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Getting into sailing

3K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  FirstCandC 
#1 ·
Howdy folks!

I'm looking to venture into the world of sailing! My end goal is to sail around the world, but starting on lakes and rivers seems like the thing to do. I've done a bit of research to familiarize myself with all the terms and basic techniques, but I'm lacking hands on experience.

I've been looking at Glen-L plans online, mainly small dinghies as a trainer to learn the basics of building and sailing. I figured building one of those would be a nice starter project to get some building experience and see how much I enjoy it. Afterwards I imagine I'd look into building a larger craft, with the smallest suitable design being the "James Cook" 27'. I chose this design because it's the smallest craft I could see myself living and traveling on that I can build at home. I should also be able to theoretically sail it from the Kentucky River down to the Caribbean, and from there anywhere.

Of course, if I found that constructing a boat was beyond my abilities or I didn't have enough time to work on it I could always buy a similar boat instead. I've seen decent ones around the same size starting around $5K, so that wouldn't hurt the bank too bad.

If anyone has advice, suggestions or other helpful information I would be more than welcome to hear it! :) Thank you all very much for your time.

(PS, I was going to add links to the Glen-L site but I can't until I've made 10 posts. Oh well, a Google search takes 5 seconds if you want to look it up.)
 
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#6 ·
Well I've been on various boats before, including sailboats. But I was just a passenger, not part of the crew or anything.

My "try real sailing" was going to be building/buying a sailing dinghy. Unless of course by "real sailing" you mean on a sizable boat for several days at a time. If that's the case, I don't really know anyone in Kentucky who sails.. Hahaha but maybe I could look into it and figure something out. Thanks for the reply!
 
#3 ·
Good luck with your dream!

If building a boat means a lot to you then by all means go for it. If the dream is more sailing related I would strongly recommend skipping that step. Small boats are very affordable. I own a 22' swing keel trailer sailor, and I am pretty close to dirt poor. I could not have built half the boat I have for the same money, and that is just counting materials not time. It will also take lots of time to build a proper boat. Either way, have fun pursuing what you want. I've had a blast learning to sail in the last year and a half, amd am enjoying making all sorts of crazy plans for the future.
 
#5 ·
Welcome aboard.

I also offer the suggestion that you get out there and take some sailing lessons to determine your real level of interest.

You've set forth the mother load of ambition by having a circumnavigation on a boat you built as your goal. For almost everyone, that would be unrealistic. Unnecessary even. I've known lifetime sailors, good ones, that have never left the New England coast and they're jonesing to get back out there right now.

Great to have a dream, I'm not talking you out of it. But take it one step at a time and you may find other paths that are as fulfilling along the way. No point becoming disillusioned by not climbing Everest, when you've lived a life atop some of the most beautiful peaks on earth.

For what it's worth, it's very rare to find someone who has a passion for boat building and hard core sailing together. Many that spend years building their vessel, never sail it very far. Some not at all. The dream and buzz of building are not replicated offshore. Vice versa for those with an affinity to sail.

Best of luck.
 
#7 ·
Of course, if I found that constructing a boat was beyond my abilities or I didn't have enough time to work on it I could always buy a similar boat instead. I've seen decent ones around the same size starting around $5K, so that wouldn't hurt the bank too bad.
Yes, there are some decent $5k boats out there that can be had for sailing not too far from shore. But a $5k boat for sailing around the world....hope your life insurance is paid up. When you really start looking into boats, you will find that boats built for blue water (middle of the ocean) sailing, come with a much higher price tag and there are reasons for it.
 
#9 ·
Lessons and licensing would be a very good beginning point, thanks for reminding me about that. :p I've done a tidbit of research into it but not a whole lot. I live in Kentucky so opportunities there are a little lacking, but I'm sure someone around here does it.

I do realize that building a boat is more than quite a bit of work, but I figured if it was done in spare time over a good amount of time (5-10 years at the most, perhaps?) then it wouldn't be too taxing on me, and I could hopefully save up more funds in the meantime for any journeys taken. With that said though, I do think I lean more towards just buying one. It's easier and faster, but like I said before I want to start small and see how difficult it is for me. It would be nice to be able to point at something and say "I built that." It would be even greater to point and say "I built that AND I sailed it around the world"! Haha! :)

I think before I do any crazy circumnavigation though, I'd like to do that "great American loop" around the Eastern US. To clarify! I don't intended on just up and buying a boat after I get all the proper training / qualifications out of the way and sailing some ridiculous distance. I'd practice on some lakes around here. Stay in the boat for a few days, maybe a couple weeks just to see if I'm not biting off more than I can chew.

Thank you all for your responses! They're much appreciated!
 
#18 ·
I think before I do any crazy circumnavigation though, I'd like to do that "great American loop" around the Eastern US.

