Complete novice and advice sought

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:56 am

You're more bonkers than I thought

Spend nothing extra now. Wait until you've been aboard for a while. Then a little longer. Your priorities will change. Make sure you have a sea trial.

Don't buy new sails, existing ones will be fine.

Don't buy a liferaft immediately, wait for your first big trip. Meantime, tow your tender.

Don't buy an outboard - waste of money, time and effort. Get an Avon Redcrest and a decent set of oars. I sold our outboard 3 years ago and haven't regretted the decision yet (well maybe once, briefly).

There are some muppets out there Terry, but not all newbies will be muppets. Some will have 'own boat tuition' and practice practice practice in benign conditions... and take onboard the fact that they are inexperienced.

Mark. Do a navigation course. Do a practical course. Get some own boat tuition the first time you take you new toy out. And practice, in benign conditions. And stay away from Terry for at least a year

Terry T · Post by **Terry T** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:03 am

Jeff wrote:You're more bonkers than I thought

Spend nothing extra now. Wait until you've been aboard for a while. Then a little longer. Your priorities will change. Make sure you have a sea trial.

Don't buy new sails, existing ones will be fine.

Don't buy a liferaft immediately, wait for your first big trip. Meantime, tow your tender.

Don't buy an outboard - waste of money, time and effort. Get an Avon Redcrest and a decent set of oars. I sold our outboard 3 years ago and haven't regretted the decision yet (well maybe once, briefly).

There are some muppets out there Terry, but not all newbies will be muppets. Some will have 'own boat tuition' and practice practice practice in benign conditions... and take onboard the fact that they are inexperienced.

Mark. Do a navigation course. Do a practical course. Get some own boat tuition the first time you take you new toy out. And practice, in benign conditions. And stay away from Terry for at least a year

don't think I implied all newbies are muppets Jeff . I merely pointed out that dinghy sailing ,which is the experience the OP has, totally different to large keel boat sailing endorsed by my experiences this summer .

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:07 am

Better than nothing though T, like I had. Straight from dry land, zero experience to internet correspondence course to 26 foot boat ownership.... oh I did do Power Boat Level 3, and Competent Crew, and VHF licence courses just prior though.

Almost no collisions to date!

Terry T · Post by **Terry T** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:13 am

Jeff wrote:Better than nothing though T, like I had. Straight from dry land, zero experience to internet correspondence course to 26 foot boat ownership.... oh I did do Power Boat Level 3, and Competent Crew, and VHF licence courses just prior though.

Almost no collisions to date!

.......and if you went straight to Towser instead of the centaur you would have been confident even if you had shore base certs ??

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:16 am

OP
Well my thoughts and logic are:
1 I can't afford to keep changing boats every 3 years,
2 I do not have too or will sail this boat until I have a few months/1000 miles experiance or more
3 All courses that I have looked at do not teach you in a 20 footer
4 The boat is only 38 feet - not buch bigger than a Bavaria 36 but I can stand up in it
5 If I am unfortunate enough to have a collision it will also be my boat that is damaged and I DO NOT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN.
6 I fully intend to take all the required courses and because of the time of year this means Gibralta as all others have more or less stopped because of end of season or fully booked
7 I aim to have my coastal skipper ticked by the early next summer, my day skipper ticket before this years end
8 I do not expect to do much sailing in this country over the next few months
9 When I do venture out I will stay away from the west country so you will be safe.
10 Accidents do happen and 9/10 it is always the other parties fault but I do not treat everybody as a prat - unless I am on a motorbike.
11 What reconised qualifications do most boaters have?

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:20 am

The reason for the Tender and Life Raft is because it is required as standard for a commercial crew to bring the yacht back for me - not that I am gonna jump in the thing and play dogem's in the Solent.

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:36 am

Terry I take your point but I doubt OP's boat weighs as much as Towser. And it doesn't have a long keel so will probably steer astern no problem. With practice and training and caution and patience - and a bit of brain - he'll be OK. Hopefully. I agree it's a big leap mind you.

