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New in Pac NW

975 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  snmhanson 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I am a casual sailor from the Washington/Oregon border. My wife and I started back in 1997 or so taking lessons from an outfit in Portland. We sailed the mighty Columbia for a few years on 22-27 foot boats (had alot of fun on a Zap 26) before moving about an hour away from Portland. We got our ASA bareboat certificate on a sail/learn trip to the BVIs in 2000 (and conceived our first child during that trip as well I might add). Been to the BVIs another four times since then and we are in the procurement stages for a February 2011 trip down there.

Unfortunately, our trips to the BVIs are about the only sailing we do these days since we don't have easy access to a boat. I have been mulling the idea of finding a fun 25 footer for around here. We live in the Columbia Gorge which is very windy with alot of large swells rolling through the river which makes for fun day sailing. We have three kids, the oldest being eight, so a boat is starting to make more sense. Plus, we gotta keep those skills sharpened for our trips to the islands. I aspire to own a cruising boat someday but not sure how feasible that would be unless we moved somewhere with better access to cruising grounds. At the very least I want to spend half a year or so sailing around the entire Caribbean chain.

Not sure how active I'll be here on the forum but I'll poke around, ask a few questions and try to help a few posters out with their questions.

Matt
 
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#2 ·
Welcome!

Have you thought about keeping a boat in southern Puget Sound? It's a bit of a commute but much better cruising grounds, and given enough time access to the Canadian islands and waters too.

In our club we have several members living in the interior and keeping a boat on the coast - so it's do-able.
 
#3 ·
Hi Faster,

I have thought about that idea someday. However, it's a tough decision as it would mean less funds available for chartering in the warmer climates. Plus, whenever I did charter somewhere I would feel guilty since I would own a perfectly good boat. Also, I'm just not sure how often we would get up and use it. I know it's not far but we have three kids and two businesses and don't have a bunch of free time. Finally, I love sailing while my wife only likes it so getting her to go consistently would be a challenge.

On the other hand, the guy I work with actually has a 37' Jeanneua up in Anacortes and he seems to get a fair amount of time on his boat. Who knows, maybe he would want to sell me a share of his boat someday. I would probably be most likely to look at owning a boat up there if I was planning on cruising for a long enough time and over a long enough distance to make it worth owning a boat rather than chartering. Right now though I think I am going to charter wherever I go and look for something smaller for day sailing and the occassional overnight for my local area.

Matt
 
#4 ·
The partnership thing can work very well... but it takes the right people and the right boat for both (all) parties involved. Maybe that will be an option for you.

We have sailed quite a bit in the Caribbean and Mexico some too, and truly appreciate that for what it is, esp during our winter, but it's pretty hard to beat the PNW and BC waters for summertime cruising.
 
#6 ·
Funny .... I used to be a ASA sailing instructor at ISC. I took that Zap 26 down to Astoria one summer to race in six pac with a bunch of ISC people. I spend quite a lot of time down int he gorge also.
 
#7 ·
That's the Zap 26 I was referring to. We took lessons at ISC around 1996 or 1997 during the winter and we were members of the club for a while too. I don't remember our instructors names but I could look them up in our log books. If we bought a boat now we would keep it in Hood River - if we could get a slip.

Matt
 
#8 ·
Welcome Aboard...Sounds like your doing things right and the boat ownwership will come when its right as well...no need to rush it.
 
#10 ·
I took lessons at Island Sailing School. I don't know what made us choose them but it seemed like a pretty solid program at the time. They had a nice fleet of boats and the prices must have been fair considering we were in school at the time. This was over ten years ago so I don't know what may or may not have changed since then.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Matt
 
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