Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for several
months now.

I couple of thoughts that I would like some general advice on please.


Within five years I would like to say goodbye to the sod forever.
I am now 46 years old. I am a sailor. I have held my MMD for over 22 years
now and I am an extremely proficient navigator with or without electricity.
(Yes, I can swing a sextant.)

However, except for a few short stints running supply boats out of New
Iberia and working on a few tourist boats in Boston and Key West, almost all
of my experience has been aboard ships. Not boats.

I have zero experience with sails. I wish to travel alone. I wish to not be
limited in where and what waters I travel.

Wanting to cruise and live aboard I am aware that a sailboat is far and away
my most self reliant and economical choice. I am looking mostly at
motorsailers when I drool over the "boats for sale".

So, the advice I need?
Size limits? Types of hulls and rigging to be seeking?
Price ranges?

How stupid would I be to consider purchasing a salvage or neglected vessel
and begin a five year rebuild?

Thanks in advance...

Ric Hamel
--
"I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of
themselves by the generation of 1776 to acquire self-government and
happiness to their country is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy
passions of their sons. My only consolation is to be that I will live not to
weep over it."

Thomas Jefferson

On Aug 17, 7:45 pm, "Alaskan420" wrote:
Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for several
months now.

Ric Hamel


Hello Ric:

If this is a real post and not some troll I would be pleased to tell
you what I did and why. But not here. Send me an email if you want.
This neighborhood has really gone down hill recently.

Interestingly, we are at opposite ends of the pipe.
Bob

Yeah, thats the way!
Take any useful information completely out of the group, so the signal to
noise ratio gets even more depressing! We dont want any on topic posts here
thank you very much ;-)

Shaun

"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Aug 17, 7:45 pm, "Alaskan420" wrote:
Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for
several
months now.

Ric Hamel


Hello Ric:

If this is a real post and not some troll I would be pleased to tell
you what I did and why. But not here. Send me an email if you want.
This neighborhood has really gone down hill recently.

Interestingly, we are at opposite ends of the pipe.
Bob

On Aug 17, 9:21 pm, "Shaun Van Poecke"
wrote:

Yeah, thats the way!
Take any useful information completely out of the group, so the signal to
noise ratio gets even more depressing! We dont want any on topic posts here
thank you very much ;-)

Shaun

Well ya cant blame me mate. I was a Norton Interstate rider for over
12 years. Ya know how thoes blokes are
4.10-19 Ahh nuttin like a pair of K81s
Bob

"Alaskan420" wrote in message
news:b3txi.28$wr3.22@trndny04...
Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for
several months now.

I couple of thoughts that I would like some general advice on please.


Within five years I would like to say goodbye to the sod forever.
I am now 46 years old. I am a sailor. I have held my MMD for over 22 years
now and I am an extremely proficient navigator with or without
electricity. (Yes, I can swing a sextant.)

However, except for a few short stints running supply boats out of New
Iberia and working on a few tourist boats in Boston and Key West, almost
all of my experience has been aboard ships. Not boats.

I have zero experience with sails. I wish to travel alone. I wish to not
be limited in where and what waters I travel.

Wanting to cruise and live aboard I am aware that a sailboat is far and
away my most self reliant and economical choice. I am looking mostly at
motorsailers when I drool over the "boats for sale".

So, the advice I need?

Advice #1: Take some sailing lessons at a respectable school. The issue is
not the piece of paper at the end of the class, but the quality of the
instructor and how you relate to the knowledge.

Size limits? Types of hulls and rigging to be seeking?

There are no real size limits, except for cost, but you'll find that most
people keep to under 40 feet for reasons none better than the ability to
handle the rig. Some research is in order to answer the question of hulls
and rigging. Typically, you have some basic choices, e.g., sloop vs. ketch
and mono vs. multi and fiberglass vs. steel vs. aluminum vs. wood.

Advice #2: Sail lots of different boats, new and old, with as many different
configurations as you can. You need hands on, practical experience to figure
out the kind of boat you want, quality vs. comfort (or both at the same
time in some cases).

Advice #3: After a couple of years of sailing, reassess your plans. Are you
still even interested in doing what you said you wanted to do at the onset?

Price ranges?

You can start with the very low end and fix it up, spending $1000s to do it
or you can start at the very top and not spend much to be done, and you can
find something in between (what I did).

How stupid would I be to consider purchasing a salvage or neglected vessel
and begin a five year rebuild?

Way stupid, but it sure is fun and you learn a heck of a lot! There's
nothing quite like making something work that didn't before.

I'm not a huge fan of motorsailers, but they have their place.

Thanks in advance...

Ric Hamel
--

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

I'd love to help, but I don't know where to start. Have you gotten
far enough along the path to know: Where you planning to sail and in
what seasons? How much money are you willing to spend? How rough you
intend to live? I suppose if you want to sail you will be well served
getting some sailing lessons and I'd go the keel boat route if you are
feeling as old as I do these days. However, I would no obsess about
it. Some of the technically best sailors I know are horrible
cruisers. A good attitude and a boat you are confident in can take
you a long way.

-- Tom.

Alaskan420 wrote:

Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for several
months now.