Mark. Good luck! Your list makes sense. See your point re liferaft and tender. Have you thought of hiring a liferaft?

Terry T · Post by **Terry T** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:33 am

your OP asked for advice . having over 50years of sailing experience I tried to offer some basic advice but it appears that the only advice you want is advice that agrees with your plans .Best of luck with that then

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:49 am

Mark, Terry's right!

(but you only live once! hope it works out!!)

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:20 pm

I am not saying he is not and I respect the time and effort and advice given. Remember that this boat was purchased to initially live aboard and I have no intention of letting myself loose on the sea's with it untill I have enough experiance. That will be gained by schools and sailing as crew etc on smaller yachts. I will also pay if I have too a qualified person to take my boat out and supervise/train me further on the boat. I have been all over yachts in the last month or so and this is not that big. I know that I will have to get used to the limited space and accept that - I could have purchased a 44 but when you compare the running costs and expense the extra space was just not worth it and minimal. The boat as it stands will be just that - a house boat for now and mored in a marina I do not think getting on and off the boat will do much damage or put others at risk. I have just the one chance to get a boat that I can live with and connot upgrade or get a bigger boat later. Just because it is bigger than advised does not mean that the advice was not taken and indeed was/is most valuable. Some 36's, 32 or smaller weigh more than this boat and a more difficult to handle and 2 feet longer than sugested could be taken up by a different sugar scoop stern or a more raked bow rather than actual size.
Now if the train of thought is I should have purchased a boat of 24 foot or so then living on that would be a nightmare and then having to go through the costs of selling and buying a bigger boat later would not be an option.
Yacht charter is very popular and many bare charters are done by someone who has just had 9 days fast track and then let loose with a 44 foot yacht. I do not intend to follow that route and would be quite happy leaving my boat tied up untill I have at least achieved Costal Skipper standard. The cost of the training etc is far cheaper than buying and then selling/buying again and also mile building packages are cheaper this time of year for obvious reasons.
I do not ignore advice and appreciate it - I can also learn skills rather than think I know them before I put my home and others at risk.
Besides I have not had the survey done yet so it could be pointless.

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 3:30 pm

I'm convinced. You'll be fine.

Will I in the winds on the way? Eek!

Please keep us posted on progress! !

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:11 pm

From what I can gather about your boat Jeff is that is does not have lots of lightweight spray hoods and cockpit tents to worry about to get ripped off with the threatened wind Sunday/Monday and being a full keel displacement boat wont get knocked about as much as the light-weight thing I intend to purchase but you still may be in for a rough time. At the moment it is about 50/50 if the hurricane blows south and out in the channel. Still I was working over night in the last great storm trying to control 120 drivers on a radio. Bloody great oak tree came down outside the office and smashed the entire front in and took down the radio mast and 80 slates off the roof. If this storm matures as predicted then land or sea their will be risks. Mind you I would get the toddler somewhere safe if poss.
Trying now to find a Fast Track RYA Day Skipper course. Tempted to do the theory online but the saving is not much. Radio I need to do and also RADAR, first aid etc but have done similar in the past for my ADR cert in all 9 classes on tanks and containers and my CPC in Freight. How the hell I ended up in computers beats me but again £'s spent and 5 years training but at least it keeps me free to what I want to do or turn down.
Hope you have a safe weekend.

Post by **Jeff** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:51 am

We were completely fine. We all stayed aboard. Nothing happened. We've had much stronger winds and not batted an eyelid. I'm a little disappointed. Was ready for an extreme and memorable night battling against horizontal rain in my oilies - tugging on ropes and tying things down.

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:05 pm

Glad to heat that. Just drove back from Lincoln and a visit to my daughters - the roads are a complete mess and most main routes still blocked just hope that the boat is OK in Hamble.

FSDSMAN · Post by **FSDSMAN** » Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:17 pm

Right waiting on the survey on Wednesday. Jesus - anything around the Solent is double the price of anywhere else. £430 for a lift hold and drop for an hour! Could have paid less for 2 diver's to look at it