how best to get in to sailing out side of sailing schools

StevenF · 20 Oct 2011

hi all im in need to some advise
i have done around a 1000 n miles inclueding a trip this year that saw us in a force 10 in the pentland firth ! in may just gone
i have spent a fair amount with the sailing school i have comp crew cert (gain by taking part in the trips)

so i have the
jacket oily and life
boots
shoes
bag
ect ect

so now i would like to be a member of a crew for someone who owns boat
now i work full time (self employed so i am flexible ) as most people do so would like to find someone local from river Medway or Thames right round to Brighton, this is a a fair chunk of coast line there must be someone !!

would love to do some racing over the winter or cruising even cross channel

any help greatly appreciated

Steven

sailorman · 20 Oct 2011

StevenF said:
hi all im in need to some advise
i have done around a 1000 n miles inclueding a trip this year that saw us in a force 10 in the pentland firth ! in may just gone
i have spent a fair amount with the sailing school i have comp crew cert (gain by taking part in the trips)

so i have the
jacket oily and life
boots
shoes
bag
ect ect

so now i would like to be a member of a crew for someone who owns boat
now i work full time (self employed so i am flexible ) as most people do so would like to find someone local from river Medway or Thames right round to Brighton, this is a a fair chunk of coast line there must be someone !!

would love to do some racing over the winter or cruising even cross channel

any help greatly appreciated

Steven

Try posting on the East Coast Forum
or
here
http://www.ybw.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=62

dylanwinter · 20 Oct 2011

dt4134 · 20 Oct 2011

Crew for other people.

Race boats are the easiest to get onto, but the better ones tend to be fussier and the poorer ones often badly organised and shouty. Still, worth giving it a go.

Try the forum as Sailorman says.

Yacht clubs or even just notices in marina bars. Try to sail with several skippers to get different views of how to do things.

Is there anyone you work with who sails?

I wouldn't advise buying a boat until you're confident of sailing it. (Sorry Dylan, but you say yourself in your films you learnt to sail at school.)

StevenF · 20 Oct 2011

dylanwinter said:
or you can taste real adventure and freeedom for yourself

your own boat, your own destiny

no snoring big boat owners

no rules about the amount of toothpaste you are allowed to bring on board

you will learn more in one year fending for yourself than becoming another man's winch gorilla

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/...ice_from=&price_to=1500&kword2=&Submit=Search

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/prelude-19-sailing-yacht-PAA37075

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/west-wight-potter-15-PCW065

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/...ce-griffiths-yachting-monthly-senior-PAA37519

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/island-plastics-day-sailer-17ft-PAA37394

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/robert-tucker-fantasie-19-PAA17649

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/uffa-foxclub-foxclub-18-PAA37110

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/trailer-sailers/westerly-nimrod-PAA36677

thats what I reckon anyway

the medway is a brilliant river to learn on

then you could cross the thames to the roach and crouch

make your own way to tower bridge and beyond

brilliant fun

Dylan

hello dylan thanks for your post
i can`t tell you how hard it is not to bid on a boat on ebay every time i get payed i get itchy mouse finger

i think your right the thing that sticks im by mine is i love the big trips that a biger boat can take you on but may be its best to start small the 19` s you have linked i normaly dont look at but in reality are the ones i could buy now- and like you once said "the best boat is the boat you can afford right now"

i like the look of the foxcub i even have a van i could tow it with
what do you make of them? i always fancy a hurley but keep looking at h 24 but maybe an h18?

any thoughts?

here how sad it is, i bought today the imray 2100 folio set for thames estuary to the solent , im not rich but like to dream

StevenF · 20 Oct 2011

dt4134 said:
Crew for other people.

Race boats are the easiest to get onto, but the better ones tend to be fussier and the poorer ones often badly organised and shouty. Still, worth giving it a go.

Try the forum as Sailorman says.

