SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

help with lifes dream

16K views 37 replies 17 participants last post by  csaintg 
#1 ·
My husband I and our three kids want to sail from Duncan bc not to far from victora bc. To the Caribbean and were the wind takes us we will be sailing at our own pace. We will be home schooling we are both going to be taking alot of sailing courses my husband knows more about sailing then I do. we will be living on our sail boat. this is not something we are doing right away but we have been doing alot of research. I have found sailnet and it is great. We seem to think we will need a big sail boat. we need help what kinds of boats would you pick there are alot of things we need to do before we do anything will we be able to sail a big sail boat just the two of us our kids will be 14 10 and 9. And if there is anything anyone would like to say to help us with this lifes dream feel free.
 
#27 ·
Wow, Kimby, I think you should pretend you never read that little swipe. I have to say I actually earn my full time living (and a good living I should say) as a writer. But it''s CERTAINLY not reflected in random message board posts as I dash out little bits between real world work. PLEASE. I''d just as soon correct your spelling on a chat board as I would correct your grammar over the VHF radio.

Anyhow, I am only half awake at present, so this won''t go far... but I know that Lloyds of London has a large cash reward out for anyone that can give them a photo of a cruising catamaran flipped over. Nobody has collected on the prize yet. We PERSONALLY know of many cats who have hit underwater objects (reef, rock, something) and punched a hole in their bow or somewhere and were still able to get to port afloat to make the repair because of the watertight bulkheads many cats are built with. Holing a mono would have you on the bottom in about 90 seconds.
True, it''s more sail by numbers than by feel and heel, but you just learn a different set of senses. If you exercise good seasmanship and heed the weather, you will be just as safe in a cat as in any well built off shore vessel. As with all production boats there are bluewater cats and not so bluewater cats, and that''s a whole different discussion. But do your homework as it seems you already are, GET OUT ON SOME CATS, sail them yourself rather than listening to idiots like us, and decide what feels right for you. The important thing is to get out there and cruise and give your children an amazing experience.
We''ll see you out there and speak incorrectly to each other while we sip margaritas at anchor in 3 feet of water ;)
 
#28 ·
Yeah, Even though I prefaced my post with a declaration of my intention, I pretty much knew that it would be ignored and that I''d take fire for asking a question based on a simple observation. I make an occasional error myself, but that was not my point. Have we become that thin-skinned?

Good luck and fair winds to you. I envy you; you will be out there sooner than I.

Jeff C
 
#29 ·
It is not all that hard to find pictures of large cruising cats that have turned over. Heck my Dad has half a dozen of the cruising cat that capsized while at anchor in the Bahamas and whose mast hit my father''s boat. The pictures were used as evidence in the suit to recover for the damage to my father''s boat. Granted a rather large wind came through the anchorage.

Then there were some very dramatic pictures of the 50 footer that capsized off of South Africa that were circulating on the net last year or so. That one actually ended up sinking so you could barely see the leeward hull.

I don''t know where the info comes from but larger cats turtle or break up with fair regularity. There was one off the mouth of Delaware Bay not all that long ago.

Jeff
 
#30 ·
kimby

I think it is wonderful that you and your husband plan/dream of tasking your kids on what will surely be an adventure of a life time. My wife and I cruised fulltime for 12 years and met many "families" doing the same.

I would like to stress several points that will help make your dream/plan a reality.

1- DO NOT take the advise of other dreamers. The reality of spending years cruising is far different from the dream. Listen to those that have been there.

2-The ONLY way to determine what type or size boat YOUR family will need is through experience. You will not get it from a book or from the advise of others. Example: If you have read any of the Sailnet archives, you will see that Jeff H is a wealth of information. He has forgotten more than I will ever know about yacht design and boat systems. BUT, after 12 years of cruising, my opinion of what makes a good cruising sailboat is totally different from Jeff''s. Neither one of us is right, nor are we wrong. EVERYONE uses their boat differently. What works for one family of 5 will not work for another family of 5. This doesn''t mean that you can''t learn from someone who is "living their dream", just keep in mind that it is THEIR dream. You MUST get experience on the water with your family to determine what works for you. After 12 years of cruising my wife and I still can not agree on what make the perfect boat for the 2 of us.

3-Understand that your view of what is best for your family will be constantly changing. The more experience you have, the more your views will evolve.

Good luck with your plans!!! They are possible!!!
 
#31 ·
CORRECTION: Ok, I got it wrong and I need to clarify. The reward was specifically for an overturned PROUT catamaran being offered by Prout (when they were in business). Chalk up the confision to pregnancy brain, sitting on a hot boat haveing false contractions can do that to you.
At any rate, the overall point is, be sure you hear opinions about cats from people who have sailed them at length and be sure to go out there yourself and test the waters and form your own opinion. BUt you knew that!
 
