First timer, can use some help choosing a boat

[4eyes]

This channel helped me learn the basics: https://www.youtube.com/user/sailaboattv

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Belle25

Upsie! "A week," I meant to say.

God I wish I could sail 4 or 5 times a day. If you can, go for it!

[Belle25]

Originally Posted by Don C L

God I wish I could sail 4 or 5 times a day. If you can, go for it!

[EarlWer]

Originally Posted by Belle25

I'm in the same boat too. I have no sailing experience and want a monohull sailboat. I don't like the sailing dinghy idea at all. I wonder what kind of path I should take to start. Has anyone completely skipped the Lasers / Sunfishes and become a good sailor?

I started with a 17' catamaran that I bought with a friend.
We never took lessons. Just read a lot of books and did a lot of sailing.
We sailed until it snowed and started when the lake was still half covered in ice.

It took a few years before I was confident enough to fly a hull single-handed while on the trapeze...

I think I'm pretty competent at sailing. A small cat will certainly get your reflexes working ;-)

I just bought a monohull for single-handed cruising, so the expectations and skills are somewhat different...

Now there are new things to be learned: Docking, Reefing, Navigating, Maintenance, etc. that were not needed when sailing on inland lakes.

A small dinghy is great to learn sailing and boat handling, but that's only a small part of cruising.

[flightlead404]

Here's the initial checklist I used when eyeballing a boat and putting it on the short list:

Initial Presentation - Dirty or Clean, Rundown or Well Maintained
Hull and Topsides

• Inspec at acute angle look for bumps and flat spots
• Damage to rub strips, toe rail, stem, dock rash ets
• If on hard, keel front edge, bottom, alignment with hull, separation?
• Hull to deck joint separation
• Signs of bliserting of damage/repair
• Tap with screwdriver around suspect areas - sharp or dull sound?

Running Gear

• Rudder - move by hand stop to stop, smooth?
• Check zincs
• Check prop for pinking or other damage
• Check cutlass bearing play

Deck

• Walk deck, listen for any creaking/crackling
• Tap deck around stanchion bases, deck fittings etc
• Check stanchion bases are solid
• Look for telltale caulking around fittings, chain plates, ports and hatches
• Any gelcoat crazing or cracks, damage, possible sites of h2o intrusion
• Check winches rotate smoothly, listen to pawls

Canvass

• Check for stiffness, life left in it
• Look up through canvass, in good condition
• Look for tears etc and check stitching

Sails

• If sails are up, unroll a few feet check for stiffness, stitching, mold, birds, tears etc
• Look at leech, esp around batten pockets
• Check sacrificial cloth, in good shape?
• check furler operates smoothly

Running and Standing Rigging

• Sight up mast, straight, no dings, corrosion etc
• Look up check out spreader tips
• Check base for corrosion, boot condition
• Check stays for swelling, broken wires, odd colors, kinks, bends
• check sweage fittings for cracks, pitting, swelling, bends, corrosion
• check chainplates and deck fittings for cracks, corrision, pitting etc
• Look for bent tangs, elongated clevis pin holes, out of fair leads from stay
• check cotter pins
• check stays not loose
• condition of running rigging, green and nasty or good cond
• sheaves, cheek blocks, rope clutches etc working
• yank on stays, ensure spreaders don't move around

Head and Bilges

• pull up all boards from sole
• check for smell
• check for cleanliness, esp indications of "mud line" or possibly past sinking in slip
• check float switch operates
• examine thruhulls and sea cocks for corrosion
• turn sea cocks, ensure turn smoothly
• check for oil in bilges
• using inspection mirror and flashlight look up inside, look for signs of leaks into bilge or other issues
• condition of keep bolts and backing washers

Salon and staterooms

• Open all storage, lockers, under benches etc look for signs of leaks, mold etc
• ensure all cabin doors open/close and no signs of adjustment, explore if door frame out of true
• check for unexplained moisture
• examine interior chain plates or thru-deck rigging attachments for past leaking
• check below all ports and hatches for signs of water streaking, leaks etc
• check wood trim for h2o damage

Electronics and Electrical[LIST][*]battery size, age, placement, retaining straps, connections etc for cleanliness and up to standards[*]check wiring to ensure boat wiring[*]check visible contacts - no tape or wire nuts etc[*]all visible terminals clean and secure[*]wiring orderly and labeled clearly[*]no unsupported wiring[*]look for chafe, bare wire, broken wire etc[/LIST
Engine

• engine is clean, check for oil leaks, mirror below engine look for leaks
• check around pan and head gasket look for leaks
• check engine to transmission case for leaks
• check belt tension, condition, look for belt dust/misaligned pulleys
• check racor is clean
• check all hoses and lines for age, checking, general condition
• check no oil in coolant overflow
• check no emulsion on oil fillter cap or dipstick
• examine oil on dopstick for level, no burnt smell, color etc
• check no fuel on oil dipstick
• look for dates on filters - serviced recently
• transmission moves in/out of gear smoothly

That s/b thorough enough to determine if its worth short-listing the boat or making an offer. doesn't take the place of a proper survey though.

[sa1l1ng33k]

You certainly have a good budget. If you're looking to cruise, I would get a ketch in the 40-50ft range. Those are the best for blue water with a budget like yours. Don't hold back! Get something a bit bigger for your journey. You won't regret it!