Thank you all for your responses! They're much appreciated!
I have some friends who have done the loop and enjoyed doing it.
That being said, a sailboat really isn't the best boat for the loop as you will probably be motoring a lot more than sailing. If you do it in a sailboat, I would suggest one with a shallow or swing keel to get you thru a lot of skinny water along the way, and a good, dependable inboard diesel engine for all the motoring you will be doing.
 
#11 ·
Your plan sounds great! Learning on small dinghy's is the best way to learn, as bigger boats are more forgiving (booms above head height and you are unlikely to capsize a larger boat).

If you love building, go for the build. However, most people who build do it because they are very passionate about building boats and never sail that much. If you want to sail, buy something affordable at prepare to put in at least what you paid for the boat in repairs.
 
#12 ·
I have dealt with Glen-L , they are good people and their plans are excellent . Building one of their sailing dingys should be a blast . And like you say get some real building experience. Here is a thought build one of their rowing dingys . Then take it to a marina, row it around and you will see a lot of cruising boats . That will help you decide what boat to get and I'm sure you will see some for sale . And when you get the big boat you will already have your tender.
 
#15 ·
I've got a good buddy who built a couple of Glen L boats back when we were kids in the late 60's. He built a 12' skiff and later, a 15' inboard runabout. They were good, solid boats, but I almost got myself killed in the runabout one day.
I even bought plans back then for a Sunfish style sailboat, but never got around to building it.
 
#16 ·
If you want to build a boat, build a boat.

If you want to sail, buy a boat. Much cheaper than building one.

(Some people do both - my previous boat (my avatar pic) was built from a surplus lifeboat in the 50s. The PO sailed it during the short Ontario summers, then worked on the "big boat" in a shed behind his house in the winters - a 34' steel ketch. Sadly he passed on with the project just needing final fitting out, but he never missed a season on the little boat over half a century!)
 
#17 ·
A note on building;
People build boats allot... doesn't mean they know how to use them. This is very true for those that build kayaks or canoes. building a sailing craft.. not so much.. It's easy to sail.. no mystery or secret. just get out there on a nice day and "have at it"!

Modern boat building in "stitch and glue" plywood" can beget you a vessel in a few weekends. Depending! On what kind/size boat you want to build? It is NOT cheaper to build a boat then buy one.

Pardon me for saying.. but your ideas are all over the place!

learning to sail, landlocked, building, taking lessons, expeditions, survival, international sailing in a cork, with a tin cup, fishing line, roll of duct tape, and wool blanket and a compass... no.. you aren't quite ready. which I say based on many many years of loving such activities myself. You may want, to do some survival type classes while you are at it.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Whatever you do, don't build a boat to take you seriously sailing for the first time. That's nuts.

Find a cheap boat and go sail the hell out of it. Trade up to a bigger better boat and do it again. Then, after you've sailed for a good long time and know much, much more about sailing and sailboats (e.g. - after your circumnavigation) - you'll have a better idea of what kind of boat you'd want to build and the experience to know if it's worth it.

IMUSO - newbs who get suckered into building a boat before they've got much sailing experience rarely end up happy at the end of a seriously long, expensive, and frustrating process.

Just go sail and have fun. It's easy.
 
#21 ·
I wish I had some more sailing experience before rebuilding my current boat. I got it for free and put about $5000 worth of parts and materials along with well over 200 hours of my labor. Took it down to the fiberglass hull and re framed and fitted the interior / exterior. The boat is worth what I put into it but there are many things I would have done differently if I had the experience that I have just 3 short years later. I also had an awesome time doing it but wish I had just spent the cash on something that was ready to sail.
 
#24 · (Edited)
There is a lot of good advice in this discussion, but at the heart of it, I would strongly back the suggestion to buy a small inexpensive boat for your first boat and sail the living daylights out of her. This will be the least expensive and fastest way to learn to sail and decide if the sailing life is for you.

There are a thousand little decisions in building a boat, decisions that you don't always know that you are making. These decisions can be small and insignificant, or they can make a boat a pain in the butt to sail. While an experienced sailor may make some minor mistakes, unless you understand how a boat operates, its easy to make far more serious errors, even building a simple dinghy.

Once you start to learn more about sailing, you can try to crew for folks or do trips to look at and perhaps sail on a range of boats. Once you have spent some time sailing and looking at the range of choices out there, you might still elect to build your own boat, but you would also understand why the James Cook would make a really lousy choice for what you are proposing to do with her.

I apologize that what follows is pretty long, and that I wrote this for another discussion but hopefully it may be helpful to you as you pursue your dreams.....

"The dream of voyaging under sail can be a powerful one. There was a period when several times a month I would receive an email from someone who is considering doing just what you are proposing. I have watched literally dozens of folks go through this. Some are successful in getting 'out there', some discover that they really enjoy sailing and find that they really have no need to 'go out there’; some have discovered that the sailing life is just not for them, and others have not even gotten past the dreaming stage.

