Hi everybody!

[GoodShipLolipop]

Hi there, nice to meet you. I'm getting ready to take the plunge into sailing, and thought it would be a good idea to become part of the online sailing community, so here I am!

I'm a semi-retired software engineer in the Seattle area. I grew up in southern Alabama and northern Florida, so until I started working full time I spent as much time as possible in and on the water. I got all the water related merit badges in the Boy Scouts, did mile swims whenever they came up, went fishing at every opportunity. I don't have any sailing experience, but I've spent countless hours on fishing boats, and my family owned a small speedboat which they sold after nearly taking my foot off with it (driver was drunk, I was very lucky, the prop didn't cut anything vital and glanced off the bone). Also once got stranded for a few hours in the Gulf of Mexico when our engine failed, but we managed to resurrect the engine and get back to shore under our own power.

It frankly feels weird that I've been off the water so long, and that I've only caught half a dozen salmon since moving here ten years ago. So I've decided to rectify that situation. I've threatened my (soon to be ex) wife for years with buying a boat, I'd like to make good on that threat.

My rough plan is as follows.

1. Take sailing courses this summer (I'd do it now, but life is in the way).
2. Get as much experience as possible sailing in the Puget Sound/San Juan Islands and figure out if this is something I really want to do.
3. Next year, buy a boat (probably a trawler) on the east coast, and spend a year doing the Great Loop to make absolutely certain the cruiser life is for me.
4. Sell the boat I used on the Great Loop, buy a cruising sailboat and commit fully to the cruiser lifestyle.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everybody, as well as this hobby/lifestyle. And especially to getting back out on the water after all these years.

[JPA Cate]

Welcome aboard CF, GSL

One comment, GSL, is that while liveaboarding and driving a trawler around in protected waters will teach you about living aboard within the continental US, it will in no way prepare you for sailing on ocean passages. That latter experience comes from longer coastal passages, and finally an offshore passage. And, it can be tested by being crew, to some extent, but there is a huge shift in level of responsibility between crewing and running the whole outfit, and accepting the responsibility for welfare of boat and crew as well as taking care of yourself.

Ann, way long term cruiser

[GoodShipLolipop]

Of course. I have no intention of doing ocean passages any time soon, there's plenty to see close to shore while I learn proper seamanship.


Edit: Forgot to say thanks for the advice!

[desodave]

Welcome aboard GSL. Lots to see in Puget Sound and further north in BC, and that could keep you going for years imo. Not sure why you want to go sail/trawler/sail again, unless you're really undecided about which you prefer. They're coastal cruising options but not really extended cruising across ocean options. I'd plan on spending a bit more time sailing Puget Sound and surrounding waters, develop your skills and determine whether coastal cruising works for you. Find out what you like and don't like in a sailboat.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF Lollipop.

[Shrew]

1) If your SO is actually soon going to be you ex-SO (and that wasn't some weird turn of phrase)... I'd caution spending any money until the legal dust has settled. That will only muddy the waters.....badly.

2) If you're considering a trawler, then also make sure to visit this sites sister forum:

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/

Masts limit sailboats on the great loop. There are those who've done it, but far more on trawlerforum.com if you get into trawler and GL questions.

3) I'm not sure how beneficial it will be to take a bunch of sailing classes, then basically take a year off of sailing on a trawler doing the GL. You might consider doing one, then the other, else risk feeling the need to re-take the sailing classes again.

Best of Luck

[GoodShipLolipop]

Originally Posted by desodave

Welcome aboard GSL. Lots to see in Puget Sound and further north in BC, and that could keep you going for years imo. Not sure why you want to go sail/trawler/sail again, unless you're really undecided about which you prefer. They're coastal cruising options but not really extended cruising across ocean options. I'd plan on spending a bit more time sailing Puget Sound and surrounding waters, develop your skills and determine whether coastal cruising works for you. Find out what you like and don't like in a sailboat.

That's pretty much it exactly. My boating experience has been limited mostly to fishing boats and small recreational boats. I'd like to expand my horizons a bit before I really commit to something.

Also I have friends and family on the east coast, would be nice to work some visits in to the trip. And I would assume electrical power is more readily available on a trawler, so I could continue doing some amount of remote work potentially.

Originally Posted by Shrew

1) If your SO is actually soon going to be you ex-SO (and that wasn't some weird turn of phrase)... I'd caution spending any money until the legal dust has settled. That will only muddy the waters.....badly.

Oh yeah, big time. This is all planned for post-divorce.

To clarify, it's an amicable divorce. We both still love each other, but we want very different things from life. So we've decided to go our separate ways.

2) If you're considering a trawler, then also make sure to visit this sites sister forum:

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/

Masts limit sailboats on the great loop. There are those who've done it, but far more on trawlerforum.com if you get into trawler and GL questions.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out. And yeah, my first impulse was to use a sailboat for the loop but everything I read said this was not a great choice of loop boat. Plus using a trawler gives me a year's experience in a very different sort of boating.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

[gonesail]

move back to north Florida and sail the Gulf year round.

[Adelie]

Welcome