# Combat veteran looking for a change



## William Stanley (Jun 6, 2017)

Hey yall im a 26yr old combat vet and as of the last 4 years I have been struggling to accept life as a normal person. Im going through a divorce and im looking for a life change . I live on Floridas treasure coast and i grew up on the water . Im seriously considering buying a sailboat from a longtime friend (a Island trader 37) to work on for a few years and learn to sail so i may eventually sail the Caribbean any advice , tips or help would be great thanks.


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## Turnin Turtle (Jun 25, 2016)

rent a smaller boat first to get an idea of how to sail and what you might be getting yourself into.
Preferably get lessons. You can get a basic small boat sailing course that just takes an afternoon and gain a lot. More lessons would not be a bad idea, but getting the basics goes a long way.

ALWAYS pay attention to the weather... A stormy sea is not forgiving of errors.


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## William Stanley (Jun 6, 2017)

I have a few buddies to sail in competition that said they would teach me


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

If you're looking for a distraction for right now to take your mind off things, racing and adventure sailing might be good options to consider. 

You can get just as much enjoyment and distraction from present day worries with a racing Dinghy as with a cruising boat for a lot less money and fewer head aches.

If you're looking for a boat to live on, the Island Trader could be a good fit.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Before jumping in on a 37' boat you need to learn if you really will like sailing and living on a boat. It isn't what most in your position dream it is. Go down to the marina on a weekend morning and ask around for someone to take you out. Then find a weekend trip etc and once you are got the feel by all means get a boat.

Or go the way I did, take lessons, join a club and sail on the weekends, then buy a boat (will be the wrong one so plan to replace).

Cruising = living on a small cramped boat and dealing with weather in order to do boat maintenance in excotic places.


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

Don0190 said:


> Cruising = living on a small cramped boat and dealing with weather in order to do boat maintenance in excotic places.


It doesn't have to be that way. You can live in a big spacious modern boat, deal with weather, and drop it off for maintenance and repairs while you fly out for vacation in a different spot.


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## aa3jy (Jul 23, 2006)

William Stanley said:


> Hey yall im a 26yr old combat vet and as of the last 4 years I have been struggling to accept life as a normal person. Im going through a divorce and im looking for a life change . I live on Floridas treasure coast and i grew up on the water . Im seriously considering buying a sailboat from a longtime friend (a Island trader 37) to work on for a few years and learn to sail so i may eventually sail the Caribbean any advice , tips or help would be great thanks.


https://asa.com/schools/florida-keys/veteran-sailing-association/

Home ? Warrior Sailing

http://www.outwardbound.org/course/florida-keys-sailing-for-veterans/427/


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

William Stanley said:


> Hey yall im a 26yr old combat vet and as of the last 4 years I have been struggling to accept life as a normal person. Im going through a divorce and im looking for a life change . I live on Floridas treasure coast and i grew up on the water . Im seriously considering buying a sailboat from a longtime friend (a Island trader 37) to work on for a few years and learn to sail so i may eventually sail the Caribbean any advice , tips or help would be great thanks.


Sailing has helped many a combat veteran. 
Given the conditions that you have probably lived under, I doubt the smaller confines of a sailboat will bother you.

I say go for it, but proceed cautiously. Have your experienced friends hook you up with sailing on some small, fast boats while you're fixing up the IT-37. Learn where to obtain the best weather information and how to properly interpret it. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of your boat.


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## Markwesti (Jan 1, 2013)

I really hope the divorce goes quickly and painlessly so you can get on with things like buying that Island Trader 37 . I wouldn't worry about learning how to sail on a big boat some say they sail easier than a small boat and your friends will be there . I have always liked Angelman boats .
ISLAND TRADER 38 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com


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## Curly Mermaid (Jun 8, 2017)

Hey, William! Check into a local yacht club and find out about their weekly fun races. I currently crew on a 33' Frers. We sail every Wednesday---weather permitting---and regattas also. Skippers are always needing crew members and they love to share the sport. It's great fun and always a learning experience. 

