How should we pursue this?

[Hooah]

Hello all
My name is Dan and I am new to this message board. I am also relatively new to sailing. Although it has been many years since I have been on the water.
Let me first tell you a little bit about myself before I get to my questions, please bear with me: I am 34 and am on active duty in the US Army stationed in CO. I love this "job" immensely. My wife,two kids and I love the fact that we can see the world up close and not just on tv. We all love to camp and fish and generally go exploring on a regular basis. For the past 8 yrs or so I have been looking into the whole cruising idea ie: reading everything I can find on the subject and attending boat shows, talking to poeple who have done this and looking into sailing schools.
My question is this; My wife is not sold on the idea of selling off our "stuff"(of which we have very little anyway, due to moving around with the military)and moving aboard a sailboat and leaving all that she knows behind. Since I too have not done this(with a boat anyway) I am not sure I will either, however I want to see if it is for me. I got my wife to agree to take a "vacation" to a sailing course in the Carribean as a small taste of what it is like at sea.
Is this a good first step? We are planning to stay in the military until retirement. If we like the idea of cruising what next steps should we take in accomplishing this? We are completely debt free and have no car payments or credit cards. Also, we are planning on buying a trailerable boat after I return from Iraq next fall. Can anyone give me a good location for sailing in the Colorado Springs area? We just moved here this year.
Thank you for any info and have a great day
My family thanks you

[PaulBl]

Sounds like a great idea to me. You have no idea how terrible it can be on a boat when the people with you hate it and hate you even more for taking them. The captain never sleeps when the Admiral is ticked off.

Best thing I ever did was take a one week sailing class with my wife. She learned a great deal and so did I. Since we both went through it togther and lived aboard the whole time we got a good taste of what it's like.

You can't really sail the boat all by yourself all the time any way and the other person needs to feel like they understand what is happeneing and it just seems like a good idea to have someone that can do it all too.

Some people can't cruise for extended periods of their life. You need to really find out if it is for you. My wife couldn't but we do cruise for several weeks at a time and do a lot of short trips all season. It works well for us both.

[Techman]

Hooah,

Others here can answer your questions better than I but I just wanted to say "Thank You' for your service.

Techman

[Faster]

Taking a course as you suggest is a great way to see if everyone is on the same page as far as getting into sailing goes... little worse than being keen to go out with a partner that is a) uninterested or b) scared to death. Not a recipe for a successful venture.

One comment I would make is that chartering/taking lessons on the Caribbean may not realistically prepare you for the experience of a trailerable boat in less comfortable climates such as you would be likely to experience given your career. Sailing in warm tradewinds is a far cry from a 25 knot squall coming at you on an interior lake or North American coastal area in the early spring or late fall. Grey clouds and seas always seem to make conditions appear more menacing. That said, taking a course is a good investment, avoid the major expenditure until you know its really what you all want.
Alternatively it's never difficult to get free sailing experience, especially at the local club racing level. Many boats have difficulty maintain regular crew and will happily train someone reliable and regular if the experience is not already there.

Good Luck!

[sailandoar]

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[sailingdog]

I would recommend chartering a boat, and seeing if you can put up with the confines and environment of living aboard a boat for a week. If you can charter the same model boat you're interested in buying, that would be an even better test for you and your family.

I would charter on the Chesapeake, rather than the Caribbean, unless you're planning on cruising the Caribbean initially. There are enough changes in having to liveaboard, that being in a foreign country makes the test harder to validate.

If the cruises were also educational, as in sailing school charter trips, it would probably be a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

If you're looking for a fairly good trailerable boat, that can be used for short-term cruising reasonably well, I would look at the Telstar 28 trimaran to start with. It can be seen at www.performancecruising.com.

You also might want to google "telstar 28 sailing" as there have been some good articles on it recently.

[radpin]

My vote would be to move to a port town. It sounds old school, but it's a heck of a lot easier to get familiar with ocean sailing by ... you know... sailing in the ocean. :-)

The way I got my girlfriend into it was by taking her out on my friend's boat, and we just sailed to Catalina and partied for a week and then sailed home. I think men tend to have an overly serious tone about sailing cause we're kind of insecure about our abilities and trying to get a grip, so we tend to want to do difficult stuff everytime we go out.

Make sure she has fun. You've been reading the books, she hasn't. You're seeing all the cool stories, and understand why you're going to shell out the coin and sink a ton of money into a boat. She doesn't know any of the good sides, and will only see you fighting to grasp this expensive beast that seems to offer little in the way of rewards.

[eryka]

Hi Dan, Chartering is a smart idea and I'd go to the prettiest place you can find, not because it'll be representative of where you'll sail, but because you're trying to get yourself & wife hooked <*grin*>. OTOH, if you decide on the Chesapeake let me know offline, there's a Pentagon sailing club and/or Naval academy sailing squadron you may be able to hook up with.

We were in Colorado in 92-98, there was a group that weekended in Lake Granby (think Catalina 24s, etc). Maybe that big reservoir west of Pueblo? John Martin?

[seamountie]

Starting off with a good course is an excellent idea. I would scout around and make sure that your instructor has high ratings from his/her female students. Men and women learn differently, so maybe even spot her to her own beginners course and then do a cruise & learn together.

My wife & I moved aboard full time after I retired from a paramilitary organization (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and she loves it!!! You can point out to her that she doesn't have to leave all her stuff behind, some can and should come on board with her. Also, ask her how long it NOW takes her to "tidy the nest". My Janice does it in 30-40 min. (or maybe you tidy the nest..oooops).

You can also mitigate the "seperation anxiety" by renting a storage locker and putting you most precious, not-boating items, in it. If you take to the lifestyle, I bet inside of two years you will give away/sell the lot. If not, there is the basis to start again on land.

Richard
S/V Gandalf III

[jared]

I'd suggest considering a one-week "Women only" intro sailing course for the wife only. A lot of women say that this works a lot better for them, because it removes the "spouse" friction and any macho issues from the learning, and women learning without men around tend to be less intimidated and more open to the experience, rather than the social complications of "spouse" etc. Seriously. Very seriously.

After that, if she likes the idea of sailing, take a weekend or week charter together. If it still sounds good...then talk about how it will work with the kids, and bring them into it. There's a very real chance that the wife or kids simply will not like it. Read up (on and off the web) about "children afloat" because there are issues you will meet that others have already found good answers to.

Odds of the whole family enjoying a life afloat? Well, slim frankly. But if they do, it can be a damn fine experience for all. Selling everything off? First see if you can all do a 10-day or 2-week charter, and make sure the kids get some sail training (without parents!) first.

Like the Corps, sailing is not for everyone.