New to Sailing -

[fardeenc]

Hi

I live in london..I just got the sailing bug and have booked couple of lessons on southend on sea..my long term aim is to buy a catalina 27 kind of a boat and cruise the uk coast and france, spain...

can some one give me advice on what courses i need to pass and also how is a catalina 27 as a first boat?..

[RainDog]

I think the Catalina 27 is an ideal first boat for several reasons:

- They are cheap, readily available and after a few years you can sell it for what you paid for it
- Parts are readily available, so when you need to replace parts you broke from beginner mistakes, it is easy to do
- It is an easy boat to sail with one or two
- IMHO it is the right size for a beginner cruising boat. Big enough (barely) to weekend on, but small enough to not be intimidating to dock or sail in a blow

After a few yours you will have the skills to move up to a bigger boat if you like and you will have a better idea of what you want in a boat.

[fardeenc]

thanks mate

Originally Posted by RainDog

I think the Catalina 27 is an ideal first boat for several reasons:

- They are cheap, readily available and after a few years you can sell it for what you paid for it
- Parts are readily available, so when you need to replace parts you broke from beginner mistakes, it is easy to do
- It is an easy boat to sail with one or two
- IMHO it is the right size for a beginner cruising boat. Big enough (barely) to weekend on, but small enough to not be intimidating to dock or sail in a blow

After a few yours you will have the skills to move up to a bigger boat if you like and you will have a better idea of what you want in a boat.

[sailtotrail.com]

I'm not sure about official courses or certifications, but the first thing I did after buying my first boat was get in touch with the local yacht club. They offered a free weekly sailing class along with lots of other opportunities to get out on the water.

It didn't hurt that this particular club's clubhouse basically consists of a keg, refrigerator, and shelves stocked with Irish whiskey.