Howdy from a newbie.

[largecar]

Just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself. I'm a 57 year old truck driver and a veritable newbie to sailing. I grew up on the Muddy Mississippi with various power boats and haven't been on the water since. I find I really miss it and as I look towards retirement on a very limited budget a sailboat looks like a viable option. I'm currently building a boat from a magazine article of some years back, Petrel. She's 16 foot lod and a fractional sloop. Right now she's just lumber as I start cutting and gluing and screwing it together. Thank God for thickened epoxy!

I've been lurking off and on for a while and have seen some great posts. I hope my experience can come to the help of some, I have been an auto body man and 15 years as an aircraft mechanic.

I do plan to get into a much larger boat for my retirement and look forward to singlehanding it. I'm a truck driver, I've been alone for years!

Look forward to 'meeting' some of you folks.