Sleeping at sea

[jephotog]

Before I add my advice I got one multipart question for you. Do you own a 34' motorhome, and a C172 and are now looking at a 40"+ sailboat, if so what do you do for work and are they hiring?

I think you should consider a smaller boat to learn on, for many reasons.

Get a quote for a new mains'l for this boat. If that does not convince you figure out what it would cost to haul and paint it. Not only the cost for working on this type of boat are exponential so are the times involved. I have read plenty of stories of owners bankrupted before their boat splashes or years of waiting before their first sail.

Sailing a boat 30+ feet solo or even 2 crewed is in the realm of experienced sailors. Unless your friend is Dennis Conner, I think you will need 3 if not 4 for a delivery this time of year especially if one of them has no coastal/heavy weather sailing experience. Likewise once you have the boat home you will need an experienced sailor to go out with you at first then once you are comfortable as captain, you will need a number of crew just to leave the dock. This could be a huge block to learning, meaning your boat might become a dock queen. There is an old sailing wives tail "the bigger the boat the less it leaves the slip". It may not apply to members of the board here but there is a kernel of truth in it.

For the cost of a new mainsail for a 40 footer you could buy a 25-30 foot boat and sail for the next year, then sail your 40 footer home yourself a year from now.