"Eddie" wrote in message
...
I got a son-in-law who is a little bit disillusioned. He thinks he
can go out and buy a 40' sailboat and sail it to the big island of
Hawaii. He's never been on a sailboat, much less sailed one.
He's a plumber, makes good money, and plans to spend around $200K for
a yacht to sail there. He's a nut case imho. But was wondering,
assuming he learns to sail, how many crew members does one need to do
this in such a large boat? I know this is a motor group, but I'm sure
someone could help.
In the meantime, I'm trying to talk him out of doing this dumb thing
unless he gets a lot of sailing experience, like starting out with a
16 footer. In any case, he ain't taking my daughter with him until he
proves to me he's an experienced sailor. I figure about 5 or 6 years
of practice. Maybe by then he'll get a little sense in his head and
flys there instead.
Thanks
Eddie

Hmmm.

Did he say how quickly he thought he could sail to Hawaii after buying the
boat? And, has he at least spent any time on other peoples' sailboats? I
suspect that if he takes a year to sail around his home port, he'll run into
at least a few days when conditions make him realize he needs more
preparation. As far as getting started on a smaller boat, I don't like that
idea. Why become proficient with one boat when you intend to use another?

Nature gives parents the exquisite ability to nag someone who may have an
adverse effect on their kids, and it's your responsibility to do so, even if
there's nothing to nag about. Just do it with the right measure of humor. Be
consistent, but not heavy-handed. Find news articles about inexperienced
boaters getting into serious trouble. Take the articles to Staples or
OfficeMax and have them laminated (about $2.00 per sheet). Punch hole in
corner of laminate and wire tie the articles to his windshield wiper in the
middle of the night. That sort of thing. Won't hurt the wipe, but he'll have
to read it while he's trying to finagle the nail clipper or wire cutter to
remove the wire tie.