#32 ·
There were a number of good suggestions as to first boats, plus the caveat that if your experience is minimal to get some hands on saiiing classes first. The charter compmanies are going to want to see the basic certifications before you take their boat anyhow. Sailing different types of boats is one of the best educations you can get.

I''d like to add one more suggestion. Go look at every boat you can that comes up for sail in your area. Look at one, buy a Don Casey book "Inspecting the aging sailboat". Then go look at a lot more. Deliberately look at different types to help you understand what you like, and then WHY you like it.

Try and get to the point that you can look over a boat ,and from your notes give a good overview of what you saw for your spouse.

If you really want to be happy for a long time with the first boat you buy, learn the sport to the point that you understand why the galley is almost always on the port side of the cabin.

Plus, shop Yachtworld like it''s a free education (it can be).

Your first post gave the three kids ages as 14 to 9. You should be able to get significant and productive work out of all by that age.

Our boys 15 to 7 are all productive... even # 3 son can do a half hour on the helm. And our 15 year old is awsome on the water. While we have high hopes for our youngest, his four year old judgement + 40 year old "can do" soul is a spooky combination. He has fun, but no driving for a while.

Youth sailing sumer sessions in Sabot dinghys worked wonders (two week sessions start at age 8 out here).
Paul
 
#33 ·
I had a dream!

I had a dream too.Me and my wife Mariola decided last Friday we are going too! You are not going to be alone out there Kimby! We have children too, 10 and 6 year old and kids took sailing lessons last year,and soon after bought in Vancouver a used dinghy, Tasar. Here in Kelowna we joined a sailing club and started to sail. I love it. But last week we said,the hell with it,life is to short and to beautiful .We are very excited about it . That is all what I can talk about these days . The bad side of it is, that we will have to wait at least a year or more by the time we learn sailing,doing maintenance etc . We will take the time and what ever it takes to achieve our goal.
 
#34 ·
kimby said:
My husband I and our three kids want to sail from Duncan bc not to far from victora bc. To the Caribbean and were the wind takes us we will be sailing at our own pace. We will be home schooling we are both going to be taking alot of sailing courses my husband knows more about sailing then I do. we will be living on our sail boat. this is not something we are doing right away but we have been doing alot of research. I have found sailnet and it is great. We seem to think we will need a big sail boat. we need help what kinds of boats would you pick there are alot of things we need to do before we do anything will we be able to sail a big sail boat just the two of us our kids will be 14 10 and 9. And if there is anything anyone would like to say to help us with this lifes dream feel free.
:) Hey, I'm thinking maybe you could start to earn money and get higher-paying jobs only if you can, and start looking in catologues for sailboats, as well as classified ads, have you and your husband look at some, or go out to a boat dock and look to see if there are any for sale, and if you can have the kids agree on one of your selections, that'll be good also, and you'll have something to go by. :)
 
#35 ·
Only you can make it come true.Do a google search,type in northern magic,The steumers,a family with 3 boys,same age as yours,left ottawa 98 went round in 42ft steel ketch. Great website,strongly recomend you buy the book.They had very little exp,but they did thier homework,book will show you what to expect.The most fantastic, and fufilling exp of your life is there waitting,if you want it enough.Recomend steel const for safety reasons offshore.and do the research,preparations that others have recomended.i have a32ft steel sloop that i am refitting now.Hope to see you out there,best of luck..BILL S/V MISTLETOE, PORT HOPE ONT
 
#36 ·
sailing

pick up a 25 ft macgregor with water ballast for $3000 or so.
it has enough room to take the family
and if you run aground just pump the ballast and refloat her.
Also the kids should be learning to sail.
I learned when I was 8, be sure to include them in everything you do as it will be their home too.

Read the books, take the courses but there is no beter way to learn then to actually be on the water.

I recently had a guy on my boat who was book learned. He knew every line ,every term, the right way to leave the dock depending on wind direction.
What everything on the boar was for and how to work it.
We went out, raised the sail and he was lost! Had no idea what to do, what line to use and he immediately turned the greatest color green you have ever seen. He couldn't associate what he was seeing with what he learned in a book.
Moral of the story is GET OUT THERE.
and to learn of the cruising life, pick up latts and atts magazine for info on the cruising life.

Oh one last thing. If your on a 4 year plan and the oldest is 14
HE'S NOT GOING TO WANT TO COME he will be 17 . New girlfriend, wants to graduate with his friends, he thinks its a stupid idea etc. you may want to shorten the plan a bit while he still wants to go.
 
#37 ·
Joe Welcome to sailnet....Ya might want to look at post dates befor posting ...you are responding to a initially 4 year old thread.. ;)
 
#38 ·
So, I would like to know how the dream turned out! What type of boat did you end up with? Are you still a family on the water?

How do you do laundry for a family of five when you are at sea?

What do you do for income? Do you have to be independantly wealthy before you can live this dream?

How do people feel about wooden boats vs fibreglass for ocean voyages?

Chris
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top