From what I have seen, the most successful have been the ones who have been somewhat systematic about going. There is a lot to learn before one can safely venture offshore. No one would assume that they could buy a jet airliner take a few lessons and be able to fly around the world. I think most rational people would expect to start with a small plane and work their way up. But for some reason people assume that they can just go out and buy a big boat, take a couple lessons, read a few books, and then go safely cruising.

While there are people who literally taken a few lessons, read a few books and went out cruising, those that were successful following that route are far more rare than those who have done some kind of apprenticeship. Learning to sail and learning to cruise involves a lot of knowledge and no matter how much you know, there will always be more to learn, but I suggest that you at least take the time to learn the basics, and that just about can’t happen if you buy ‘a big sailboat’ and move your family aboard.

I find myself saying this a lot lately, but here I go again. We all come to sailing with our own specific needs, our own specific goals and our own specific capabilities. The neat thing about sailing is that we all don’t have to agree that there is only one right way to go sailing. There is no more truth in expecting that there is one universally right answer about many aspects of sailing than there is in trying to prove that vanilla ice cream is universally better than strawberry ice cream. One area of sailing for which there is no one universally right answer involves the amount of knowledge one requires to go sailing.

For some, all they need or want to know about sailing is just enough knowledge to safely leave the slip sail where they want and get back safely. There is nothing inherently wrong with that approach. Lack of knowledge will impact the level of risk, cost, comfort, and performance, but if you want to get out there with minimal knowledge it can be done. But for others, like myself, there is much more to sailing than simply developing a rudimentary knowledge of sailing basics. If you fall into that camp, it is next to impossible to learn to sail really well on a boat as large as the one in question.

While I am in no way suggesting that this makes sense for everyone, for those who really want to learn to sail well, I strongly suggest that they start out buying either a dinghy (14-18 feet) if they are athletically inclined, or else buying a used 23 to 27 foot, responsive, light-weight, tiller steered, fin keel/spade rudder (ideally fractionally rigged) sloop. Boats like these provide the kind of feedback that is so necessary to teach a newcomer how to really sail well. Boats like these have small enough loads on lines and the helm that you, your spouse and your children if you have them, can all participate and learn together. Being able to learn and participate, the children will be more engaged and less likely to be bored and feel kidnapped.

By sailing well, I mean understanding the nuances of boat handling and sail trim in a way that cannot be learned on a larger boat. Used small boats generally hold their values quite well so that after a year or even few years or so of learning, you should be able to get most of your money out of the small boat and move on to a bigger boat actually knowing something about which specific desirable characteristics of a boat appeal to you as an experienced sailor rather than the preferences of some stranger on some Internet discussion group.

From the advice that you have already gotten you can tell that there will not be a consensus of opinion on how to go distance cruising.

In any event, if I were in your shoes, I would sit down and put together a list of all of the things that I would want to know before I set off voyaging such as:
• Boat handling
• Sail trim
• Rules of the road
• Weather
• Routing
• Boat husbandry, repair and maintenance
• Diesel/ gas engine maintenance and repair
• First aid
• Heavy weather tactics
• Legal restrictions on leaving and entering foreign countries
• Navigation, (Piloting, Celestial, dead reckoning and electronic)
• Provisioning
• Radio operators license exam requirements
• Safe and dangerous fish to eat
• Survival skills
• Etc………..

Once I had what I thought was a complete list, I would set up a schedule to try to develop those areas of skill that I was currently lacking. As much as possible, if there are others involved, I would try to involve all those involved in as many of those aspects as each is capable of understanding. This process could take as little as a year, but more often takes two to three years. The process itself can be very rewarding and can build the kind of skills and knowledge set that would be required to be cast away on that oh so small island that a boat underway represents. But in the course of learning about sailing and boat types, you may also learn enough about yourself that your goals may change along the way. In the end, it is only you who sets your goals, and its only you that gets to change them. There is no sin in changing what you want to do. The only sin is not dreaming in the first place. "

Respectfully,
Jeff
 
#25 ·
For the money you'll put into building a "small boat" you would of been able to get a 25 to 26 foot Coronado of Columbia keel boat that would be forgiving and yet able to get some serious water under you. Weekending would be more comfortable and because you didn't cross the 27 foot barrier costs would be a little cheaper for just about everything. I am on the west coast (So Cal) and I sailed a dingy once or twice as a child. At the age of 30 I bought a 21' trailer sailer, had it 2 years then to a 25 trailer sailer for 3 years then into a 30 for a few years, sold it in 97' now I am back sailing with a 25 Coronado and I am really liking it, even after having a 30' I don't mind the difference because this 25 is very roomy for its size and I will be sailing to Catalina Island often (25 miles) open ocean and over nighters offshore down to San Diego or up to Santa Barbara. I have no problems with this 45 year old boat going offshore, just no trips to Hawaii as this boat was built for coastal cruising.
 
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