Introduction

[bigtexn]

Hey,

I wanted to introduce myself. I am interested in purchasing a sailboat. I have zero experience with them though. I have been on power boats before, but never set foot on sailboat.

I am in the military and about 9 years away from retirement. After talking my plans over with the wife we decided we would buy a boat and spend the next 9 years learning to sail.

We live in southern Georgia and plan to keep the boat somewhere around Jacksonville. I have been reading up on weather the St. Johns river is a good place for someone to learn to sail. Unfortunately, Jacksonville is like a 2 hour drive for us.

I plan to buy a boat around Feb 2012 when I return from a deployment. I figure I should look for about a 35 foot boat. We need room for me, the wife, and 3 kids (10, 8, and 4). Me and the wife also plan on taking the skipper "b" class that is offered by NAS JAX at Mulberry Cove marina.

Our short-term goals are really just to learn to sail while staying on the boat for the weekends and probably some week long trips when the kids are out of school.

I look forward to reading and learning all i can while I am deployed and getting back and putting it all to use!

[WanderingStar]

Thanks for your service. Knowledge of seamanship and boat handling is a good start. I recommend that you try to spend some time on other people's boats to get a good idea of what you would like. When you first sail your own boat, go in light breezes. Have fun!