Hello all, I have been reading the forum for a while now and finally decided sign-up and make a post. I am hoping a few of you more experienced guys can give me a couple pointers in the right direction for my first boat.
I live near Houston, TX and will doing most of my sailing in Galveston Bay or one of the nearby lakes (Conroe or Livingston). My fiancee and I recently took the ASA 101 course and will be looking for a small, cheap boat to purchase to learn and have fun on... but there are so many to choose from I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
Here are some of the guide lines I have come up with so far:
1. daysailer
1. 20' or under
2. easily trailered
3. simple rigging (something with a headsail preferred)
4. fiberglass monohull (not a huge fan of cats)
5. cheap, very cheap -- under $2k (I am perfectly okay with old/used/ugly... as long as it is functional)
In addition to these basic guidelines... I want the wife-to-be to enjoy going out on it... that means: dry (as can be) and stable. In that effort I am willing to sacrifice speed for stability.
I plan to keep this boat for a year or two and then upgrade to a small cruiser once our skills are built up... for that reason I don't really want to put much money into it. I am pretty handy and feel comfortable doing minor repairs but do not have any interest in doing an major work on it.
Having read other posting a lot of people seem to recommend the Oday DaySailers... is this a good start for my specifications? Anything else standout?
I live near Houston, TX and will doing most of my sailing in Galveston Bay or one of the nearby lakes (Conroe or Livingston). My fiancee and I recently took the ASA 101 course and will be looking for a small, cheap boat to purchase to learn and have fun on... but there are so many to choose from I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
Here are some of the guide lines I have come up with so far:
1. daysailer
1. 20' or under
2. easily trailered
3. simple rigging (something with a headsail preferred)
4. fiberglass monohull (not a huge fan of cats)
5. cheap, very cheap -- under $2k (I am perfectly okay with old/used/ugly... as long as it is functional)
In addition to these basic guidelines... I want the wife-to-be to enjoy going out on it... that means: dry (as can be) and stable. In that effort I am willing to sacrifice speed for stability.
I plan to keep this boat for a year or two and then upgrade to a small cruiser once our skills are built up... for that reason I don't really want to put much money into it. I am pretty handy and feel comfortable doing minor repairs but do not have any interest in doing an major work on it.
Having read other posting a lot of people seem to recommend the Oday DaySailers... is this a good start for my specifications? Anything else standout?