New to Sailing, this Site, and Sailboat Ownership

[Il Pescatori]

Ok, so it all started out with wanting to retire early and see the world. Considered finding a nice little 2br/2ba flat somewhere in the Mediterranean... that is until I saw what the cost for a fixer upper with a view of the sea would be....forget early retirement! Back home I was looking at some photos and noticed a beautiful ketch rig yacht sitting in the Harbor of Santa Margherita and thought perhaps a 2br/2ba flat on the water would be a good solution!

Fast forward nearly a year later, some sailing lessons (to see if I even liked sailing), and much time spent looking at different sailboats. Fell in love/lust with Hinckley's H-49 CC ketch... more for it's livability than anything else.

Found a fixer-upper and closing will be in a few weeks. Heading down south to reawaken her after sitting on the hard for sometime. I hope to have most systems up and running within a workaholic week and then sail her up north to her new home. (hired a captain to assist)

I'm looking to meet people here for advice on systems, repairs, best products, etc etc etc.... as I'm sure there are plenty of experts on this site.

[71grampian26]

Hey, I'm in the same boat... Just starting out with a 26 footer, learning to sail and fixing her up along the way. Enjoy the adventure, friend.

Also, I'm from Bethlehem, too -- Liberty High class of 88.

[osirissail]

Basically, if you have specific questions about something on the boat you can post them in the appropriate section of CF and most probably get a variety of opinions on how to deal with the problem.
- - Just remember they are thoughts and opinions and experiences of the people posting them and may or may not be relevant or useful. There is also a lot of humor interjected into most threads so don't get offended.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Welcome aboard and enjoy CF.

Ask away, plenty of members to come up with answers.

[SaucySailoress]

Welcome aboard - that's a pretty cool decision you made there!

[Il Pescatori]

Liberty class of 77.

Can't wait to start making her my own, clean up many years of being mostly forgotten, lots of overdone plumbing... looks like a bowl of spaghetti in the mechanical room. They must have been having a sale on hoses by the yard.

[CFR]

hi from Germany, i bought a similar sized boat 2 years ago to use it in the Med lateron. i am still renovating.... so calculate some months instead of weeks to get her in technical shape, cosmetics can come later. i cleared all the spaghetti in my engine room, i installed 2 nee heads, one black water tank, changed most of the hoses, changed many lines etc etc. next winter i will do painintg etc , but now i enjoy sailing first. work in winter sail in summer....

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Il Pescatori.

[Il Pescatori]

I'm hoping 10 days of 16hrs./day going over systems will have her ready to bring up the coast. That coupled with 40 hrs. of a competent mechanic to assist me in servicing the engine along with other mechanical systems should help speed things along and also help me to become inimitably familiar with most of her systems. Cosmetics will wait until she's up north.
3 years 2 months 20 days until I set sail for the Mediterranean....got to have goals!
Anyone near St. Augustine the end of April is certainly welcome to stop by!

[CFR]

seems to be realistic. my goal is arround the same 3 years and i will head also for the med from the baltic. When renovating pls thionk about keep everything simple... even if it seems unconvenient in the beginning. I have a simple boat and i like it: no pressure water system, no shower inside ( too much humidity) simple but qualioty electronic and very good sails and a heavy duty windlass

[Il Pescatori]

My list started with the way I want to live (2br/2ba flat with all the normal amenities) and had little to do with sailing. I was really happy to find a sailing vessel that meets all the needs but also has to ability to be sustainable. Can't say I'm a purest by any means but I do prefer to sail vs. motorsail if the wind is up. She has a great little aft cockpit that will be perfect for fishing. Anyone here have any experience trolling some lures behind while passage making?

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Il Pescatori

. . . I was really happy to find a sailing vessel that meets all the needs but also has to ability to be sustainable. . . .
She has a great little aft cockpit that will be perfect for fishing. Anyone here have any experience trolling some lures behind while passage making?

Just curious - what do you guys mean by "sustainable?" Virtually nothing to do with boating and cruising is "self-sustainable." If you mean sustainable as in the costs equal your available financial resources, that is something else.
- - .There is a very long thread on CF about "minimalist cruising" called - cruising under $500/mo. It contains a lot of useful information about how to minimize the costs of cruising.
- - As to fishing - I believe there are two kinds of cruisers who fish. Just like folks on land who are said to have "green thumbs" there are cruisers who have "fishy thumbs" and can catch fish most anywhere, anytime. Then there are the rest of us who spend enormous amount of money on fishing gear and end up catching seaweed, old boots, and rubber tires. None of which are very good eating.
- - A lot of our lures and lines end up entangled in reefs and other underwater obstacles to catching dinner. The only reliable way to get some fish for dinner for me was to place a $20 bill on a barb-less hook and cast it into the back of a fishing fleet processing plant. The would remove the $20 and replace it with a package of cleaned, filleted fish which I would then reel in.
- - But seriously, I am told by the "fishy thumbed" folks that dawn and dusk are the best times to try to catch something. Also sailing along the underwater drop-offs or cliffs is where the "big ones" hang out.
- - But as others have posted in several other threads, fishing for your dinner is getting more and more difficult due to overfishing by commercial fleets. When asked in the Caribbean/Bahamas "what happened to all the fish?" The most frequent answer is "They ate them all." Growing populations everywhere have consumed most all the fish in the surrounding waters. I have heard the Med is particularly barren of fish as was predicted and studied by Jacques Cousteau decades ago.

[Bill Burgette]

Welcome aboard the CF Il Pescatori. Based on your name I'd assume that you will have no problem catching fish. Congratulations on the H49. She's a looker and a roomy craft. It sounds like you have the plan that works for you. Fair winds.

[Lancerbye]

Welcome aboard. A lot of people on this site have already done what your planning , so a lot of info available. Good luck and fair winds.

[Il Pescatori]

I tend to be the "fishy thumb" type. I think it all started by playing with worms when I was 4 years old. I just haven't tried it on a sailboat yet. It seems to me that 5 to 9 knots is the perfect speed for trolling so why not drag a Lil' Chubby behind to boat and see if you can't include "Catch of the Day" on the evenings menu? I've read a lot of stories about people eating only out of tin cans on their sailboats which is not necessarily the way I wish to live. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with trolling while fishing. Rigs are already made so I guess I'll find out how well it works in a few weeks. "Fish on! Heave to!"
Although I have a menu already set for the trip home which incidentally does includes "canned" Fancy Baby Whole Clams for the Linguine with White Clam Sauce I also left a few days open for the "Catch of the Day".

BTW to me "sustainable" means " spend the interest not the principal". That can apply to almost anything you do.