Yacht clubs or even just notices in marina bars. Try to sail with several skippers to get different views of how to do things.

Is there anyone you work with who sails?

I wouldn't advise buying a boat until you're confident of sailing it. (Sorry Dylan, but you say yourself in your films you learnt to sail at school.)

thanks for your reply i have posted in both the forums as sailorman said.
i am an electrican by trade so most people i work with think i must bat for the wrong side any time i talk about sailing let along anyone with a boat, diffent worlds really ( this could also be that i grew up in a council flats so the circule of people i know would not even consider it posssible)
this also bring me to another problem , this being yacht clubs do you have to be a member to walk in have a beer and start chating, they seem to me a little bit like social clubs where u have to be sighned by a member to go have a drink , this is fine as i know a bloke whos a member of the social club so.. i can have a drink.. but i dont know a bloke i the yacht.

am i looking at it wrong ?

any advice is great

st599 · 20 Oct 2011

StevenF said:
thanks for your reply i have posted in both the forums as sailorman said.
i am an electrican by trade so most people i work with think i must bat for the wrong side any time i talk about sailing let along anyone with a boat, diffent worlds really ( this could also be that i grew up in a council flats so the circule of people i know would not even consider it posssible)
this also bring me to another problem , this being yacht clubs do you have to be a member to walk in have a beer and start chating, they seem to me a little bit like social clubs where u have to be sighned by a member to go have a drink , this is fine as i know a bloke whos a member of the social club so.. i can have a drink.. but i dont know a bloke i the yacht.

am i looking at it wrong ?

any advice is great

If you turn up at a yacht club where the members give a s*** about your background (other than if you're a nice bloke or not), ask yourself if you'd want to be a member.

First off, work out exactly what you want: racing, mileage, cross-channels, training towards an RYA cert.

Then contact some clubs, see if they provide what you want, have a visit, see if you like it.

Also gen up on yacht electrics. You can get a load of sailing in exchange for pretty easy technical work. I spent a couple of weeks crewing for yachtmaster exams in the sun, ask your sailing schools if they ever need crew.

dylanwinter · 20 Oct 2011

sailing is easy and safe

StevenF said:
hello dylan thanks for your post
i can`t tell you how hard it is not to bid on a boat on ebay every time i get payed i get itchy mouse finger

i think your right the thing that sticks im by mine is i love the big trips that a biger boat can take you on but may be its best to start small the 19` s you have linked i normaly dont look at but in reality are the ones i could buy now- and like you once said "the best boat is the boat you can afford right now"

i like the look of the foxcub i even have a van i could tow it with
what do you make of them? i always fancy a hurley but keep looking at h 24 but maybe an h18?

any thoughts?

here how sad it is, i bought today the imray 2100 folio set for thames estuary to the solent , im not rich but like to dream

the foxcub has bilge keels and might be difficult to launch without getting yourself wetr to the waist

I would say buy the Nimrod

it has a great trailer, it is easy to tow and launch

spend the remaining £500 on a reliable outboard and away you go

start motoring around - put up a jib to sail downwind

motor back upwind

repeat -

then start sailing across the wind

as a previous poster said - I learned at school when I was seven years old

if a seven year old cas thick as a thick thing can sail then so can you

as for owning your own boat

I myself have spent most of my working life doing what other people tell me what to do

when I go to the boat I want the freedom to decide for myself

don't let anyone tell you sailing is dangerous

it is really really safe and easy and you would have to try very hard to kill yourself

your drive to work in your van is much, much more dangerous than anything you can dream up to do on one of the boats I have shown you

so buy one now, the Nimrod and spend this winter pottering around the Medway - or spend the winter painting and re-wiring the nimrod and looking after the trailer

sail the boat you can own now....

