Lament of the boatless; Part III

[yondcassius]

Here I am again seeking advice and encouragement in the early hours.

The story so far. Would be sailor fails (miserably) in his quest to find a Hurley 22 good enough to gain finance committe approval. 18 months later and I'm still in search of that elusive yacht.

But it gets worse... "I'm off to look at a boat" has begun to try the patience of a certain person who had already taken to asking (petulantly) "why can't you just ride your bike or make do with a dinghy?"

I put a stop to the dinghy mallarky by taking her to the nearest duck pond (22 acres) and letting her watch a dozen dinghies sailing around the cans in ever decreasing circles. "I can't see the point in going round in circles all afternoon" was her comment.

And so chaps and chapesses your task, should you decide to accept it, is to help me solve these puzzling questions:

Question 1: Is sailing on Rutland Water and/or the Lakes simply circling on a large scale duck pond or is there more to do? I ask because Iearning to sail the non existent Hurley22 in tideless waters appeals to me. On the other hand decreasing circles, even if tideless, do not appeal to swmbo.

Question 2: Should I broaden my search to include other 22 footers (or thereabouts) eg Macwester Rowan; about which I know nothing. Or do I stick to Hurley 22's because I like the look of these - but is that a good reason for wanting one?

Question 3 Should I give up trying to find a 'proper' yacht and save money by getting an old dinghy with a lid. There are plenty of these around for £900-£1500. The downside is that swmbo wouldn't set foot on one because "they're not safe". But then she wouldn't set foot on any of the "big" Hurley's I've looked at because they were 'too riffy'.

Question 4 Should I forget the idea of buying my own boat and instead wander the waterfront begging yacht owners to let me crew?

Question 5 Should I give up the yachting idea altogether and settle for pedalling my bike?



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[Peppermint]

Re: There are two ways to find a boat

1. you get lucky and one presents itself to you. This usually happens when you have no money or no time but if your extremely lucky it all works out.

2. You plod around looking at rubbish and hoping against hope that the next ones THE one. This procedure can take years.

If you want a Hurly and there not up to scratch make silly low offers to save enough money to get it how you'd like it. Be open to other designs. It's hard to visit a boatyard to see one boat without having a good look at other boats.
If you like the Hurly for it's seaworthiness try Corribee's Achilies 24's or any of the 23ft Hunters.

Learning on a lake, even quite a big on is just delaying the move to the salty stuff. The going round in circles you have observed is racing. It's the only interesting sailing you can do on a pond. I don't know where you intend to cruise but provided you learn the basics I'd miss out the freshwater bit.

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[Ivy]

Q1). I don’t know about the lakes but sailing around in circles until you disappear up your own posterior must get pretty boring. I’ve done a bit of racing and that’s the same. You end up feeling like a gold fish

Q2). most definitely, there are a lot of good small boats that you are disregarding. Liking the look of a boat is a good reason to want one, but it doesn’t mean it's the best option. Look in the yachting press and local free add papers.

Q3). What does "TOO RIFFY" mean?.
A Dinghy with a lid is OK, it depends what you want to do in it. It could get a bit much if you go cruising for a month or two.

Q4). at least you will get a chance of some sailing, but it's not the same as having your own boat and going where and when you want to.

Q5). To give up Yachting is to give up living. Trade SWMBO in for a younger model, you may even find one that comes with it’s own Hurley or something, just make sure it doesn’t complain about boats being unsafe or too riffy.

Sorry I haven’t got time to go into any more detail but I’m off to work now.

Regards Trev.

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[surekandoo]

Widen your search, old son. Why a Hurley 22?

What about a trailer sailer? If you PM me I'll send you an Excel spreadsheet with a comparison of all small trailer sailers between 18-25'.

I finished up with a Limbo 6.6 & mighty pleased I've been. She's quick, easy to sail, & has good accommodation for her size. Cost with galvanised tandem axle trailer, 4HP outboard, full set of sails incl spinnaker, rigid tender, etc. was £3750 in 2002.

If you buy a boat you can trail, you can have the best of both worlds with regard to salt & freshwater. For me, it has to be the sea though, I'd soon get bored sailing on a lake.

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[LORDNELSON]

Sounds like your wife does not like the idea of sailing. Probably best at this stage to crew for another cruising boat-owner. Then you can see if you really want to get involved in the expense of your own boat. There are many boat owners who need crew. Check with your local yacht club or look in the back pages of the PBO. If you have a RYA qualification that might help obtain your first offer for crewing.

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[milltech]

There is a Hurley Owners group on Yahoo Groups. You will have to register there to read the posts but it may be a good source of boats for sale.

<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>

 

[hlb]

I used to watch boats, sailing round in circles. Then by accident I aquired a little 8ft one. Before long we were sailing round in circles and loving every minuite. Then again by accident, got a National Ospray cos we thought it bigger for the kids and dog!. So went round in even bigger circles. Then we found that, it was not the going round in circles that we liked, but the things we saw on the way. So bought a power boat. Now we can go in straight lines!!

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue>No one can force me to come here.<font color=red> I'm a volunteer!!.<font color=blue>

Haydn

 

[boatmad2]

The lakes have a bit more space so you can do straight lines in between the circles.
I am a power boater but can only agree about trail boating you get to see more new places.

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[seaesta]

1. Crewing on another boat is a really good idea - do it whilst looking
2. Look at the Westerley 22 and 25 circa 1966-8 these are tough and can be great fun - I have sailed mine from Southern Ireland to Fife and most points between. If you get a bilge keeler you can also do a bit on the waterways (have taken mine Coast to Coast on Leeds / Liverpool and Forth /Clyde and am currently plotting a trip through the Caledonian. )


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