Where to start - new to sailing
- Thread starter Hilts86
- Start date
Hilts86
New Member
I looked at part ownership but I think the main issue would be the times of the year I would want the boat(school holidays) as the wife is a teacher. From the charter/skipper side of things I hadn't really looked into it in to much detail as it'll probably be a medium to long term aim but if costs and regulations far outweigh the potential income stream I will probably avoid the whole thing.
coveman
Well-Known Member
Once you have some basic idea of what you are doing you would probably thoroughly enjoy a flotilla holiday in the Med. Lots of their clients have very basic knowledge but you always have a lead crew who oversee you make sure you are competent. I have been on a couple with Sailing Holidays and it was great. If they are confident that you are capable you can go off on your own and then meet up a few days later. They do cater for complete beginners, and you meet up with others in a similar position. They also do the RYA courses.
The problem is once you have sailed in, say, the Greek Islands the UK weather can be a bit of a shock!! Of course it may be sometime before you can travel in the present climate and no doubt flights etc will cost a lot more than they used to i would have thought.
The Dayskipper course is a good basic course but make sure you do the course in tidal waters. If you use a radio, then yes you will need the licence!
Good luck!
The problem is once you have sailed in, say, the Greek Islands the UK weather can be a bit of a shock!! Of course it may be sometime before you can travel in the present climate and no doubt flights etc will cost a lot more than they used to i would have thought.
The Dayskipper course is a good basic course but make sure you do the course in tidal waters. If you use a radio, then yes you will need the licence!
Good luck!
Sticky Fingers
Well-Known Member
Flotillas - agreed, great idea. I can recommend Croatia. Fabulous sailing area, and a decent chance of actually getting some sailing.
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
It’s a very over rated pastime,now stamp collecting you meet a better class of person.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
The sport of kings. Well this one anyway;
The Stamp Collector
King George V was one of the most notable philatelists of his day. In 1893, as the Duke of York, he was elected Honorary Vice President of the Royal Philatelic Society. They presented him with an album, containing about 1,500 stamps, as a wedding present.
He is personally responsible for building the Royal Philatelic Collection into what it is today. He expanded the Royal Collection with the purchases of a number of high-priced stamps and covers. In 1904, he purchased the Mauritius POST OFFICE 2 P. Blue for £1,450, a record price at the time for a single stamp. A courtier asked the prince if he had seen "that some damned fool had paid as much as £1,450 for a single stamp". George replied, "Yes, I am that damned fool".
laika
Well-Known Member
How badly do you want to do it? You might consider a “fasttrack” course: people who’d pay twice the price for a car or 50 times for a house will suck their teeth at the cost but it’s pretty cheap if it changes your life.
Hilts86
New Member
A sailing holiday/flotilla is something I’m considering for spring next year with the view of buying a boat off the back of it, subject to where I’m at with sailing and funds...hopefully by then I’ll have more of an idea of what I want to do sailing wise and who knows I may have bought something in the UK and done the complete opposite of my current plans.
The Day Skipper wasn’t a must do, more something to aim for but I’ll reassess nearer the time if it is something I still want to do and will feel a benefit from it.
V1701
Well-Known Member
It won't affect you right now and ways around the following will hopefully become apparent in time but bear in mind that after the end of the Brexit transition period UK citizens will be subject to Schengen visa rules as far as the rest of Europe is concerned. This means that we can spend up to 90 days in the Schengen zone (which is Europe plus a few other countries) after which we have to leave the zone for at least 90 days before we can reenter. You cannot spend 90 days in one member country and then simply move to another. You may also have to pay VAT on any boat that you move from the UK to another country within the zone after the end of transition. This has buggered up lots of people's plans to spend time sailing the Med...
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MoodySabre
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum.
I'm a self taught sailor. Buy a cheap boat, for costs sake probably with a newish inboard engine or an outboard. 26ft or less. Go out on a calmish day, put up the sails, see what happens. Next time it will be a bit more relaxed and you will learn more. If you have a mate who has half an idea and will come with you then even better. And so forth. Sell the cheap boat and buy what you want.
