# For the love of water!



## General Tso (Dec 19, 2014)

Hello, I have been reading through this forum for quite sometime now. There is a lot of great info here and I figured I would come aboard.

I'm a youngster on the outside, but inside I'm an old geezer. While everyone else is dreaming of the next party, I'm dreaming of retirement. Well the time has come come to start the planning phase of my (working)retirement.

As a child I developed a love for the water and boats, mainly motorboats, but boats nonetheless. Also I am fascinated by renewable energy and what's more renewable than the wind?(I suppose hydrogen but I'm no scientist)

Add all that together with my beautiful Asian bride, who strangely enough is equally fascinated, and you get a recipe for magic(or disaster) 

My plan is to spend this first 3-5 years learning how to sail and buying a 25' sloop for coastal piddling, for the next 5-10 years after that we will spend time honing our skills and building/refitting a 40-45' Bluewater sloop or ketch into a self sufficient global home to retire in and travel at age 40(or sooner, I learn and work fast)

l have more than a few questions to come, but for now i will continue my reading.


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## gamayun (Aug 20, 2009)

Sounds like a great plan. Welcome!

"Geezer" - riiiiiiight..... We're all geezers then inside and out.


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## DonScribner (Jan 9, 2011)

General,

Good plan. Learn on a small one, big enough for extended excursions but small enough so you can loose a little gelcoat and not worry too much. Then, once the dumb learning mistakes are done with, buy a big girl, wide in the transom, and do some serious sailing. Post and pics is all we ask.


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## General Tso (Dec 19, 2014)

I will be sure to provide pictures as they become available. I am in the process of liquidating my motorcycle collection and moving to Florida to begin the hands on learning.

For now I've opted out of the class method. Everything I've ever learned, I either taught myself or learned from my father. I know construction(by trade), plumbing, fiberglassing, welding, etc... and I've forgotten more than that. Ive been learning electrical work for about a year, so it seems I'm left with the sailing part. 

So I am currently doing book learning, then once I've got the general knowledge jammed into my cranial fortress, it will be on to the "crash course". 

I figure buying a small older boat with a hull that's in good shape, will end up forcing me to use the skills I have and learn the ones I need. Haha

Well anyways. I've got a lead on a good home base on the Gulf Coast for sale but I'll have to buy a slip at the marina. I'm trying to find a small po-dump house with a dock, but that's not so easy once you start talking about larger, deeper boats.

I included a picture of one of my last few bikes, mint condition.


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## bljones (Oct 13, 2008)

Ah, Tso, welcome aboard. You must meet the rest of the chiefs here, General Discussion and General Confusion. Alas, General Chat has left the building. We no longer discuss him.

Love your chicken, btw.


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## General Tso (Dec 19, 2014)

Yep, Americanized Chinese food sure is tasty. I'll be around with questions about boats sooner or later. My wife and I decided to go ahead and move somewhere more conducive to sailing than Arizona.

The only place I remember from Florida is Yankeetown, where there was 23 teeth in the town and they were all green.  I loved it.


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