First time sailor

Hey guys, me and my girlfriend are currently saving to get ourselves a Sailing boat
We've never sailed before, but it's always been a dream for us to sail around the world. We were looking at this one boat the other day made of fibreglass but was just too small for us. If we can get any sort of help on the list below we would definitely be most grateful and also look forward to making friends on here. First time on a forum like this So yes very inexperienced but I'm enthusiastic to get into the community and learn more day by the day

1 - We're looking for 26Ft or higher, What are some good recommendations that are under $20,000?
2 - What are some good reads on the subject of sailing that could help and build knowledge
3 - I'm attempting to take a couple lessons. Where's a good start and which course should I consider?
4 - When asking questions about a boat. What are the key questions I should be asking, taking into consideration the use of the boat would be too ''LIve and Sail around the world''
5 - And The last one is. Is there anything else I should know or Experiences of how you guys first got into sailing. Would love to hear your stories

Thanks guys
First time forum Woooooooo!

First take the lessons. personally I would start with a smaller boat and make my way up. Lots of sailing schools. Where do you live.?Once my boat is in the water i will be doing an introduction to sailing at Mooloolaba in a manageable keel boat. You can check my posts on here. I currently own a small Swanson Dart day sailor.Swanson bros made good ocean going boats(much larger than mine off course) and are a good start.
Just a foot note...The less you spend on a boat the more you will tend to have to spend. A rule of thumb not law. You can still spend a lot of money on a boat and be up for lots more. Some guys on here are quite experienced ocean sailors and I have been very impressed with the knowledge that they share on here. If you find a boat post it on here and get an opinion.

i started sailing in the 70's on an 8 foot catamaran identical to the one below and have been hooked since. Off course you don't need to start that small I was a young boy at the time.


Then after a few upgrades over the years went to this an 18 m square Rocket ship capable of towing a water skier behind it.

from there i went to "slowmohulls.' (mono hulls).
Hope I have been some help.
look at a Swanson 28 or if the budget allows a Swanson 36 There are so many different makes out there in fiberglass not including steel and Fero designs as well.
Good luck.

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andy59 said..
Go to your local club and sign up as a crew

nocto , take note of andys advice , he has done what you dream of doing .

Hey Nocto,

Welcome to the forum. What state are you in?

My wife and I had a similar dream to yourself and then decided to trial living at sea for a few months first before committing to buying a yacht, realised it wasn't for us and both for different reasons. I suggest you prototype the lifestyle before jumping in completely, along my journey I met a lot of people who had the same idea and then after trailing it then found it also wasn't for them. Sailing isn't like what you see on youtube, it is fantastic but be mindful those episodes tend to be the best 15 minutes over a week, easy to make anything look good in that timeframe.

In terms of where to start, heres a thread prepared earlier: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Advice-for-a-novice

If you do get serious about buying your own yacht, don't limit yourself to Australia, a lot of people buy internationally and then sail back to Aus. Buying in the Mediterranean or Caribbean may be a better place to start your journey in calmer waters and day sails between countries, also a lot more yachts for sale so prices can be cheaper. (www.yachtworld.com) is always nice for window shopping but look into foreign taxes before buying.

Also as the advice above states, start small, you can pick up a decent 20ft keel boat for <$3000, use this to practice breaking things and fixing things before moving up. You will get a better understanding of sail trim on a small yacht as every inch of movement in the line creates a noticeable speed difference. Also learn from others, go down to the local club and chat to people there, you can crew on twilight sails and races for free and chat to people first hand who have lived your dream.

All the best mate, hope its everything you're looking for!

There are a few steps, some easy some not.
Visit sailing club and crew on twilight races, you don't have to join the club.
Get a boat licence and complete coastal course .
Dont save just for the boat, you need 2 piggy bags, one for the boat, second for mooring, maintenance & usage.
The rest is easy , a/ maintenance . repair 3 times, b/ a few hours sailing c/ repeat a.

Lots of good advices above but here is one undeniable fact.

The cheapest boat to go sailing on is someone elses boat.

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andy59 said..
Go to your local club and sign up as a crew

Doing that I found could be quite intimidating ,especially if you have a gun crew and an owner that can be quite aggressive in his delivery of commands and you have absolutely no idea whats going on.Especially in a stiff breeze. But certainly a very good idea if you want to learn more after the basics. You may have to put up with being a pleb as I was for awhile.It can be a bit of a boys club on the big dollar boats so aim for the more modest fleets. I think learn the basics first with someone that can give you a more intimate experience with the art of sailing. It can be a very romantic idea sailing around the world but like all dreams you can be woken up abruptly to the real world quite quickly. You need to "be prepared" .The old Boy Scout Motto is never truer when sailing.

or thing outside the square

www.theyachtmarket.com/en/boat-for-sale/1523920/

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Madmouse said..
I dont actually think crewing on keelers is a good way to learn to sail. The tasks are very limited.

Better off getting an off the beach dinghy to learn sailing then a basic keeler to learn boat handling once you have the basics.

Good luck with your dream!

Some people don't have the patience to take the small steps first, the dream has to start NOW.

Pretty down to earth summary of cruising expenses

While I learnt to sail in dinghy's I found my second yacht a Compass 28 was a nice boat to start some coastal cruising in and I learn't a lot on it, not to big that it will get out of hand on you and seemed to be built pretty strong the previous owner had taken it to Fiji and back. Should be able to pick something up well under your budget but try find something that's had the engine & wiring replaced as I found the standard Yanmar YSE8 to be a pain although very simple another bonus would be if they have had a proper ladder fitted. From memory I sold mine with new rigging for 13k and picked it up for around 7.5k needed new standing rigging and minor work to engine (a service and new battery).

The other thing I like about them is that they are simple with a keel that is part of the hull and a tiller there's not really much to worry about except for skin fittings and stern gland + you can give them a light grounding on sand or mud without causing thousands of damage.

If you want to avoid a common faux pas, there's no ropes on a sail boat. Each one has a specific name and the reason for it is when you are yelling 'grab that rope' and there are 10 different ones next to each other, guarantee the wrong rope gets pulled. Once you know what they are all called life is easy, we banned the word rope on our yacht while we were learning to accelerate the process, I also found reading sailing books helped me learn the lingo.

Agree with the above that other peoples boats are cheaper, but nothing makes you learn faster than when your ass is on the line, after doing a few lessons and going out on others boats I bought one of these: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/riverside/sail-boats/red-jacket-trailer-sailer/1168643679 , the first time I pushed off from the docks I realized how little I really knew. Great little boat, cheap to fix yourself and you can practice all the big boat skills in it, yet still small enough to man handle.

Lastly, if you and your partner are backpacking I would look into www.findacrew.net/ I put a profile on here and had 6 skippers contact me within a week offering for me to come aboard, I have heard of stories of people traveling the entire world on this entire service for free. If I was in your shoes I would seriously consider this as an option to 'test the waters'.

Well, nocto2018, you write that you are looking for friends but you and a few other new members like jake888, LesHewitt, junek just to mention a few - don't even give us the common courtesy to fill in your personal pages so we would know, at least your state of residence!? Hey?

It is pretty undesirable to make friends of people without any background whatsoever.

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Jake888 said..

sirgallivant said..
Well, nocto2018, you write that you are looking for friends but you and a few other new members like jake888, LesHewitt, junek just to mention a few - don't even give us the common courtesy to fill in your personal pages so we would know, at least your state of residence!? Hey?

It is pretty undesirable to make friends of people without any background whatsoever.

Sure your heart is in the right place but maybe we choose to keep it blank because we don't like our information in the public domain. . .

I just don't get the time for personal bio stuff note it still says I'm in Qld for the past 3 years and that's incorrect.

The only issue I find with the drop in posters is that they tend to just drift away.
"Our dream is to sail around the world in a small 20k boat" no sailing experience or experience fixing or repairing boats.
Witnessed a few very run down yachts sell in the past month by wanna be dreamers and I Worry about there future and how things will end.
I live on a 42 foot yacht and still can't find enough space for myself!
Its nice to dream but in reality it doesn't always work out.

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simmrr said..

Everyone can dream and it is possible. Just depends what you are willing to live with.

The vid has important things to note even though they make it look easy. They have good sailing experience, local knowledge and good planning.

Hunter 19. That's a particularly small 19 footer too! Sail well though and seaworthy. Good video.