nom=de=plume wrote:
I was thinking about getting something to sail on the small lake near the
property. It would need to be small enough that I deal with, yet big enough
to take two adults or me and two kids... when the Spring comes or we get a
stretch of decent weather...

I saw this ad ... don't know anything about Banshee sailboats, but it seems
pretty simple to operate. Comments/opinions? Is that a decent price?

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/boa/1448183101.html


Don't even think about it unless you and the kids are accomplished
swimmers and you are capable of pulling yourself out of the water onto
a boat. Non swimmers depending on life jackets is an invitation to
tragedy. If you are all good swimmers then read on.

If you don't mind getting wet a few time whenever you go out with the
kids then go for it, by all means. Small sailboats like this are tons
of fun. I emphasize the wet part. Kids like nothing better that
dumping the things. That's the best part of sailing for them.

I took sailing lessons a few years ago at a local club. The club
used Lasers and one larger boat. There were three (mature) adults and
a bunch of kids ranging in ages from 10 to 17 ish in the class. The
other two adults were a married couple that took the larger boat. I
got to sail with the kids, lucky me. "Come on lets dump'er again" !!!!
Splash. It got to the point that I could walk around the hull as the
Laser was turning turtle and right it without getting wet. I'm a good
swimmer and have always loved the water, but by the time the course
was finished I had enough practice dumping sailboats. You may want to
consider something that is self righting, but the chances are you
would be looking at a boat that's a lot heavier than you would want.

Think along the idea of a "Barrel of monkeys". If you like the
thought then get out your checkbook. I live on waterfront property and
own a larger self righting sailboat, I love sailing it. If I had
grandchildren I would rather they sailed on something like the Lasers.
Kids would enjoy them much more than my boat.

LdB