) and loved the community aspect. Most were more than willing to invite us aboard just to check out their boat. We bought our first boat (neither of us having ever sailed before) and it was 34'. Lots of people recommended learning first on dinghy boats and what not but we were interested more in cruising so we took the plunge on the bigger boat. We moved aboard a month later! Life has been fantastic ever since. Do we know how to sail yet? Well, were no pros but we can make the boat move under its own power. Every day we get better at it. We make mistakes and struggle, then we go back and reread the academics and ask experienced sailors lots of questions. We learn one piece at a time and add it to our cumulative knowledge. Our journeys get longer and more brave as we learn how to handle stronger winds, worse weather, longer distances, all on fairly bare bones equipment.

Would I buy such a big boat again as a first timer? Absolutely. In fact I'd go a step further and recommend to anyone to buy a boat that you truly enjoy the feel of. We looked at 25-27' and just weren't feeling "live on me." The 34' spoke to us and I guarantee we wouldn't be where we are now without having bought the bigger boat. We'd be cursing the trailer, the storage, not being able to live on it, etc because that wasn't our vision. We didn't want to go camping for a weekend in a cramped boat. We wanted to cruise, and we are! It. Is. Awesome.

This is a great community. Most are willing to bend over backwards to help if possible. You are only as alone as you want to be.


----------



## Effit (Apr 10, 2015)

2Gringos said:


> You ain't going to make it as a cruiser. Sorry. Mast lights will cost you more than $300. An anchor will cost more than that. If you go into sailing thinking you are going to get your "moneys worth", prepare to be severely pissed off 24 hours a day.


Respectfully disagree. Yes boat stuff CAN be expensive. There are ways to make it very affordable. My advice, don't get a project boat. Make sure everything works to start with, including having an anchor. Every day I am on the water, even the " bad" days where I need to cough up some cash for paint, wire, equipment etc, is still a day that I'm getting my monies worth.

Save the money on lessons, for a case of beer or dinner I guarantee you'll find someone at the marina who's interested to go out for an hour or two!


----------



## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

Anything "marine" rated is expensive. Sails are expensive. Boat yards are expensive. Hardware is expensive. If you stay in fresh water for all of your sailing you can get away with galvanized bits here and there, but if you go in the ocean you need stainless steel shackles. Stainless rigging. You can squeak by daysailing without much in the way of electronics, but if you plan to really go anywhere for an overnight or to see different places, you're going to need some stuff. 

As an example, we bought a 30 year old boat in Florida and brought it to the Turks and Caicos Islands to refit it. On the way down we were hit by lightning. Damage to the boat electrical systems was over $ 30,000. 

This kind of sailing has a high buy-in, and it ain't cheap. And you can't really cut too many corners. If a part that costs a thousand dollars had a viable alternative for one dollar ( as you say) then believe me, the thousand dollar part would be out of business pretty quick. I'm pretty cheap, and I do 100% of my own electrical, mechanical, fiberglass, and other work. And I spend thousands on this old boat, so that I can safely go where I want to go. 

You want to go explore little green dots out in the middle of nowhere? Well, I live on one of those. Fun? yep. Exciting? hell yeah. Cheap and inexpensive? ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaa!

Stop by a West Marine and just shop around for a few hours. Go online and look at Defender.com.


----------



## Garbone (Jan 18, 2016)

Cheap sure does cost you more. Buy a used dink and motor just to have that annoying leak and failed plugs on the outboard 100 miles from no place. 

Did not want to pay $10k to repower with a betts so rebuilt an A4 myself in the garage. Repower cost $2k but for all those man hours I could have been sailing. 

$300 is about one months slip rent for most folks with a 30 or smaller. Best to spend it on getting experience and finding out you hate sailing before jumping in.


----------



## 2Gringos (Jan 4, 2008)

Cheap is expensive.


----------



## LLCoolDave (Sep 20, 2015)

Welcome, one thing I've heard about sailing schools is that it isn't the school but the instructor that makes the difference so it is a bit of a crap shoot. Look for a sailing club to join that focuses on education. It can be a very cost effective way to sail. Many offer an intro class that is included with your dues.


----------



## MacBlaze (Jan 18, 2016)

LLCoolDave said:


> Welcome, one thing I've heard about sailing schools is that it isn't the school but the instructor that makes the difference so it is a bit of a crap shoot. Look for a sailing club to join that focuses on education. It can be a very cost effective way to sail. Many offer an intro class that is included with your dues.


Very true. But if you find someone you like you can ask for them. At least up here in Canada the instructors are mostly independent of the schools and float between them, so aren't even necessarily locked into one school...


----------

