Hello,
Last year, after sitting in another traffic jam returning from a weekend camping trip with our family, my wife said "you know, we live on an island, we should get a boat." At first I scoffed at the idea. A power boat didn''t appeal to either of us, but the thought of sail boat was interesting. Years ago (more than I care to admit) in high school, I did some sailing on friend''s parent''s boats, and I had fond memories from it.
Anyway, to shorten this, we ended up buying a 1981 Catalina 22. I read a lot of books, watched a few videos, and took a 1 hour sailing class. Basically, I learned by reading and doing.
Take your time, start sailing in only good conditions (wind in the 5-10 kt range), read lots of books, practice practice practice, ask questions here, and you CAN learn to sail.
This year we sold the C22 (and the motorhome) and bought a Newport 28, and I hope to do some overnight - weekend trips.
In case anyone is interested, I live on Long Island, NY, I am 40 years old, married, and have 3 kids, 3, 6, 10.
Barry