I'm sorry about what's going on in your personal life; but this, too, shall pass. Everyday is an new opportunity to live the life you want! Best of luck to you!????


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

Do you prefer Bill? Or William? Or..?

Sailing can be great. A boat, and the sea, enforce discipline and focus. As in, you put the sunblock down on the seat and have to tack the boat, oops, it is gone. Same thing with a kettle on the boil or a pot of what was excellent clam chowder all over the cockpit sole.(G)

So it focuses you on the here and now and what's to come, like knowing that if you have to ask "Should I reef the sail?" that's too late, you should have been aware of the wind twenty minutes ago. And despite that all, it is all fairly predictable once you get to know it. The ocean can sneak up on the unwary, but it usually lets you know what is going o, you just have to engage in dialog and pay it (and the wind) some attention and respect.

My mother once asked "Aren't you afraid to go to sleep in the middle of the ocean at night in a small boat?" and I said why? Either it is going to be uneventful, or it won't. If we hit something or take in water, life is simple. Either you fix it, or you abandon ship. If you abandon ship, that's simple too. Either you make ti and you call for help, or you don't. Really, everything becomes simple and binary, as opposed to the whele long list of worries ashore. Like, was my car stoeln? Is there alternate side parking? Is some crazy neighbor going to start blasting music at midnight? Were those gunshots in the street? A WHOLE long list, compared to a much horter one in the boat. Sure, there's aways something braking on a boat, but mostly that falls into "damned inconvenience" rather than a crisis. And the crises...those are the binary ones. When the nearest grocery is 200 miles and 36 hours away and you're out of milk, TFB, that's gonna wait. You learen that if you need wind, you're just going to have to be patient and wait for it, whether you pray to Aeolus or not, because the gods don't always answer, much less answer as you expected.(G)
An incredible number of sailors and racers refer to their sailing time as "therapy" and studies have actually shown that a day on the water, with sundogs chasing on the waves, can change blood and brain chemistry the same way that some drugs to.

And having said that, DO please take the basic ASA courses or similar from a good sailing school. They will teach you the "right" and standard ways to do things, and cut weeks or months off the learning curve. After you've got the basics from them, then it is time to reach out to fellow boaters and find out who is doing things differently, and why.

And don't be afraid to look at racing. Racing can be somewhat hyper and a turn-off, or a great way to be hyper. But even if you just want to lay back and cruise, the things you learn in racing, about tweaking extra boat speed and performance, translate into skills a cruiser can make good use of. (And sometimes it is fun just to watch the A-type folks throwing fits on their boats.(G)


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## Ranger-26-Duluth (Sep 20, 2011)

Hi,

Good luck with your new adventures - I am sure you will love it.

I lived aboard for a full year last year and sailed the entire east coast of Florida. Bought the boat in JAX and wound up in Marathon in the Keys (fabulous). Easy to live on her, just at 27 feet long.

I met people all along the coast, including a charted skipper who later on asked me to crew on his 65 footer to the Bahamas. Sailboat sailors are great. Just walk the docks and ask questions - you'll be in conversations for hours and get a lot of good local knowledge and cruising knowledge.

All the advice from others is right on target - lessons, smaller boat at first, weather, etc.

I am betting this life will be a perfect, exciting adventure for you !

Good Luck, Welcome, Enjoy, Fair Winds Always, Gregg


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I cannot add anything to the good advice you have already received from the above posts. It's a fun way to live, at least it was for me, and you will, obviously, get to meet some incredible individuals along the way.

Good luck,

Gary


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

I don't get the 'exciting' thing some above are talking about. If your sailing (not racing) is 'exciting', you are doing something wrong, IMO. It should be laid back relaxing fun, with a bit of hard work, now and then. 
Preparation is the key. Preparation of the boat and her crew.
I've lived aboard my whole adult life and it's been a good life with lots of travel and adventures. To do it economically, you'll need to become a jack-of-all-trades, repairing what you can yourself.
The sailing part is by far the easy part of the lifestyle. After all, it ain't rocket science. Man has been sailing for eons. Since that first guy on a log spread his shirt to catch the wind and save himself from having to paddle.
Good luck and have fun.


