Newbie to sailing. Need advise on how to start.

Muttsist,

Check my suggestion.
I don't normally suggest a catamaran for a first boat.
You might be ok if you had someone who would spend lots of time teaching you.
Cats don't need to flip every time you go out, that's an exaggeration. But even an experienced sailor can get overwhelmed in heavy wind.

 

$600 for a good complete hobie 16 is a good deal. In addition to the hulls, check the sails, they are expensive even used. The nice thing about hobies is they will sail 4 knots in very little breeze and the sail is reefable so you can sail in very strong wind to. They also have active race fleets. The negatives are that they don't sail to windward well and beginners can have trouble tacking them. Righting one alone may be too difficult for someone light like yourself -invest in a mast float if you get one. I have a hobie 3.5 and it has gotten more use than any of the sailboats in my fleet.

Well it's raining like crazy here in Chi-town. Within the hour my property will be waterfront and the river/forest preserve will be a 20 square mile lake. Yesterday at this time the river was 200 yards away and 3 feet below its banks. I think I'll go for a paddle this afternoon. I'm sick of watching apple stock sink.

 

if your long term plan is to get a deep water cruising sailboat, the hobie may not be as useful as getting a conventional dingy. Hobies are lots of fun, I like them, and they are fairly common so you can find them at good prices. But that is not as useful a first boat if your plan is to move up to an ocean cruiser. I even used to race the 18 with a friend back when I was in collage 30 years ago, but I have not owned any kind of catamaran since.

You do not need to spend a lot of sailing lessons, I can not remember ever taking any lessons. I built boats starting at 12 years old, read a lot of books and spent a lot of time messing around in them. there were many more experienced sailors I would sail with with who also would teach me a lot as I went. Nothing wrong with a basic lesson if you want, but to get started it is not really necessary on small dingy (but expect to get wet!). though to tell the truth, I never remember capsizing any of my dingys, only when over once in the hobie 18 but that was in a race (I was not at the helm). I have capsized some of the kayaks I built, but that comes with paddling around in a narrow boat!

You can buy perfectly seaworthy cruising sailboats for far less than those listed, except to do some repairs and maintenance, but you do not need to spend anywhere near $100k to get a good ocean cruiser. You can often find abandon project boats for next to nothing, I have been offered perfectly good keel boats for free (including a 42 ft seaworthy ketch, the guy was living on it and was tired of the maintenance and hassles of rowing to shore every day to go to work). I turned them all down because I had no where to put them and I could not afford the up keep either. So they are out there, you will find them if you search Craig's list and spend some time in boat yards and marinas.

But that is a ways off, do not get your head all warped around your ultimate boat yet (in fact, I suggest you not even look at them until you are ready for it, lest you fall for a "free" or "good deal" you are not ready for).

 

Well that took about 10 seconds to figure out. You get listings for all boats where they failed to put in the price. No you can't buy Jeanneau 42 for under $1000. Honestly

 

Agree with both points above, though the OP does seem to have an eye for the upmarket end of the spectrum, where 100K plus is routine.

At the cheaper end of the market, experience comes into play in knowing what designs and gear are suitable for the type of sailing conditions to be expected. This leads to the second point you raise (and back to the start of this thread)
He needs to get out on a real yacht and have a go. No amount of disucssion about the best boat for him will be worth 1 hour on board a real sail boat, whatever the size.

Sailing lessons are one avenue and sailing clubs will promote these as the best start in order to raise funds. But there will always be someone who needs a crew member for a day. Talk to someone at your local yacht club and they should be happy to match you up with an owner for a test sail.

They want to promote their sport just as much as you want to try it. Get a contact from their website, but then make a time to go and talk to a real person. When they see how keen you are, I am sure they will find a way to get you on the water.
If you have been accepted for college, you may want to see if they have a sailing program. College racing can be very competitive.

