Newbie Question: Mooring a Sailboat (Nottinghamshire, UK)?

[Skylark]

Thank you ever so much guys, I've got some bits to research and the estuary callout sounds a great one.

I appreciate I'm shifting context now but if you were in my boat (de-dum-tssh), what single boat would you recommend for a newbie? If answering that in this thread is not ideal, I'll get searching the forum!

Welcome to the forum.

This question is akin to opening the gates of Hell. Don’t go there.

A walk around any marina or yard will show many different boats, generally all loved by their owners so there’s no need for you to be force fed either a knackered old Westerly or Trintella. It will not take long for you to look at a few boats and make-up your own mind, equally importantly to get the approval of family.

There are hundreds of boats for sale via online brokers, simply set the search to your budget and start looking, you’ll soon start to see features that appeal to you. Condition should probably be your first criteria.

It’s also worth spending a while browsing through the RYA website as a wealth of information awaits you. There’s a link to “Find a club or centre” it’s all fairly easy to navigate.

Your local sailing clubs, inland or coastal, are well worth a visit. See how welcome they make you and what opportunities they can offer.

Sailing is great fun but you’ll be responsible for the safety of your crew and vessel. I’m a big fan of formal training but recognise that it’s not the only way.

Finally, many of us live a long way from our boats. For some this involves a flight and for others it’s sitting for hours on our congested roads. The stress of travel soon fades once the kettle boils when you’re aboard.

Fair winds.

 

[Stemar]

At your stage of the game, I reckon it's far too early to think about buying a boat or where to keep it. There will be local clubs that would allow you to try out dinghy sailing, and if that doesn't appeal, I'd do a practical sailing course - probably Competent Crew, then sign up with someone like Crewseekers where you'll find all sorts of owners looking for crew. Get out with them and get a bit of experience of different boats and different areas, then you'll start to have an idea of what and where you want.

 

[reyes]

I've just been catching up and what I'm thinking then is to go and visit Humber Yawl Club as somebody mentioned previously, and not get too caught up in looking for the perfect boat too quickly! As you said Stemar, a little bit of time spent at a club to try a few things out to see what appeals will be very worthwhile.

In the meantime, I get to keep dreaming of something I can do some coastal tours on and go and meet clubs, see what they're like, get some dates in for some courses etc.

Once again, thanks for all the input including the joke about getting a motorboat instead of a sailboat!

On that point, and a serious note, I see the appeal of a motorboat to get to places quickly. But, I just love the idea of taking the journey in and not feeling like I have to focus on reaching point B. It reminds me of motorbiking (which I've done for a good few years). I used to travel to Europe and hit the motorways until, after a few, I said to my partner/mates "let's just not go so far, but take little villages in (etc.)" and it was great.

Possibly a crappy comparison, but hopefully my point's there!

 

[Stemar]

In the meantime, I get to keep dreaming

Be careful - those dreams are dangerous things. I dreamed of owning a boat and now look at me