Seeking some friendly advice .....

[Andy Bav]

Have enjoyed motor boating for a number of years, but am getting an itch to switch propulsion methods....

Do you have any advice if the itch becomes an urge ?

Early days yet but looking at Bavs and Jeanneaus around 37 foot (ish).

Would not entertain taking her our without proper training / certificates etc, but as our [3] boys drift into their own lives, wife and I like the idea of sailing as a joint activity rather than a means to a destination that we have with a mobo.

 

[jerrytug]

Have enjoyed motor boating for a number of years, but am getting an itch to switch propulsion methods....

Do you have any advice if the itch becomes an urge ?

Early days yet but looking at Bavs and Jeanneaus around 37 foot (ish).

Would not entertain taking her our without proper training / certificates etc, but as our [3] boys drift into their own lives, wife and I like the idea of sailing as a joint activity rather than a means to a destination that we have with a mobo.

Hi Andy, my advice is to go sailing and find out if you like it, before thinking about buying anything. Most yachts often need crew, and most yacht skippers are enthusiastic enough to enjoy sharing their hobby. A RYA dinghy course is a good way to learn to sail quickly. This forum has a crew section by the way!

 

[Mel]

If you have little experience sailing under wind power then I suggest both you and your wife doing a one week training event on a yacht. This should give you a chance to judge if it is for you. Look at the RYA web site for potential schools.

 

[Andy Bav]

Hi Andy, my advice is to go sailing and find out if you like it, before thinking about buying anything. Most yachts often need crew, and most yacht skippers are enthusiastic enough to enjoy sharing their hobby. A RYA dinghy course is a good way to learn to sail quickly. This forum has a crew section by the way!

Many thanks.

Actually got RYA level 2 dinghy about 5 years ago and loved it, but for a family of 5 and not being keen on towing, a dinghy didnt work for us so we went down the motor route.

Had a trial sail a couple of weeks ago to see if wife liked it and she did -and in quite blustery conditions - so thats first hurdle out of the way

Didnt realise there was a crew section, so thanks for that.

 

[Kelpie]

It's good that you see sailing as an activity rather than, as you say, a means to a destination. Some ex-mobo owners seem to persuade themselves that they can put up with life at five knots in the hope of vastly reduced fuel bills. But actually if you are destination-focused you end up motoring an awful lot of the time anyway. On the other hand, if you can see the enjoyment to be had in coaxing another half knot out of your boat as she silently glides along in the lightest of zephyrs, then sailing should probably float your boat.

 

[tonygibbs]

I've owned mobo's for years and for the past couple of years thought about getting a raggie to keep fuel costs down. The Jeanneau was purchased last year and believe me, it was a whole new experience, as in learning how to sail. Very enjoyable once I got the hang of it. I also had to develop a 'we will get there when we get there' mindset when sailing at speeds of 4 to 6 knots as opposed to more than double that.

 

[lpdsn]

Another vote for just going sailing on someone else's boat. Mix and match until you find a type of sailing you're happy with.

No need to worry about courses just yet.

And only buy a boat when you have a pretty good idea what you want.

And you can stay destination focused, you just have to plan for the reduced speed and consider alternatives if conditions make you change your mind.

 

[Ripster]

We did this about 3 years back, Motor over to Sail. As everyone says it is different and you spend a lot more time traveling at Sea if you want to go anywhere. In our case we have become far better Sea-farers over the last three years than the seven previous years in a MOBO as we have had to cope with much more variable and worse conditions. If the weather turns, you can't run away in a sail boat! We'll now happily depart in conditions that we would never have dreamed of going out in in the MOBO. We have learned to appreciate tides and meteorology far more as they have such an effect on your trip. We have a deep fin keel and this makes her stable (bit of a pain up shallow estuaries) at Sea and very forging (for novices like us) when you get it wrong. One of my biggest fears when I started was being knocked down by a strong gust , but having now suffered this, the boat just rounds up into the wind and stands upright - lots of flapping and noise but, fuss over. I agree with everyone else, get out on some boats and experience it. You'll then know if you can put up with the leany-over bits and whether you can cope with 6 knots being a good speed and not 26! Big difference that convinced me was that there was so much more to do on a sailing boat - you never stop trimming the sails - well I don't. Then when you want to rest or take a break for lunch and you are no-where near an anchorage and its a bit windy, you can heave-to and the boat just sits there gently drifting but becalmed - it really does work. Being able to turn the motor off and cruise along under sail is magic and remarkably straight-forward. But, if you want to know how to dial in a sailing boat, get out with a race crew (its what I was advised to do) and you will see what all the fuss is about. I liked it so much, I joined one!

 

[Steersman]

Another option is to buy a cheap boat, sail it for a season or two, use it to find out what you like and don't like, then sell it on. By that time you will be in a better position to buy a boat that suits you best. You should then hopefully have many years of frustration free sailing.

 

[Elessar]

Have enjoyed motor boating for a number of years, but am getting an itch to switch propulsion methods....

Do you have any advice if the itch becomes an urge ?

Early days yet but looking at Bavs and Jeanneaus around 37 foot (ish).