 

My college only does kayaking and canoing when it comes to water. Its mostly recreational. Since its college I'd imagine a few match races between the local schools but nothing grand or even on open water. (Nothing but rivers). And the sailing clubs around me seem to only have crew openings for the big laser type races during racing season. I'm not saying that I don't want to try a laser or any other small boat but like what JRD said. I won't know until I actually sail on the type I want. Which would be a deep sea sailor (hoping). An opportunity like that would be perfect especially for the summer. I would prefer to be on one for a few months anyway. I don't start college till the fall so I have plenty of time to tag along on a small voyage (nothing but part-time jobs right now, I wont miss them). I just have no idea where or how to contact someone for that. I tried looking online myself but all I found were jobs on oil rigs. (Which pay surprisingly well for new guys). My researching skills are regrettably pathetic.

Anyway, like I said before I'm still in the planning phase. I think for now I'll do what I'm best at and read. Do you guys have some suggestions on books or even websites that I should look at? (dont mind paying a little) (although Georgia has a 8% tax on books I take fewer trips to barnes and nobles now). Back to the topic, books that cover everything I need to know about sailing. Blue water/deep sea sailing as a bonus. I can read up a storm if its something I'm interested in. I'm sure I can find a few books myself but knowing which books are pertinent would save me a few cents. Thanks in advance.

 

here is a site with an "on-line" book about deep water sailing, including how he got started.

http://www.atomvoyages.com/

You might find books at the library too. look for books by Lin and Larry Pardee. Also an old classic, Joshua Slocum (from the 1800's but a good read). "Sea Change" by Peter Nicholes is a very well written book about sailing alone.

There are many others but they do not come to mind, perhaps others can suggest a few.

 

sweet thx

 

Went to amazon. I'm buying Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum, A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols, Across Islands and Oceans:A Journey Alone Around the World By Sail and By Foot by James Baldwin, and Sea Change: Alone Across the Atlantic in a Wooden Boat by Peter Nichols.

I know I said I wanted to know of some on line reads but I just cant get around the feel of a real book. I'll still go to the sites but the books come first. Thanks for the reference I hope to learn a lot form these books. Apparently people die in the Madmen book....cant wait. (sick sense of humor I know)

 

I forgot about A Voyage for Madmen. An excellent book, very well written and something that will sober any would-be solo ocean sailor. you I think will like it, and it will help shape your ideas about what it is like being at sea alone.

Another book of a more recent trip by Wendy Hinman "Tightwads on the Loose: A 7-Year Pacific Oddessy" about low budget sailing all over the Pacific, what it takes, and what it was like. Her website and blog is here: http://wendyhinman.com/

 

Great I'll try and order that one too. Speaking of budget sailing Lin and Larry Pardey's official website has videos on that. I have to pay surprisingly. Maybe they need the extra bucks who knows.

 

You may think you want a 40'er, but this is all you really need. 14'er, 16'er.

 

For now yea that would be perfect. I could use that type of boat for coastal cruising but my goal is the big blue. Thanks for the input though.

 

Little steps Grasshopper, little steps. You may find the big blue bigger then you like and that you can cope with. The number of folks that have attempted a solo Atlantic crossing, gotton some part of the way there, than said to themselves "screw this" and turned around, greatly out number those that have completed the passage. Simply put, you don't know what you like or don't - yet. Start by learning to walk, then move to jogging and eventually a full gallop into deep blue stuff.

 

Typical seasonal summer jobs for college students around here are deck hand on a schooner, or dock attendant at marinas.
Being on the water front your chances of going sailing are greater than being land locked in Atlanta. You might want to look at volunteering on a SSV, sailing school vessel, they are not
all as sketchy as the Bounty was. http://www.oceanclassroom.org/
http://www.sea.edu/
Transferring to a college with a sailing team or a college major in the marine or boating industry would also be a step closer
to the ocean. There is interlibrary loan too so you can read all the boating books that catch your eye with out buying them. Hope this helps.