Introductions / How did you find sailFar.net?

[gulfsailor]

I did a search for sailing websites.

I'm cruising the Bahamas in a 30' Seidelmann 299.  So far I'm 'hanging around' the Abacos and enjoying it.  I find crew on findacrew.net and amongst my friends.  I'll do this on and off for the year and then think about moving the boat south or selling it and buying something to take to Mexico (oops) Belize and Guatamala.  I consider myself a semi-newbie to cruising and I'm learning a lot from the experienced crew who come cruising with me.  I'm 62 and expect that my sailing days are numbered but hoping I'll enjoy a bit more before I 'graduate' to a trawler.

I have permission to keep my sailboat, White Cloud, in the Bahamas for a year and if anyone wants to join for a while, or know someone who might be interested send them this way.

Unfortunately my wife is a non-sailor but fortunately she supports my dream and I do about 3 weeks on White Cloud and then about a month back in Clearwater.

Hope to run across other 'Sailfar'ers' in Marsh Harbour or other Abaco haunts - and my plan is to head south to the Exhumas in the next few months so any advice about cruising there with a 5'5" keel would be much welcome.

Dan
SV White Cloud
Seidelmann 299

[s/v Faith]

Dan,

  Welcome aboard!

There are a bunch of us who have been/are in/are going to the Bahamas.  Where are you keeping the boat?  Sounds like a pretty good deal, would love to be back there myself.  ;)

  I heard that it was a rough winter this year, that the cold fronts were training through pretty regularly.  Hope it did not interfere with your cruising.

  Glad you found us, welcome aboard!

[dj]

Introduce yourself in this thread, if you'd like. Tell us who you are, where you sail, what kind of boat owns you, and maybe what your cruising plans are - let's get to know each other. :)

I've just joined. I've been sailing virtually all my life although I am currently without a sailboat :( that will change, hopefully this summer.

I've sailed a fair amount - nowhere near enough I'd say. At one time in my life, I did a lot of work on boats, mostly commercial fishing ships, but a fair amount on recreational sailing boats also. I'm not too far from retiring (not close enough) and my wife and I are exploring the possibility of becoming live-aboards, at least for some time yet to be determined. My wife never sailed before meeting me so she is not so sure this is the best idea in the world, but being the great sport she is, she is willing to check it out. So we'll see how that goes as we approach the time to decide.

I found this web site through a post on live-aboards, I think. From what I've read so far, this group sounds like a good place for us to gather more info for decisions as we retire.

dj

[AdriftAtSea]

Gulfsailor, DJ—

Welcome aboard...

[freeskier710]

Hi

My name is Ryan.  I'm 23 and live in East Tennessee in a small town called Sevierville.  I have dreams of buying a sailboat, living aboard, and seeing the world.  I don't currently have a boat, but am in the searching process for a 23-28 footer capable of world cruising.  I joined this forum because I know that I don't know as much as I like to think I do and appreciate guidance from experienced members of the community.  By the way I have set my own casting off the lines deadline of July 10th, 2010.  This will be my 25th birthday and the beginning of my new life at sea where I belong.  I discovered this site while browsing on another site, but can't remember which site that was. Thanks in advance for all the helpful advice that I'm sure I will receive on this forum.

Ryan

[Captain Smollett]

Welcome aboard, Ryan.

I grew up in Franklin, NC, not too far from you really, and have spent a fair amount of time in the Cosby/Gatlinburg area.

There are lots of good cruising boats for sale these days.  I saw reference to an Alberg 30 for $6400, though it is on the Pacific coast.  I know that's outside your mentioned LOA range, but the price is pretty good.

Fair Winds,

JR

[freeskier710]

yeah Gatlinburg is in my county, its actually the only place in my county to find any grog, so therefore i make frequent trips, and Cosby, TN is the moonshine capital of the world in my opinion, of course also alot of METH labs there which is not good for the area, thanks for welcoming me, and I probably won't be in the actual market to BUY a boat until november or december, still got quite a bit of saving to do

[Tim]

Welcome Ryan, It is great to start young the sooner you get started the further you will go  ;)

[freeskier710]

thanks for the encouragement, I noticed a pattern in my employment history about 6 months ago that made me decide to take on the cruising lifestyle in that I get bored with jobs really easily and have no intentions of ever joining the rat race, so if not joining the rat race i figure why not just travel and live aboard a sailboat, skip around the world and do odd jobs whenever cash is an issue, I don't believe comforts are a necessity in life and plan on living extremely cheap, however repairs and NEEDED items are an expense you can't avoid at any level of simplicity

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome aboard Ryan...

A book I'd highly recommend you read is Sensible Cruising: the Thoreau Approach, by Don Casey, et al. :)

[freeskier710]

after reading the reviews that book has made near the top of my amazon booklist, amongst other tech oriented writings, inspirational works, and strategical weather books.  I own and have read Sailing: For dummies, Fast Track to Cruising, and Cruising World's Workbench.  So far these have provided alot of information, but I'm still looking for more. Therefore I have a pretty good sized reading list for the next year.

Ryan

[Navyvet]

Welcome aboard Ryan you beat me out it took me untill 27 to figure out the sailing life is for me. Hope your dreams come to you easily. 

[freeskier710]

navyvet,

i started getting the sense that i would like to set sail indefinately when i was about 19 it took me this long just to eliminate all the other possibilities.  and of course one of my favorite quotes of all times is "it wouldn't be fun if it was easy, but does it have to be this much fun?" thats from the motorcycle movie Torque.  So everytime I look at something difficult or challenging, I see it as a new adventure. anyone can run around a track, but how many can do it while jumping over hurdles??

[doug]

Hello All. I have been lurking for about a year now. I found the site when the compac site when down and I read on the Yahoo compac site that CaptnK spent time here. The admiral and I have been sailing a compac 16cb for 2+ years and we are hoping to move to a seaward 26rk this year as it meets our water needs (narrow beam and shoal waters). If all things were possible we would love to get one of the compac 35's and have what seems to be one of the best compromises currently in production for a shoal draft craft with blue water capabilities. As the 26rk will live in on a lift just off the Chesapeake Bay we are thinking of it as a weekender and week at a time craft, with lots of opportunity for single handing if I ever really retire and have time to sail as much as we would like. We are also thinking about the potential trailer trips down to Florida (instead of weeks/months on the ICW), the great lakes, and the new England coast but that also means getting something larger tow with on a routine basis.

doug

[freeskier710]

hey doug,

welcome aboard, as the most recent new member to post an intro before yourself i feel the need to express the same warm welcome that i received about a day ago from the crowd on this forum

Ryan

[AdriftAtSea]

Welcome aboard Doug.  How do you like the Seaward 26RK... I was aboard one at the last Annapolis boat show, and she looked like a fairly nice boat.

[jotruk]

welcome aboard freeskier and doug this is a great place to get info and questions answered

[Navyvet]

Hey Doug nice to have you aboard.

[captain cajun]

Doug and freeskier,  welcome and fairwinds! ;)

[nowell]

Welcome aboard you two!

I consider myself a "young" sailor also, at 33, so kudos to you Ryan for having a plan. Now just stick to it and execute and we will see you on the water!