IzzyDeadyet
New member
Hello me dearios as Rambling Sid used to say.
Talking of rambling; here is my first post.
Picture the scene: On the Cambs/Lincs border in the darkest fens it was 6.30am and still dark. It had been dark for months; ever since winter began in May of last year. It's very windy outside; part of the fence has been recycled into firewood and the wheelie bin is somewhere in the next county. In the kitchen a couple sit eating breakfast. A remarkably well preserved man is listening as his wife says:
"It's freezing cold and the middle of winter, a gale is blowing outside, half the country is under water, the fence blew down in the night but you want to buy a yacht. Only you would think of sailing at a time like this."
I need you to prove her wrong. It seems to me that when the world is falling down the only rational thing to do is think about sailing. As I've told my wife, only a fool would go outside in this weather to re-build a fence /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
I have sailed dinghies on and off (!) for much of the last half of the previous century but have always wanted a yacht. I kept putting off buying one until I was older and more grown up. Which is another way of saying I couldn't afford one.
The chairman of the Finance Committee tells me I've still not grown up and I still can't afford one. But ominously she has also said that if I don't buy a yacht soon I shall be too old or too dead. This begs the question: does she know something I don't?
According to my calculations (using Pythagoras a slide rule and log tables) I am only 28 years old (17 mental age) but swmbo and my 25 year old daughter contend that I am actually 54. This is clearly ridiculous but one of us must be wrong and I'm guessing it's me because in my experience those two are always right.
I thought due to advanced age I had missed the boat so to speak and was resigned to the fact that life and yachts had passed me by. But reading the 'Late Starters' thread on Scuttlebutt has given me new hope and the 'Sailing Boots' thread on PBO has breathed new life into my old pair of dinghy wellies. I'm beginning to scan the horizon and the for sale ads for a suitable yacht ie old and under £2500 on which I can have fun learning the ropes for a year or two or until I'm too old.
I'm looking for a 18-24 foot lift keel that can be ready to sail by the beginning of the season - I don't want a project boat. There will usually be two on board although ocasionally I will be sailing singlehanded.
In times past I've discussed this subject at length with various people in various bars and Dockrell 22 or Snapdragon (23 or 21?) seem to have been mentioned frequently as suitable choices. But I can't remember why or by whom /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
This is where you guys come in. I'd be grateful for any information about these two yachts; their strengths weaknesses, wet or dry, whether they're worth considering or not or is there something better in my price range £0-£2500 etc.
I can't find any really useful information on the web - there is a snapdragon owners association but contact is by snailmail. Preloved only has reviews for the larger Snapdragons and smaller Dockerell. I've searched ybw's archives and found a couple of threads, one with a RYA pfd link to a snapdragon23 site but the site no longer exists. I suppose the next step is to see if any are for sale and approach the owners but it doesn't seem fair to bother the owners with a list of questions (and they might be somewhat biased).
So can I bother you guys instead /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Thanks.
ps What do you think to this as a first post? Vague, rambling and mostly off topic. Marks out of ten for deviation?
Talking of rambling; here is my first post.
Picture the scene: On the Cambs/Lincs border in the darkest fens it was 6.30am and still dark. It had been dark for months; ever since winter began in May of last year. It's very windy outside; part of the fence has been recycled into firewood and the wheelie bin is somewhere in the next county. In the kitchen a couple sit eating breakfast. A remarkably well preserved man is listening as his wife says:
"It's freezing cold and the middle of winter, a gale is blowing outside, half the country is under water, the fence blew down in the night but you want to buy a yacht. Only you would think of sailing at a time like this."
I need you to prove her wrong. It seems to me that when the world is falling down the only rational thing to do is think about sailing. As I've told my wife, only a fool would go outside in this weather to re-build a fence /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
I have sailed dinghies on and off (!) for much of the last half of the previous century but have always wanted a yacht. I kept putting off buying one until I was older and more grown up. Which is another way of saying I couldn't afford one.
The chairman of the Finance Committee tells me I've still not grown up and I still can't afford one. But ominously she has also said that if I don't buy a yacht soon I shall be too old or too dead. This begs the question: does she know something I don't?
According to my calculations (using Pythagoras a slide rule and log tables) I am only 28 years old (17 mental age) but swmbo and my 25 year old daughter contend that I am actually 54. This is clearly ridiculous but one of us must be wrong and I'm guessing it's me because in my experience those two are always right.
I thought due to advanced age I had missed the boat so to speak and was resigned to the fact that life and yachts had passed me by. But reading the 'Late Starters' thread on Scuttlebutt has given me new hope and the 'Sailing Boots' thread on PBO has breathed new life into my old pair of dinghy wellies. I'm beginning to scan the horizon and the for sale ads for a suitable yacht ie old and under £2500 on which I can have fun learning the ropes for a year or two or until I'm too old.
I'm looking for a 18-24 foot lift keel that can be ready to sail by the beginning of the season - I don't want a project boat. There will usually be two on board although ocasionally I will be sailing singlehanded.
In times past I've discussed this subject at length with various people in various bars and Dockrell 22 or Snapdragon (23 or 21?) seem to have been mentioned frequently as suitable choices. But I can't remember why or by whom /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
This is where you guys come in. I'd be grateful for any information about these two yachts; their strengths weaknesses, wet or dry, whether they're worth considering or not or is there something better in my price range £0-£2500 etc.
I can't find any really useful information on the web - there is a snapdragon owners association but contact is by snailmail. Preloved only has reviews for the larger Snapdragons and smaller Dockerell. I've searched ybw's archives and found a couple of threads, one with a RYA pfd link to a snapdragon23 site but the site no longer exists. I suppose the next step is to see if any are for sale and approach the owners but it doesn't seem fair to bother the owners with a list of questions (and they might be somewhat biased).
So can I bother you guys instead /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Thanks.
ps What do you think to this as a first post? Vague, rambling and mostly off topic. Marks out of ten for deviation?
