Greetings from Wyoming!

[catjlin]

Thrilled to have found this forum - what a wealth of information! Landlocked here in Wyoming currently with long-term plans to return to a saltier environment with family in tow :-)

Just getting started with sailing - pretty much a blank slate at this time with lots and lots (and lots) of learning to do.

Thanks!

[darylat8750]

Welcome aboard.

When not on the boat or playing GrandPa, we are near Laramie.

[Celestialsailor]

Welcome to the forum

[tkeithlu]

I'll add my welcome. What are your plans for getting experience?

[catjlin]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

I'll add my welcome. What are your plans for getting experience?

That's a great question, tkeithlu! We have a few reservoirs and lakes in the area, but no sailing clubs to speak of. I've got feelers out to see if there might be options further afield (within the 3-5 hour range) and also checking locally to see if I can snag private lessons from some willing person (that also happens to have a small boat).

In the meantime, I'm trying to read any and everything (starting with Sailing for Dummies) to get a better grasp of the mechanics, knowing that text doesn't take the place of actual experience. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by catjlin

That's a great question, tkeithlu! We have a few reservoirs and lakes in the area, but no sailing clubs to speak of. I've got feelers out to see if there might be options further afield (within the 3-5 hour range) and also checking locally to see if I can snag private lessons from some willing person (that also happens to have a small boat).

In the meantime, I'm trying to read any and everything (starting with Sailing for Dummies) to get a better grasp of the mechanics, knowing that text doesn't take the place of actual experience. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Depending on where you are there are a few sailors on Alcova. Although it's sometimes survival sailing out there

[Sea Dreaming]

Hi Catjlin, where in Wyoming are you?
There is a sailing club at Carter Lake in Ft Collins Co. Very friendly folk.

Carter Lake Sailing Club - It's All About Sailing & Fun

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, catjlin.

[exMaggieDrum]

Welcome catjlin!! We did the same thing from Colorado in 1999. You can do it too. It certainly will be an adventure.

[tkeithlu]

A personal observation: Sailing, which I started to do in a pram befrore my eighth birthday, and cruising, which I first experienced as a teenager, are really different skill sets. Sure you need to know how to sail in order to cruise, but sailing is figuring out how to use the wind to get where you want to go, usually within sight, while cruising takes that skill and adds everything from Nav, to weather, to engine repair, to anchoring, to provisioning, to electrical systems, and so on. Something I see recommended repeatedly to new members of the forum who want to learn to cruise is that they find the minimum sized boat (about 26 ft, it appears) that requires the same skills as a 40' cruiser, just on a smaller scale. If you stay with day boats, you don't get those skills; if you purchase and practice in a mini-cruiser, you do.

[maxingout]

I was landlocked in the middle of the Arabian Desert before I set sail. So Wyoming is not a bad place to start.

[exMaggieDrum]

Just a random thought: my very first boat to own was a 42' classic plastic boat. It was only the second boat I had ever steered let alone cruised in. And the other was a little rental in the Bay of Biscayne which I promptly grounded on a sandbar across the bay (with my girlfriend) and had to have a tow at sundown from the rental place. I was suitably mortified and convinced I had no understanding let alone skill in sailing any kind of boat.

Fast forward to when I was 50, in Colorado, and I got a bug up my you-know-where to go cruising which required a suitable boat. I researched and researched and researched and decided a 37' boat with a wide following and reputation would be suitable. I then proceeded to buy an off brand 42' Whitby, which turned out to be a very reputable boat but I really didn't know that at the time.

So the Admiral and I were fully petrified the first year of this monster heavy boat. We quivered in fear every time we pushed off from the dock for the first year, wondering how many other boats we would crash in to before we even got out of the marina. And then wondering if we could come back unsunk and untowed. And then dock with knees quivering and words being shouted from the Admiral that I was going too fast and needed to slow down (every single time).

We just took baby steps and ended up selling the boat in New Zealand 8 years later after many wonderous adventures and smiles on our faces. We came back and 10 years later just bought another lesser (almost unknown) known boat that that was once 42' before the PO added a couple more.

More fun to follow. The moral of the story: like the other poster said (or implied), you don't need to start with a small boat. Go with one that will suit you for your cruising dreams and then learn as you go. Do your research, make a decision, and make it work. Just understand how different it will be, and how ridiculously expensive it will be to fix and upgrade any new or used boat you will get. And then be prepared to smile a lot.