I couple of thoughts that I would like some general advice on please.


Within five years I would like to say goodbye to the sod forever.
I am now 46 years old. I am a sailor. I have held my MMD for over 22 years
now and I am an extremely proficient navigator with or without electricity.
(Yes, I can swing a sextant.)

However, except for a few short stints running supply boats out of New
Iberia and working on a few tourist boats in Boston and Key West, almost all
of my experience has been aboard ships. Not boats.

I have zero experience with sails. I wish to travel alone. I wish to not be
limited in where and what waters I travel.

Wanting to cruise and live aboard I am aware that a sailboat is far and away
my most self reliant and economical choice. I am looking mostly at
motorsailers when I drool over the "boats for sale".

So, the advice I need?
Size limits? Types of hulls and rigging to be seeking?
Price ranges?

How stupid would I be to consider purchasing a salvage or neglected vessel
and begin a five year rebuild?

Thanks in advance...

Ric Hamel

Get a small boat - now. 18 to 22 feet should be fine.
Move in and get as comfortable as you can.
Enjoy sailing life on a small scale.
Learn to use the space you have wisely.
Learn what you absolutely must have and what you can do without.

When you can afford it, get a bigger boat.
It will seem like a mansion!

Why such backwards advice?

Because NO boat is ever big enough.

FWIW

Richard

On Aug 17, 9:45 pm, "Alaskan420" wrote:
Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for several
months now.

I couple of thoughts that I would like some general advice on please.

Within five years I would like to say goodbye to the sod forever.
I am now 46 years old. I am a sailor. I have held my MMD for over 22 years
now and I am an extremely proficient navigator with or without electricity.
(Yes, I can swing a sextant.)

However, except for a few short stints running supply boats out of New
Iberia and working on a few tourist boats in Boston and Key West, almost all
of my experience has been aboard ships. Not boats.

I have zero experience with sails. I wish to travel alone. I wish to not be
limited in where and what waters I travel.

Wanting to cruise and live aboard I am aware that a sailboat is far and away
my most self reliant and economical choice. I am looking mostly at
motorsailers when I drool over the "boats for sale".

So, the advice I need?
Size limits? Types of hulls and rigging to be seeking?
Price ranges?

How stupid would I be to consider purchasing a salvage or neglected vessel
and begin a five year rebuild?

Thanks in advance...

Ric Hamel
--
"I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of
themselves by the generation of 1776 to acquire self-government and
happiness to their country is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy
passions of their sons. My only consolation is to be that I will live not to
weep over it."

Thomas Jefferson

Hello Ric;

Get you a 35-45 fter..that way you have room to live and can still
single hand.
Go with a steel hull, stronger easier to maintain.
Sure.. purchace a fixer upper..a 5 years plan sounds about right, in
that time you will learrn all you need to sail the boat.

Price...that all depends on how good you are at fixing things up, and
how fancy you wan't to go.

Get a full keel with a board that you can raise to get into any
shallow port.

And indeed, a motor sailor is the best of all worlds.

Sounds like you are on the right track

Joe
RedCloud
http://sports.webshots.com/photo/272...63212926LiUcvQ

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Aug 17, 9:45 pm, "Alaskan420" wrote:
Hi all,

My first post to this newsgroup. I have been perusing the posts for
several
months now.

I couple of thoughts that I would like some general advice on please.

Within five years I would like to say goodbye to the sod forever.
I am now 46 years old. I am a sailor. I have held my MMD for over 22
years
now and I am an extremely proficient navigator with or without
electricity.
(Yes, I can swing a sextant.)

However, except for a few short stints running supply boats out of New
Iberia and working on a few tourist boats in Boston and Key West, almost
all
of my experience has been aboard ships. Not boats.

I have zero experience with sails. I wish to travel alone. I wish to not
be
limited in where and what waters I travel.

Wanting to cruise and live aboard I am aware that a sailboat is far and
away
my most self reliant and economical choice. I am looking mostly at
motorsailers when I drool over the "boats for sale".

So, the advice I need?
Size limits? Types of hulls and rigging to be seeking?
Price ranges?

How stupid would I be to consider purchasing a salvage or neglected
vessel
and begin a five year rebuild?

Thanks in advance...

Ric Hamel
--
"I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice
of
themselves by the generation of 1776 to acquire self-government and
happiness to their country is to be thrown away by the unwise and
unworthy
passions of their sons. My only consolation is to be that I will live not
to
weep over it."

Thomas Jefferson

Hello Ric;

Get you a 35-45 fter..that way you have room to live and can still
single hand.
Go with a steel hull, stronger easier to maintain.
Sure.. purchace a fixer upper..a 5 years plan sounds about right, in
that time you will learrn all you need to sail the boat.

Price...that all depends on how good you are at fixing things up, and
how fancy you wan't to go.

Get a full keel with a board that you can raise to get into any
shallow port.

And indeed, a motor sailor is the best of all worlds.

Sounds like you are on the right track

Joe
RedCloud
http://sports.webshots.com/photo/272...63212926LiUcvQ



You forgot to tell him to take a welding course! :-)


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com