Challenge : From beginner to fulltime liveaboards.

[Missou]

Hubby and I started our sailing classes with the ASA 101 last June 25th. We have never sailed before and are thinking about buying ourselves a PDQ 36 and becoming fulltime liveaboards by the end of 2012. We are practicing our newly acquired skills every weekend, we will do the ASA 103 on August 6th and 7th and keep on practicing until our club closes for winter sometime in October. We are sailing in the northern part of the Champlain Lake in Vermont.

We will continue our studies during the winter so that we will be ready to resume our courses and our practices next spring as soon as the sailing club reopens. There are 3 courses that we will have to take once we will have purchased our catamaran and there are a lot of books hubby will need to read in order to take care of the catamaran as best as possible.

At first, our plan is to sail in the Caribbean sea to gain as much experience as possible. From there, who knows where the wind will take us.

In your opinion, is this schedule a feasible one?

[thinwater]

Sure, it's doable.

But I admit this always confuses me.
* How do you know you really like sailing and will like it for years to come?
* How do you know you like catamarans? Most don't.
* Do you like hot weather?
* Do you like fixing things?
* Do you like living in a space smaller than a studio apartment?
I think I would take my time learning these answers. No rush.

I learned to sail on small boats...
http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2010/ ... small.html
... and wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I wish I had my first boat back, so much fun.

Big boats are about systems, while small boats are about sailing.

But it's doable.

[Missou]

I understand your way of thinking and I have been asking myself these questions for some time now.
I simply can't wait to get out of the snowy, icy, cold winters we get here in Quebec.
I always hoped to live in a smaller house even if mine isn't that big but I still need a place to relax and a separate shower
I don't mind hot weather but I don't enjoy very high humidity level, especially for a long period of time.
I know I will need a good ventilation system especially on rainy days, I will need plenty of fans every where for those rainy days.
I am not a great fixer upper but Hubby is and if I need to, I don't mind getting my hands dirty.
While on vacation, I've done a sunset cruise on a monohull and a snorkel catamaran tour.
I have some balance issues because of a car accident.
I will love being able to walk on the catamaran while it is underway and to take care of things while Hubby will be navigating.
I will never be able to walk safely on a monohull even when it will be anckored.
I know I love to be on the water having the wind pushing my boat towards the next destination.
I have always been ager to move, to go somewhere, to go the distance.
Do I know if I will love to sail for many years to come?
Of course, I can't be sure I will but knowing me, there is a great probabilty that I will be very happy doing it.
Financially, I am not worried.
I use to be a very active teenager and it all stopped when I was 19 after the car accident.
Sailing will permit me to be more active within my limitations.
I do enjoy learning on a soling 27 which is a raceboat but I prefered the time I spent on a Beneteau 35.
I also enjoyed the Gemini 105 I tryed to navigate for a little while at the Annapolis 2010 sailbaot show.
I spoke to many sailors in the past few years and they all agreed that I will be more happy on a catamaran.
Hubby and I have been together since I was 17.
He has been there for me after my accident and doesn't mind having to make some ajustment to help me live a fuller life.
At first, he prefered the idea of having a monohull, especially because of the pricing issue.
After making some research on the net, he discovered that it was possible to get a used catamaran for a reasonnable price.
I love the PDQ 36 and it pleases me that it has a seperate shower

Thanks for these good questions, it is good to go over them several times before making our move.
It will unable us to build a stronger fondation for our new upcoming challenge.

I will look at your blog tomorrow, thanks for the link.

For now, I will go to sleep.

[maxicrom]

Check out this website: If you haven't already - http://www.zerotocruising.com

They took it a step further and are now on their big adventure - the blog is exactly like the name... and Mike and Rebecca are great folks...

FYI: My wife wanted to live aboard 20 or so years ago and bought a little houseboat, she married into a 1946 42' wooden ketch that we worked on for many years (it's still sailing with the new owner) and we've owned our PDQ for 6 years now and live on it 4 days a week. Taking the plunge is a leap of faith... and PDQ's are very well made boats

[SecondWind]

Join the U.S. or Canadian Sail and Power Squadrons and take all of their courses. Take your time when you cruise, you cannot be on a schedule. If you are still working and trying to follow a time schedule, it will end in disaster. Learn everything you can about weather, oceanography, navigation and other boating related topics, and do it in a formal setting. Try living aboard for shorter time periods and gradually increase your time aboard, you MUST know the boat like the back of your hand. Most of all make a few longer passages onboard (we were going to sail around the world, until we found that we did not like long overnight or multi-night passages.) And last: make sure that it stays fun.

[Missou]

Thanks Drew and Maxicrom for the links to your blogs. I'll pass them on to Hubby. We'll have a lot of reading to do this winter. For now, I am concentrating on my studies to become a good sailor. I still haven't done my ASA 101 written test. I would like to take it next week before starting the ASA 103 class.