I'm a self taught sailor. Buy a cheap boat, for costs sake probably with a newish inboard engine or an outboard. 26ft or less. Go out on a calmish day, put up the sails, see what happens. Next time it will be a bit more relaxed and you will learn more. If you have a mate who has half an idea and will come with you then even better. And so forth. Sell the cheap boat and buy what you want.
RJJ
Well-Known Member
A cheap little boat may have much in common with a dinghy, but drier. You can manhandle the sails and tiller at the same time, you can probably do an uncontrolled gybe if you want, it's good advice.
Dutch01527
Well-Known Member
Approach a club, possibly in North Wales given your location but in Lancashire if travel is an issue, and offer to crew on boats where members need help. A boat that races but also cruises would be ideal. There are many more boat owners who need crew than crew looking for experience. Racing packs a lot of learning into a short time.
Spend a season or two crewing and then buy your own cheap boat to learn how to skipper. Do the rya theoretical courses, online if that method of learning suits you. Not a big fan of the RYA practical courses as a way to learn how to sail.
Then buy a bigger boat of your own and the world is your oyster. The best way to learn how to sail is to go sailing often.
Spend a season or two crewing and then buy your own cheap boat to learn how to skipper. Do the rya theoretical courses, online if that method of learning suits you. Not a big fan of the RYA practical courses as a way to learn how to sail.
Then buy a bigger boat of your own and the world is your oyster. The best way to learn how to sail is to go sailing often.
steve yates
Well-Known Member
I'm with moody sabre. Buy a cheap boat. Bit bigger than a dinghy, but ok to sleep,in too. If your used to a tent you'll find a small boat palatial.
Maybe do a comp crew course first, just so you know how to tie it up at pontoons etc and roughly how the sails go up and work. A good instructor will teach you as much as you want to know, beyond the basic CC stuff.
Thing about a cheap small boat is, it is easy to handle, will turn on a sixpence, if you hit big boats, it will hardly touch them as it's so wee, And if you sink it, you won't be crying because you've just lost a fortune. Just get another and try again. You should already know how to navigate if you go out in mountains, you just need to factor in the ground(sea) actually moving and going up and down drastically (tides) all at the same time. Read and watch online a small much as you can on that subject, bit keep it simple.
I bought a bradwell 18 for £1200 , took it out the harbour for an hour on first trip, then did a 2 day trip, then a 3 day trip across the solway to scotland, getting the hang of it.
Then took off and over the next year basically sailed her from Cumbria almost to cape wrath and back, doing a week or two at a time then dumping her in whatever harbour I reached and going back to work.
As someone said to me, there are three big rules to sailing, then everything else I see detail. Keep the sea out of your boat. Keep your boat in the sea, not on the rocks. Keep yourself on the boat, not in the sea.
I would add to that, think for yourself and always know where you are. So get navionics on your phone
Playing in a dinghy on a lake and cruising a small boat at sea have almost nothing in common, navigation and seamanship are far more important than the shape of your sails. Learn the former first, so you can focus on learning the latter afterwards.
Maybe do a comp crew course first, just so you know how to tie it up at pontoons etc and roughly how the sails go up and work. A good instructor will teach you as much as you want to know, beyond the basic CC stuff.
Thing about a cheap small boat is, it is easy to handle, will turn on a sixpence, if you hit big boats, it will hardly touch them as it's so wee, And if you sink it, you won't be crying because you've just lost a fortune. Just get another and try again. You should already know how to navigate if you go out in mountains, you just need to factor in the ground(sea) actually moving and going up and down drastically (tides) all at the same time. Read and watch online a small much as you can on that subject, bit keep it simple.
I bought a bradwell 18 for £1200 , took it out the harbour for an hour on first trip, then did a 2 day trip, then a 3 day trip across the solway to scotland, getting the hang of it.
Then took off and over the next year basically sailed her from Cumbria almost to cape wrath and back, doing a week or two at a time then dumping her in whatever harbour I reached and going back to work.
