BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

wrote in news:1135357759.496030.174530
@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I live in NYC, and am looking to do some sailing this coming season. I
am looking at two options: a local sailing club, and a company that
leases yachts. I am confused as to how much training is required,
however.

I think you need Option 3, but I know how hard it is for a New Yorker to
think about.....

Option 3 is to head on down to the docks and actually make some friends.
I've only been bitten by a couple of yachtsmen and neither wound was
fatal, obviously. You'll very soon be able to spot the social misfits
and hermits from the nice people who own sailboats. Go find some nice
folks.

What do you "do"? Can you fix mechanical stuff? sand and paint? do
electrical or electronic work? Help fix the damned leaky sink faucet?
Know anything about cabinetry? sew? I'm trying to point out what those
nice people you just met need on their boat you might be able to lend a
hand with, or outright fix for them. You'd be AMAZED how friendly a
yachtsman can be if YOU are the guy who figured out how to stop the head
from leaking or got that electrical outlet in the galley to work, again.

Know anything about diesel engines or transmissions? Battery DC power
systems? Why the fuel guage only works occasionally? How to change the
fuel filter? We're talking BIGTIME "Welcome Aboard", here!

I used to have some small boats. I've had them since I was a little kid.
I can't afford a $200K yacht. So, that's what I did. I was friends with
a guy whos wife I helped get her ham radio license. I helped him on his
electrical problems on his Cal 39' sloop. The guy across his dock was a
liveaboard medical researcher in a Hatteras 56' motor yacht. I got
introduced. The doctor and I are great friends for many years, even
though our worlds are light years apart and he doesn't have the Hat any
more. One yachtsman introduced me to the most fantastic Englishman I
ever met. I sail on his yacht all year. Hell, I brought it back from
Florida when he paid for it. I've completely outfitted it with the
finest electronics. I found its "new-used" Perkins 4-108 on this very
newsgroup in NC. I rebuilt its DC electrical system. Last year, I spent
March in Daytona Beach aboard it while my English friend went back to his
office in Atlanta to work. That vacation cost me a hundred dollars and
was almost 40 days long, including sailing it home in the Gulfstreamer
offshore sailboat race from Ponce Inlet, FL to our home base in
Charleston, SC.

You'll learn more sailing with these experienced yachtsmen, even just
cruising around Long Island Sound having a great time, than that sailing
school will trying to rush you through to maximize profits. All you have
to do is a little manual labor of love and, take it from me, the most
welcome guest coming up the gangway.

Newbie hint - If he invites you sailing, be SURE to hang around after you
get back to the dock and help CLEAN UP THE BOAT! His rich guests never
help clean anything...(c; Point out the wine some broad spilled on the
teak and ask where the cleaning supplies are you can't find. Don't wait
to be asked to help. He won't do that. Just do it... Doing up the
dishes is a SURE sign the WIFE will want you back aboard! You ate her
lunch. It's your duty to clean that galley, even if there are no hints.

One of my yachtie friends took me aboard a Hat 51 yacht-fishing boat,
today. I met the owner who is restoring this nice boat. I'll be working
over the electronics on it by next spring...(c; It's a great project
boat...and, it's fridge is always full of fine beers.