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## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

capta said:


> I don't get the 'exciting' thing some above are talking about. If your sailing (not racing) is 'exciting', you are doing something wrong, IMO. It should be laid back relaxing fun, with a bit of hard work, now and then.
> Preparation is the key. Preparation of the boat and her crew.


Capta and I must have very different definitions of the word exciting. Maybe it's because I've spent most of my life as a Midwestern landlubber, but I am excited every minute I am out on the water on a sailboat.

I still find it exciting to hit six knots sailing close to the wind under full sail with the toe rail almost to the water. I find it exciting every time I see a fin of a dolphin or a whale appear above the water in the distance. I still find it exciting when a sea bird flies along, beside my boat for a while just to say hi. I find it exciting to be up in the cockpit with my hot cup of coffee, watching the sunrise, and holding the tiller in my hand anticipating what the day's sailing is going to be like. I still get excited every time I get to say to my first mate, "The wind has come up, let's raise some sails and shut off the engine!"

William, thank you for serving to protect our country for those of us who have never had to serve in that way. I'm glad you came through it safely and are now able to enjoy sailing.

Your time with your sailing/racing friend is going to be exactly the experience you need. Get the ASA books and study them. 
There are also a ton of YouTube videos and Amazon Prime videos that will teach you all of the formal lesson type information you need.

You will get a sense pretty quickly of whether you can stand to spend time in the small confines of a sailboat. I'm an old mountain backpacker and I have spent many hours cramped in a small backpacking tent making tea and meals through a flap in the front of the tent on a little cook stove. I've peed in a bottle before, while kneeling inside the tent so I didn't have to go out in the rain. I've stripped naked to go dig a hole and sit on a lichen covered log to poop in the rain so I didn't get my last shirt and pair of pants wet.

After years of learning to live for days on end in a little space like that, the interior of these floating RVs feel like a small luxury condo to me. Go for it! It is beautiful out there,... and it is exciting.


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## Rhapsody-NS27 (Apr 8, 2012)

I've been there done that... been in combat myself so I know how stressing that can be. Got back from one trip to Afghanistan and took sailing lessons, then started looking for a boat. Did a move from Germany back to the US and bought my boat. Life on the water is certainly better than being deployed. Now, I'm only a short time away from retirement.

Good luck with getting into sailing. Learn the boat, whatever you get and have fun.


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## boatpoker (Jul 21, 2008)

Learning to sail is the easy part ..... anybody can do it. Living on a boat, only you can tell f it's right for you.
Where most people screw up while having a run at "the dream" is a complete underestimation of the complexity of the systems they are getting into and the time/costs of repair. Take a look at Marine Survey 101 and if that doesn't scare you ..... go for it.


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

boatpoker said:


> Learning to sail is the easy part ..... anybody can do it. Living on a boat, only you can tell f it's right for you.
> Where most people screw up while having a run at "the dream" is a complete underestimation of the complexity of the systems they are getting into and the time/costs of repair. Take a look at Marine Survey 101 and if that doesn't scare you ..... go for it.


Good post.
If you aren't the type to be self sufficient, your mind and/or your wallet will be going 12 rounds with Tyson....
capta mentioned preparation. Know what 'could' come at you and reduce exposure thru planning....your boat, her systems and condition...not just weather and sea.
Judgement calls....good and bad, they are yours...


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## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

Amazon Prime has a number of sailing instruction videos included for free with the basic membership.

The Better Sailing Series:
1. Sailing With Confidence
2. Basics of Sailing With Penny Whiting.
3. Sailing in Light Wind
4. Sailing in Heavy Wind

The Smart Boating Series:
Rules of the Road.


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