worry about a bigger boat and bigger trips later - we have one of the best sailing grounds in the world - you live near one of the worlds mightiest and most fascinating rivers

get stuck in

take a look at the films that are free on my website - all the first year from Iow to the crouch are on youtube

as for class.... if you sail a small boat some people will look down on you as a loser

some people have posted comments to the effect that I should just stop sailing until I have saved enough money - by working as a waiter was the specific suggestion - until I have saved enough money to buy myself a reliable inboard engine costing £5,000

others will admire your spunk, will-do attitude and general hardness

I was raised in a council flat and went to a state run boarding school

- most good sailors will take you as you are

buy a boat, buy a boat, buy a boat

Dylan

dt4134 · 20 Oct 2011

StevenF said:
i am an electrican by trade so most people i work with think i must bat for the wrong side any time i talk about sailing let along anyone with a boat, diffent worlds really ( this could also be that i grew up in a council flats so the circule of people i know would not even consider it posssible)

I grew up on a council estate too.

You're going to have to get used to the inverted snobbery. The general population's view of a yacht is based upon James Bond movies, Abramovich, etc. etc. No matter that it is 25' long and smells of damp.

Most people who have boats are always keen to expand the circle of people they can call upon to crew.

Try getting in touch with one or two of the local clubs and have a chat. Some are a little snobby, but not that much and most aren't.

VicMallows · 20 Oct 2011

dylanwinter said:
or you can taste real adventure and freeedom for yourself

your own boat, your own destiny

Dylan,

How true. Some of us are simply just not 'club-able'.

Bought hull and deck. Completed on driveway. Launched and learned the hard way. Still enjoying nearly 30yrs later.

Vic

dylanwinter · 20 Oct 2011

no RYA certificates?

VicMallows said:
Dylan,

How true. Some of us are simply just not 'club-able'.

Bought hull and deck. Completed on driveway. Launched and learned the hard way. Still enjoying nearly 30yrs later.

Vic

Vic,

do you mean to say you sail a boat and are utterly unqualified

not one of the 30 odd RYA qualifications available?

Vic - you really know about life on the edge

Dylan

johnalison · 20 Oct 2011

There may be yacht clubs that care what job you do, but not many. Most will require you to present yourself in some way, usually when the bar is open. Provided you can justify why you want to join, ie not just for cheap beer, most will accept new members without too much fuss. They are still probably the easiest way to meet fellow sailors. My current main club contains one Sir-Someone-or-Other and an awful lot of very humble folk, just like all the other clubs in the area.

If you want to learn the craft of sailing, a small (18-24ft) boat will serve your purposes well. With your previous experience you should find it fairly easy to get the occasional crewing spot in the kind of larger boat that you are hoping for. In our club members have taken or been joined by other members in places as far apart as Ireland and Norway in the last couple of years and I expect other clubs would be similar. An alternative would be to join a syndicate, which I have no experience of but I know of one in our club that seems to have worked out.

dylanwinter · 20 Oct 2011

I agree...however

johnalison said:
There may be yacht clubs that care what job you do, but not many. Most will require you to present yourself in some way, usually when the bar is open. Provided you can justify why you want to join, ie not just for cheap beer, most will accept new members without too much fuss. They are still probably the easiest way to meet fellow sailors. My current main club contains one Sir-Someone-or-Other and an awful lot of very humble folk, just like all the other clubs in the area.

If you want to learn the craft of sailing, a small (18-24ft) boat will serve your purposes well. With your previous experience you should find it fairly easy to get the occasional crewing spot in the kind of larger boat that you are hoping for. In our club members have taken or been joined by other members in places as far apart as Ireland and Norway in the last couple of years and I expect other clubs would be similar. An alternative would be to join a syndicate, which I have no experience of but I know of one in our club that seems to have worked out.

One of the tough things about socialising and sailing is that you will be expected to stand your round and also if the rest of the crew decide to go to a restaurant in the evening then you might find yourself dining with people with a much higher spending power than you.

I crewed on a blokes westerly 33 in the first week after leaving university

every night we went to an expensive restaurant and in one week he ordered lobster at least twice.