Terry, I am already a member of the American Sailing Association and I do plan on taking most of their classes. Even if I won't be able to sail this winter, I will take two courses that need no prerequisite and are classroom based, the coastal and the celestial navigation classes. Next spring, we will start sailing as soon as I can in order to gain as much experience as possible. Hubby and I have driven from Montreal to Miami several times without stopping for the night. I don't think overnight offshore passages will be such a big problem. We will just have to organise ourselves so that we can rest in between shifts. What worries me the most are the times I will need to rest while there is a big storm outside. Hubby can fall asleep a lot faster and with a lot more ease than I can.

Thanks for all your tips and advices, they are all very usefull!!

[thinwater]

A few more thoughts:

* All of the advice is good.
* I love sailing, so don't take me wrong. I can imagine living on the boat and do for a few weeks at a time. If it were not for work and college and setting an example for my kid, I would spend more time away from the dock.
* Boats are humid. They're on the water! However, I've found you get used to that much better than you would think. It helps that you aren't wearing a suit.
* We have a cat, in part, because my wife has balance issues and a knee replacement. They are better in that regard.
* Take a close look at the steps on cats; they vary in how steep they are. We have made some accommodations on our PDQ 32 to address several large steps. Before you buy, go up and down all of the steps (imagine they may be moving underway), crawl onto all of the bunks, and do everything else you might have to. Imagine accommodations that could be made; a handhold or a fold away step.
* I would start with a partial season. Perhaps the reduced commitment would reduce stress. Others need a clean break. Who knows. Not everyone's dream is to sail off into the sunset. My dream would be a few months on the boat, and a few months exploring the rest of the world.

But do SOMETHING! It sounds like your pointed in a good direction.

[Missou]

Thanks Drew, I did notice the step issue on the cats when we visited the sailboat show in Annapolis last october and this is something we will look into very carefully when we'll purchase our catamaran. I too had a knee replacement 3 years ago. I do have a small motor deficiency because of the accident but I learned to live with it in the past 24 years. After all, I am able to move around on a soling 27 which is a racing sailboat; I do not stand up while it is underway, I crawl on it I discovered the PDQ Yachts website and noticed that Mark from Ontario rents his PDQ 36 from September until May. Renting it next year could be a very intersting idea. I'll talk about it with Hubby. As for my girls, I had them young and they are living their lives now. It is my time now

Thanks again

[Allezcat]

Dominique,

My two cents worth says try a "partial" move aboard before commiting to full time. Many Canadian cruisers put their boats on the hard for the Summer months in a Florida boatyard and then move aboard in the Fall to spend the Winter in the Bahamas returning in May before the hurricane season.

Chet White
Allez Cat / PDQ36 Hull #10

[thinwater]

One thing that worked well for us (and even some young fit sailors) is a runt box.

http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2009/ ... rades.html

We move this around and use it as a step.

We've added loops at the top of every staircase, to be used in addition to the hand holds, for a little extra boost.

We've wrapped a lot of the handholds with cotton cord (like the wheel above) to improve grip; not so much on deck as below.

Walking around a Soling is a test for anyone and not necessarily wise. The foredeck of a cat can be pretty lively while underway, but the cockpit and down below are manageable for my wife, even in pretty wild conditions (through she will generally remain seated or in bed if it's really kicking). But it has never been so rough that she could not function when she wanted to.

[mikeandrebecca]

As was mentioned above, my wife Rebecca and I decided to sell everything, buy a boat and head out cruising. At the time we had never even sailed a boat before. We left Canada exactly one year ago today and are currently sitting in Grenada (watching a potential hurricane a bit north of us).

Most of the advice above is OK with the exception of the recommendation to take Power Squadron courses. We took two of them and thought they both sucked. Your mileage may vary.

I say go for it and don't listen to the naysayers... there will be plenty of them!

Mike

[Missou]

Mike, I am so jealous!!! I'd love to be sitting with you under the sun and listening to the waves!
But then again, I am getting ready for my ASA 103 course this coming weekend; I just hope the wind will be with us.
I did compare the Canadian Squadron courses with the ASA ones and found that the ASA offered a more complete instruction.
I also spoke to a chattering owner and he told me that he preferred the ASA certification to the Canadian one.
This winter, while we will be shivering under the snow, we will take the ASA 105 and 107 courses which are coastal and celestial navigation and dream about our futur PDQ cat.
Our Christmas presents will all be related to sailing, I will make sure of that lol!

Drew, I really appreciate all the advices you are giving me, the runt box is a great idea!!
It will unable me to keep my feet flat with a nice 90 degree angle bent of my knee while I'll be at the wheel.
For now, I am making sure my legs stay strong so I can move and use the staircases easily, but I admit that the loops must be very helpful when the sea is not all that calm.
Thank you so much!!

Chet, Hubby and I are sailing every weekend and the more we do it,the more we know that once we'll be on the ocean, there will be no turning back.
Neither one of us will want to go back to living on dry land again.
We are not rich and will keep on working part time but we are financially safe since I am receiving a monthly revenue for the rest of my life; it comes from the Quebec auto insurance.
Sometimes, having had an accident has its perks

Thank you all, this dream will come true!!!