brewer12345 said:
Dory, et al.:
How did you get started sailing/cruising? Take some lessons and so day trips at first? Something else?
I have been reading the logs at bumfuzzle.com and I am struck by how little the authors seemed to know about sailing before they set off on a circumnavigation.
Practically speaking, we had no useful knowledge when we started either. I spent perhaps 3-4 hours total with the former owner, 2/3 in learning such things as changing fuel filters and other such stuff, and 1/3 on how to maneuver the beast in tight quarters. We took two trips during vacations. The first was a 3 day cruise south down the Intracoastal Waterway, with stops at docks for each overnight, then a two week stay, then a return trip. The second was a trip up the Chesapeake, then up the Potomac, and a stay in Washington DC for a week, before returning.
Those were all of our exposure before we retired onto the boat. (We were overseas when we bought the boat, so weekends on the boat weren't possible.)
After retiring onto the boat, we took two weekend trips before setting off full time.
The fundamental knowledge needed to do this is not all that great. Learn to read the charts (nautical maps) so you have a reasonable idea of which way to go, and which areas have shallow water to be avoided. Learn how to drop the anchor so it will hold when the current switches with the tide change.
Pretty much all the rest of the knowledge you pick up as you go.
Hopefully, you learn from listening to others to stay in a protected cove until the weather forecast is good for at least 2-3 times as long as it will take you to get to the next protected anchorage. It was rare for us to hear of people having weather related problems who were exercising such prudence. The ones who had problems were the ones on short vacations who had to go-go-go. Only the luckiest of those had fun - most had miserable times and didn't stay with cruising.
(In fact, we heard from a guy who used to deliver yachts for their owners, that bargains were to be had in the Virgin Islands and other such destinations, where new boatowners had taken their boats on a vacation, rushed down there despite unfavorable weather, and having arrived there, disembarked, flew home, and swore off boating altogether. Meanwhile, those willing to wait a week for better weather had calm and wonderful crossings.)
Contrary to the experiences of some others, we found the boat quite comfortable to sleep on, especially when we were at anchor instead of at a dock. The boat will generally point into the wind, and it is easy to have a nice breeze and air circulation through the boat, and whatever motion there is will be much more calm and comfortable. Plus, you get lots of privacy. At a dock, your orientation to the wind is random, and likely you won't get good air plow, and the motion will often be side-to-side (urp!) and uncomfortable.
It
is less spacious than most other forms of living, except perhaps an RV. We had what boat manufacturers call a "Queen Bed" but it exactly fit a fitted double bed sheet. But that was OK for us.
Dory36