Drank good wine and lots of it

he then decided that the simplest thing to do was to split the bill evenly between the six of us....

so there might not be any class thing going on but it can be really, really uncomfortable to spend too much time with people whose spending power is much higher than your own

and on a boat you really do have to muck in and work as part if a team

I often get people sending me emails recommending this restaurant or that

Woodbridge and Aldburgh recommendations were plentiful

at my level diging out is sausage and chips and a diet coke

dining in is two cans of stuff

I would rather spend the money I have allocated to sailing on the boat or petrol or places to moore rather than paying for another man's lobster

so

just be aware of what you are getting into

I heartily agree about avoiding working for a shouter

of all sports it is the most intimate - you get to know all your sailing friends bowell movements, eating habits and sleeping noises.

take a look at the recent long thread about things I will not allow on my boat....

some of the posts were deliberaty entertaining and knowingly weird

others wrote what they really, really felt

so my advice is still

buy a boat, buy a boat, buy a boat

Dylan

cliffdale · 20 Oct 2011

Hi dylanwinter

I liked your selection of cruisers to buy. I think as you go bigger the selection gets more difficult.

My favourite, and secretly would like to buy for myself is the Maurice Griffiths, what a lovely looking boat!

dylanwinter · 20 Oct 2011

I agree

cliffdale said:
Hi dylanwinter

I liked your selection of cruisers to buy. I think as you go bigger the selection gets more difficult.

My favourite, and secretly would like to buy for myself is the Maurice Griffiths, what a lovely looking boat!

what a bargain - but I have one wooden boat and no man should own two unless he really, really likes sand-paper and boat yards

but I know that once I finish KTL then I will probably go back to trailer sailing

meantime I lust after a Centaur to do the tough bit of the trip around Scotland

but we shall see what happens

Dylan

peterb · 20 Oct 2011

Can I suggest that you talk to the Cruising Association? They run a Crewing Service, which puts would-be crew into touch with boat owners. It's a good way to get started, because it lets you try out different boats to see which ones you like.

Lakesailor · 20 Oct 2011

Erm.... Dylan.
As I understand it the OP has done 1000nm on school boats.

I'll bet he can stick the sails up and sail straight away.

Otherwise he may have wasted his money.

dylanwinter · 21 Oct 2011

well said

Lakesailor said:
Erm.... Dylan.
As I understand it the OP has done 1000nm on school boats.

I'll bet he can stick the sails up and sail straight away.

Otherwise he may have wasted his money.

he may well have wasted his money if after 1000 miles of school sailing he still feels that he does not know enough to buy his own boat

he comes across as a pretty confident sort of chap

Note to self....I must stop telling people on these forums to buy boats when they should really be spending every penny they have on more training.

pay for a course, pay for a course, pay for a course.

Sgeir · 21 Oct 2011

peterb said:
Can I suggest that you talk to the Cruising Association?

You beat me to it. CA is a good place to look for opportunities, some of which might be to sail to very interesting places. The CA and local club - can't go wrong, imho.

armchairsailor · 21 Oct 2011

dylanwinter said:
Note to self....I must stop telling people on these forums to buy boats when they should really be spending every penny they have on more training.

Nope, just don't torture the boatless...

The Medway has sailing clubs that do Weds evening racing, and a wide variety of options for keeping a boat, from my very limited experience of it. If the OP isn't ready for ownership, it looks like a good place to get crewing in good company. I think the forum's recommendations are good - get out there, see what's about, have fun! You don't have to own a boat to have that, and it's a good way to learn from the experience of others. The other thing you can do is crew on different boats - each skipper has different ways of doing things, and you learn fast that way. My local club has a board outside the clubhouse on race night for matching crews and boats: perhaps something similar exists.

...And then somebody will point out a mouldy old tub sitting at the back of a yard that you can pick up for a crate of beer.

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