Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
Of course I have...I have sailed quite a bit. Don't tell me what you think I know, Sparky, I have been all over the world on the water. Ever sail for three days on a Dhow?
The OP asked a question. Is there a person here that thinks, with the OP's experience and size (a factor) that he should BUY A BOAT now?
Sailing Clubs, rentals, pay for instructions? Yes. Buy?
No. Emphatically no. I am sure T finds this humorous.
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Seahawk and others,
Here's the deal. The lady friend has been my friend for the past 30 years. She and her Dad have a very close relationship and their hobby for the past 40+ years has been sailing. Actually it would be closer to 50 years, but that would be "tellin' on her age". Her Dad was a previous Commodore at the local yacht club back in the 70's. He was a National Champion in the past sailing a Catalina 22. He's actually nearly as tall as I am at 6'4" but considerably leaner. I'm relying on their combined 80-100 years of sailing experience to help me get into this hobby and out of my old one.......you see, I spent 40+ years in a hobby with my Dad and since he passed away last year I've found the hobby just isn't nearly as enjoyable without him. For that matter, I lost 4 of my family members in the last 2 years. Without the lady friend helping me grieve the loss of my family, I'd probably be in a very dark place right now. So far, she and her Dad have steered me away from anything Hunter or Macgregor. I've done a lot of research and just trying to narrow down the field of boats to look at, particularly given:
1) My physical size
2) The size of the local lake (33,000 acres, roughly 16 miles by 7 miles average depth of 11 feet)
3) Typical seasonal wind conditions of the lake----very rarely a LOT of wind
4) Facilities/repair shops on the lake pretty much non existent makes hauling out and launching a boat that can't be done with a trailer would require a contractor with a crane at $1500 out and $1500 back in.....and unless I found such a boat with a trailer or borrowed one to take the boat off site to put on the hard...
5) Prefer a boat with enough cabin that I could at least get in out of the sun, my bowels at the moment are at least controllable with strategic planning, but a place for at least a portable head would be nice (and you know how them lady friends are).
6) 5 above plus maybe spend a night on just to chill out.
I'm not looking for a $10,000 boat, my budget is about half of that. And if it all doesn't work out, no big loss. Not going to pout about it and wonder why the hell I even attempted the hobby. I'm going into this with a very positive attitude. As for the C&C 30 I looked at, it's had a bottom job in the last 2 or 3 years, it's already in the water and at a great location on the lake. Short of the prop falling off, I don't see myself taking it out of the water for another 2 years at least. Short of starting to sink at the slip I'd see no reason to take it out of the water. Now down the road, should I decide to get out of the boat, I would think a prospective buyer would be hesitant to pay for a survey that required at least a $1500 haul out on their dime.
Tomorrow I will travel to a boat yard and look around at the offerings. Meanwhile, I appreciate those that have made suggestions on particular boats.