Would not entertain taking her our without proper training / certificates etc, but as our [3] boys drift into their own lives, wife and I like the idea of sailing as a joint activity rather than a means to a destination that we have with a mobo.

how about joining a share scheme? Pure latitude is a good example in the solent. Yachts and mobos at your disposal, find out what you want before buying.

 

[Birdseye]

An important issue is how you used your mobo. If it was simply get somewhere quickly and then use as a flaoting caravan, you can do the same sort of thing in a sailing boat but you will do it more slowly and you will have to learn to enjoy the journey, noot just the destination, Usually the mobo will have better living accommodation too.

If you used the mobo to fish, then forget the idea of changing to sail. Yes you can fish from a sailboat but the rigging is a PITA, you havent got the space to handle rods easily, no fish well etc.

Finally there is the issue of heel and your agility. Many women, maybe even the majority, are uncomfortable with boats heeling. My SWMBO despite crossing Biscay with me, still gets agitated when the gunwales dip into the sea. Its also an issue as you get older, trying to move around a heeling deck and use a heeling toilet. Food preparation. And its tiring. A couple of hours bashing to windward over on your ear can be fun. A whole day doing it never is. So the reality is that your mobo goes to windward a great deal better than my yacht.

Take a charter holiday or do a sailing course. Get some miles in includijng SWMBO

 

[Andy Bav]

Thanks for your comments. We love being out on the water, but a mobo is more susceptible to being kept in by wind. The wife actually doesn't like sitting at anchor, but prefers "pootling" and when we do invariable stands with the wind in her hair.

With a fair commute to the boat it would be nice to know we can go out in more inclement conditions, rather than rueing the cost and going nowhere.

When we went to the CIs in the summer, it was like a space invader game on the plotter, and frankly boring. Hence, as someone has said, we are looking for something more interactive and engaging that is about the journey.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the crew section on here?

 

[rotrax]

Thanks for your comments. We love being out on the water, but a mobo is more susceptible to being kept in by wind. The wife actually doesn't like sitting at anchor, but prefers "pootling" and when we do invariable stands with the wind in her hair.

With a fair commute to the boat it would be nice to know we can go out in more inclement conditions, rather than rueing the cost and going nowhere.

When we went to the CIs in the summer, it was like a space invader game on the plotter, and frankly boring. Hence, as someone has said, we are looking for something more interactive and engaging that is about the journey.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the crew section on here?

Scroll the opening page. If you have never looked you will be surprised what you find-including the "For Sale and Wanted" section.

Not much crewing available last time I looked, but good luck.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Go for it, buy the one you want; 37ft is a handfull, however, you say that you have done dinghy sailing, you have a mobo so you are familiar with the motoring aspect of yachting. Take it easy, go out when little wind about and try out the sails bit at the time until you are confident; it may take days, weeks or months but I am sure it will be great fun.

 

[P4Paul]

Thanks for your comments. We love being out on the water, but a mobo is more susceptible to being kept in by wind. The wife actually doesn't like sitting at anchor, but prefers "pootling" and when we do invariable stands with the wind in her hair.

With a fair commute to the boat it would be nice to know we can go out in more inclement conditions, rather than rueing the cost and going nowhere.

When we went to the CIs in the summer, it was like a space invader game on the plotter, and frankly boring. Hence, as someone has said, we are looking for something more interactive and engaging that is about the journey.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the crew section on here?

Hi Andy,

You may remember we went in the other direction and sold the yacht to move to motor. We wouldn't move back mainly because we go to so many more places now the tide and time pressures are reduced.

Our last sailing season had a lovely but cold spring and a crappy summer when my sailing suit hardly dried out and Kerry started to hate going out.
The final straw was when our friends who berthed their MoBo next to us, rang us from Newbury as we were sailing down the solent towards Hurst and they still got into Poole an hour before we did.

There is nothing better than when you turn off the engine and go sailing and if I could I would still sail but we just don't have enough spare time to enjoy the sailing and instead found ourselves counting down the minutes until we got to our destination.

Could you do a deal with a local sailing school where you keep your MoBo and they charter it from you where you don't want it and when you feel like going sailing, you charter a yacht from them in return?

Whatever you choose, have fun.
Cheers
Paul.

 

[Andy Bav]

Cheers Paul.

Funny tthe difference a year makes. Olly has left uni a year early as he has been offered his dream job, and Josh announced he is not going to uni.

We realised that next summer it could be just the 2 of us and ours a a bit on the large side for 2 of us. So we thought with no "kids" around, we should look for an activity we can both do so we are hatching this idea.

 

[P4Paul]

Cheers Paul.

Funny tthe difference a year makes. Olly has left uni a year early as he has been offered his dream job

Rugby related?

 

[P4Paul]

We realised that next summer it could be just the 2 of us and ours a a bit on the large side for 2 of us.

Mmmmmm, have a look at my signature below..... :encouragement:

 

[Andy Bav]

Rugby related?

Pm sent !

 

[LadyInBed]

We did this about 3 years back, Motor over to Sail.

Your post offers good encouragement for anyone thinking of changing over :encouragement: