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Sailing

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Any sailing enthusiasts on the Yard?

I frequently think about what I do when I retire. I'm about 15 years away still. I've considered buying an RV. Living minimally and traveling the country.

I was just thinking sailing may be a neat idea as well. With 15 years to go I have enough time to gain the proper experience. Start with some ASA classes. See if it's something I might like to do.

I'd like to sail from Duluth to NYC. Maybe down to the Caribbean. Stuff like that.

Any sailors on the Yard? Good idea? Bad idea? General thoughts.
 

TRest

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My kids bought me a weekend of sailing lessons with the Yale team a couple of years ago. It was very enjoyable but I found I needed to be in much better physical shape to really get around on the little racing boats. Yale's team offers beginner and advanced lessons, I don't know if they did it last summer but I would assume they could start it up again, facility was in East Haven I think?
 
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Is it really possible to sail from Duluth to NYC? What's the route?
Yeah, you have 3 options
1. Erie Canal (smaller boats)
2. St Lawrence Seaway (major shipping lanes from Great Lakes to Ocean)
3. Lake Champlain Shortcut (smaller boats)


Side Note: These routes (in particular the erie canal) had a major impact on the history of NY and NYC. The Erie canal turned NYC into the major port in the United States. Gave NYC access to the Great Lakes and the interior of the country. Before that, New Orleans had the best access to the interior of the country through the Mississippi River.
 
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My kids bought me a weekend of sailing lessons with the Yale team a couple of years ago. It was very enjoyable but I found I needed to be in much better physical shape to really get around on the little racing boats. Yale's team offers beginner and advanced lessons, I don't know if they did it last summer but I would assume they could start it up again, facility was in East Haven I think?
Yeah, that's one of my reservations. I'm not sure sailing is the best hobby for the 60 year old version of me. Might be a bit demanding.

Been considering classes as well. I'd take them in Minneapolis and the Duluth area.
 
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I've been a liveaboard for the last 13 years... If you can do your own maintenance and work... Highly recommend it...
Your comment about doing your own maintenance. Is that for financial reasons? Too expensive otherwise?
 

TRest

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Yeah, that's one of my reservations. I'm not sure sailing is the best hobby for the 60 year old version of me. Might be a bit demanding.

Been considering classes as well. I'd take them in Minneapolis and the Duluth area.
My understanding is the basic principles you learn on the small boats will apply to the bigger ones. If you are looking to retire/live on a cruiser, the physical aspects won't come into play as much as the boats aren't going to tip absent a disaster. With the little ones, you are scuttling around on your hands and knees, maneuvering with another person on board, etc. I was probably 58 when I did it and everybody in the class was younger.
 
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Yeah, that's one of my reservations. I'm not sure sailing is the best hobby for the 60 year old version of me. Might be a bit demanding.

Been considering classes as well. I'd take them in Minneapolis and the Duluth area.
Start now with lessons and get a small boat to learn on. Start with a used sunfish for $1000 and work your way up - by the time you're sixty you'll be aboard your 40-foot retirement dream with substantially less physical exertion to hurt yourself and infinitely more skills to save your arse.
 
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Start now with lessons and get a small boat to learn on. Start with a used sunfish for $1000 and work your way up - by the time you're sixty you'll be aboard your 40-foot retirement dream with substantially less physical exertion to hurt yourself and infinitely more skills to save your arse.
Yeah. That's what I'm thinking as well. Or determine it's not for me after some lessons.

I've done some sailing on a sunfish in the past. It was cool. Tipped it in some heavier winds. It was fun, but can't say I've done it enough to concretely say it's for me.
 
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Are small sailboats really that expensive to maintain? I'm ignorant here, but living on on the shoreline I've thought about getting a small used sailboat (far) down the line. It seems therapeutic as hell.
 
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Are small sailboats really that expensive to maintain? I'm ignorant here, but living on on the shoreline I've thought about getting a small used sailboat (far) down the line. It seems therapeutic as hell.
I went on one once in Long Island Sound off New Haven Harbor, and felt queasy or I guess, seasick. It buffeted about and I didn't like the experience. I was not the skipper, but just a passenger. Maybe your stomach is stronger than mine.

Also, the sails had to be adjusted periodically and I was asked to help. A sailor I am not. So, it is not like you are on yacht or a tour boat where you can just sit there and take in the scenery.

Find a friend who has one and see how it works out for you.
 

HuskyHawk

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I love boats. Sailing or otherwise. Never sailed anything bigger than a sunfish on Coventry lake. But I love the wind and the spray and the feeling of it. A Pirate Looks at 40 is my theme. I’d love to get a boat and sail, but my wife doesn’t like boats. I could do it anyway, but that doesn’t seem a good recipe.

I would like to know more about the cost of a small, ocean going sailboat or small sport fishing boat. Not open ocean, but Buzzards Bay and Nantucket Sound. Falmouth to the Vineyard perhaps.
 

gtcam

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Sailed for many years on the CT lakes and on Cape Cod - sailed Buzzards Bay the most.
It's an expensive hobby if you can't do it year round
Miss it but don't miss the upkeep and expenses
 

Baltic

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I have been a sailboat owner and sailed all through New England and helped deliver boats up and down the East Coast. Sold the boat a number of years ago and chartered in different places, Caribbean, Pacific Northwest, etc. also was an ASA instructor in Mystic.
Chartering allowed varying experiences in different locales on boats I would otherwise never experience. There are Learn To Sail Chartering opportunities.
I loved sailing but the bucket trip you envision would be best be done in a Trawler. You don’t go fast, but the Trawlers are sea worthy and much roomier than an equivalent sailboat would be. Also pretty fuel efficient. Even in a sailboat you would be surprised as to how often you would travel under power. I know a number of people who have done the circle up the coast, through the Erie Canal, Great Lakes and down the Mississippi.
the other advantage of the Trawler on this circle is that you don’t have to dismantle your mast in those areas where there is a height restriction.
 
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Are small sailboats really that expensive to maintain? I'm ignorant here, but living on on the shoreline I've thought about getting a small used sailboat (far) down the line. It seems therapeutic as hell.
Uf it is fiberglass and on a trailer the cost is pretty much nil once you make the original purchase.
 
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I sailed growing up at my parents yacht club, and then taught sailing during the summer when I was in college. My dream has always been to retire on a catamaran and sail around the bahamas / British Virgin Islands (the most unreal place in the world) during the winter, and then sail up the east coast back to CT for the summer. I’m only 25 though so I still have 40 more years to go lol. Nothing better in life than being out on the water
 
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Are small sailboats really that expensive to maintain? I'm ignorant here, but living on on the shoreline I've thought about getting a small used sailboat (far) down the line. It seems therapeutic as hell.
Not really. There’s not much that can go wrong on a sailboat if you take good care of it. Your biggest cost would be replacing the sails every few years which would be a couple grand. But if you aren’t using your boat for racing (there are a few “leagues” on Wednesday nights down here in the Mystic/Groton area) then you could extend their life quite a bit longer.
 

Fishy

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If you want to learn to hate an inanimate object, buy a boat or a BMW.

Living on a boat, however, sounds appealing.


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