I discovered the forum and it has been a God-send of information for a new boat owner...
Some background, I grew up all my life in the midwest with zero sailing exposure other than always having boyhood dreams of adventure on the high seas. Attended law school in Southern California, and lived in Marina del Rey for 5 years, bumming as many outings as I could from the sailboat owners - my apartment was literally right over slips, on Tahiti Way, and I immediately learned to cope and sleep with the sound of clanking halyards against the mast... The next move was to Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME for 5 years, and again, played the role of guest on several sailboats in the area, sailing from Camden, to Falmouth, to Boston (nothing like sailing on 4th of July, watching the USS Constitution come out of bay, and tuning in to the Boston Pops and watching fireworks from Constitution marina)... It was during this tenure I was introduced to, and toured, a little boat maker called Hinckey (wiping drool from keyboard).
I moved back to KC a few years ago due to family biz and found myself travelling like crazy in search of adventure and salt water. I took the 1 week learn to sail course at J World in Annapolis (great kudos to their instructors) so I could finally understand all of the principles behind the actions on the other boats I had been on and have been hooked since.
I recently purchased a Tartan 28, located on Stockton Lake, 2 hours south of Kansas City. It is a jewel of a lake (25,000 acres) with excellent winds and scenery for sailing. In all liklihood I'll be back on the coast in the next couple of years, and the boat will be coming with, hence the reason of going with the Tartan when searching for boats in the area to purchase.
I've recently had the joy of bareboating in the San Juan Islands (Orcas Sailing - Pearson Commander) and have a trip booked for the BVI's on Sunsail's 39i.
One thing that I have quickly learned, and for which this forum is proving to be a great resource, is that learing to sail and learning to own/maintain are two very different subjects! I look forward to continually tapping sailnet as a resource for both and I vow to search past posts before beating a dead horse with a new thread that has been covered. Cheers.