As someone said to me, there are three big rules to sailing, then everything else I see detail. Keep the sea out of your boat. Keep your boat in the sea, not on the rocks. Keep yourself on the boat, not in the sea.
I would add to that, think for yourself and always know where you are. So get navionics on your phone
Playing in a dinghy on a lake and cruising a small boat at sea have almost nothing in common, navigation and seamanship are far more important than the shape of your sails. Learn the former first, so you can focus on learning the latter afterwards.
steve yates
Well-Known Member
You could probably save yourself a lot of time by looking at all my early questions on here, (I was in your shoes and asked a lot of them )and soaking up the answers given by the very helpful forum members.
)and soaking up the answers given by the very helpful forum members.Hilts86
New Member
You could probably save yourself a lot of time by looking at all my early questions on here, (I was in your shoes and asked a lot of them
I didn't expect much of a response to be honest and it was slightly against my character asking for help and advice, I normally just throw caution to the wind and deal with whatever goes wrong and learn off it, but I feel the sea needs to be given some respect and I wouldn't fancy my chances unprepared.
I am getting the understanding that there is no write or wrong way of getting into sailing other than getting involved, whether it be a dinghy, part of a crew or buying an old boat and taking it out on a Saturday...its more a case of throwing myself in whatever sailing opportunities are available and inevitably I'll learn skills and knowledge along the way.
I am actually quite excited by the whole thing now and really looking forward to cracking on and scratching an itch that i have had for while
William_H
Well-Known Member
Just bear in mind that learning to sail and skipper a boat is fairly simple and actually fun learning by your mistakes provided they are small mistakes. The bit people really get wrong is finding if they actually love it or not. This shown up by the number of boats that are neglected and never used. Because the actual did not align with the dream. So go in slowly. IMHO the small 20ft ballasted keel boat is the simplest boat to learn on and get enjoyment out of. However crewing on other people's boats can be very enjoyable for both you and the owner. Try nearby clubs. ol'will
croc9968
Member
I'm based in Seaham Marina......open invitation to learn with me once the lockdown is eased
Pirx
Well-Known Member
Like you I live in Lancashire and I have a small ( 7 metre ) yacht on Lake Windermere. You would be very welcome to come for a sail and we could discuss all this whilst either drifting gently up the lake or possibly enjoying a decent sail. The boat is incredibly easy to handle single handed, almost as nimble as a dinghy but vastly more stable: you wouldn 't learn anything about tides and waves on the lake, but goodness you'd learn very quickly about wind shifts and sail handling. Once we are off the mooring you can do all the work and I'll handle the jib and admire the view - I'd expect it to take about ten minutes for you to get on top of it.
Most of my sailing has been at sea, and still is, but Windermere is a fine just-up-the-road compromise with good scenery. And you absolutely don't need to waste money on any special clothing !
I don't think it matters where you start. Just get on any boat, anywhere, and let it all happen. Once you get involved all sorts of oportunities will appear. My experience of people new to seafaring has been that it doesn't matter if they know anything to start with: if they are happy on a boat and enjoying the experience they very rapidly learn how to do things and make themselves useful. Us humans is good at this - it's how everything began.
Most of my sailing has been at sea, and still is, but Windermere is a fine just-up-the-road compromise with good scenery. And you absolutely don't need to waste money on any special clothing !
I don't think it matters where you start. Just get on any boat, anywhere, and let it all happen. Once you get involved all sorts of oportunities will appear. My experience of people new to seafaring has been that it doesn't matter if they know anything to start with: if they are happy on a boat and enjoying the experience they very rapidly learn how to do things and make themselves useful. Us humans is good at this - it's how everything began.
Pirx
Well-Known Member
Perfect: that's all that matters.
Sticky Fingers
Well-Known Member
That's a great offer Superb location.
Had some of my best dinghy sailing in WIndermere.
Superb location.Had some of my best dinghy sailing in WIndermere.
