# Sailboats



## Myechtatel (Apr 26, 2011)

So my girlfriend and I really wanted to build a cabin this winter but it seems like with the price of land it would be a better idea to get a sailboat. I've heard of travelers getting sailboats and sailing the coasts because it's very cheap living. Has anyone done this, know anyone that's done this, had any experience with sailboats at all? I figure I can pick one up for a couple grand and we'll basically live on it. We can go into town wherever and whenever we want to busk and get food. Is this completely unrealistic or pretty common?:arrgh:


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## wokofshame (Apr 26, 2011)

check this video out, the same kid has a zine also Moxie Marlinspike on Vimeo
its totally doable
i forget the zine name, but Microcosmpublishing.com might have it i think?


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## Myechtatel (Apr 27, 2011)

im like 5 minutes into this. it looks great so far. better than anything ive found on youtube. thanks so much!


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## Heron (Apr 28, 2011)

man, i've always wanted to grab a sailboat, some friends and some supplies and go sailing around the world. lots more anarchy to be had on the high seas than on land.


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## Diagaro (Apr 28, 2011)

@heron. Yea? that simple huh?
Wish I had known all the times I have had boats and able bodies at my disposal.
To think just that simple "go sailing"


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## Myechtatel (Apr 29, 2011)

haha. yeah i definitely don't want to just jump into it because i know there's a lot to sailing. wind, water direction, sails and cables to mess with, anchors, rutters, sand bars, storms, not knowing where the fuck you are, etc. it's not like driving a car where theres two pedals, a wheel and the road. sailing is hard and im prepared for a lot of trial and error. either way, no one's really helped except MURT. any additional info or experience would be great.


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## Heron (Apr 29, 2011)

Diagaro said:


> @heron. Yea? that simple huh?
> Wish I had known all the times I have had boats and able bodies at my disposal.
> To think just that simple "go sailing"


 
maybe i should detail every prerequisite to sailing in a post that's point is just to show that i like the idea of hitting the open seas


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## Heron (Apr 29, 2011)

fuck lack of editing posts

Sail Away - Steal This Wiki


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## SkyeDawg (Apr 29, 2011)

There were a couple tall-masted sailing ships parked in the harbor here a few weeks ago. Seemed like a bunch of rainbow kids on board. They all had the crazy ass haircuts that only woods kids sport...


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## Myechtatel (Apr 29, 2011)

Heron said:


> fuck lack of editing posts
> 
> Sail Away - Steal This Wiki


 
thank you that was very helpful. i dont know why i cant find shit like that through google.


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## Diagaro (May 6, 2011)

Myechtatel said:


> "cables"
> "Sailing is hard and im prepared for a lot of trial and error. either way, no one's really helped except MURT. any additional info or experience would be great."



What? I think you mean "LINES" rope on a boat is called "lines" steel cables are usualy called stays or just generaly refered to as "rigging" or "gear" 

And as for "trial and error. you have little to no margin for error. an error at sea means death. Do your self a favor and read some books about sailing start with sailing for dummies. Join some forums like sailinganarchy.com
wiki the fuck outta some shit, some usefull terms to saerch are parts of a boat, sailing lingo/jargon.
Watch some youtube videos search "rough weather sailing" the BTglobal is a good one, watch some movies liek POTC and master and commander water world etc,. once you can spot bullshit hollywood fuckups and understand the mortal threat of piloting a vessel - not to just your self but to those that you take as your crew THEN and only then start to entertain these asinine ventures of yours as possible.
If you wanna kill your self I can show you more creative and less wasteful ways but to jeopardize others both on your boat and on to other boats thats not fucking cool, more than likely your not gonna run into another boat, but the brave and unfortunate coast guard that brave the choppy seas to rescue your dumbass are innocent in all this. 
On one hand yes you can teach your self to sail with no Knowledge to start with, but you have to be competent to start off, and this thread shows that you are not competent to even drive a 5hp scooter on the sidewalk.
end rant.



Myechtatel said:


> thank you that was very helpful. i dont know why i cant find shit like that through google.


 
'Cause you don't try. thats why you will fail as a sailor. people survive failing at riding freight, the oceans are not man made, she is not forgiving, she is a greedy spiteful homewrecking widowmaker.


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## cranberrydavid (May 9, 2011)

Myechtatel said:


> Is this completely unrealistic or pretty common?:arrgh:



It's not unrealistic, but it's usually guys who know boats to start with who make it work. There's just a whole lot to learn, and it's best to first learn the basics by sailing with sombody who already knows what they're doing. 

Shit happens fast on the water, especially off shore, and it's easy to freeze when you've never been that close to death before. Then it's kind of nice to have an asshole skipper who's a combat vet and can whip your ass into action. That's why the Coast Guard requires 360 days of sea time before they give you a basic license, and another 360 of off-shore time before they'll give you a near-coastal license. There's a lot that you can (and should) learn from books, but it doesn't do any good if you forget it all when the shit comes down. 

In general, always plan 3 or 4 moves ahead, always have 3 or 4 fallback plans, always know the weather 2 or 3 days out (here's a good site for that: SailFlow.com - MD - chesapeake Wind Data). Here's some other links I put up a while ago that are pretty useful: http://squattheplanet.com/general-discussion/useful-links/12415-free-nautical-charts.html

Also, I ought to warn you about girlfriends and boats. The odds aren't good of keeping both. On a boat the skipper needs to be the absolute authority. But sooner or later your girlfriend will probably say something like "don't use that tone with me!" Usually while the boat is sinking and you're trying to get her to grab another 5 gallon bucket and help you bail. There's a thousand stories like that. Just letting you know.....


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## Diagaro (May 9, 2011)

cranberrydavid said:


> also, i ought to warn you about girlfriends and boats. The odds aren't good of keeping both. On a boat the skipper needs to be the absolute authority. But sooner or later your girlfriend will probably say something like "don't use that tone with me!" usually while the boat is sinking and you're trying to get her to grab another 5 gallon bucket and help you bail. There's a thousand stories like that. Just letting you know.....


 
I laffed so hard I cried!


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## Myechtatel (May 9, 2011)

Diagaro said:


> And as for "trial and error. you have little to no margin for error. an error at sea means death. Do your self a favor and read some books about sailing start with sailing for dummies. Join some forums like sailinganarchy.com
> wiki the fuck outta some shit, some usefull terms to saerch are parts of a boat, sailing lingo/jargon.
> Watch some youtube videos search "rough weather sailing" the BTglobal is a good one, watch some movies liek POTC and master and commander water world etc,. once you can spot bullshit hollywood fuckups and understand the mortal threat of piloting a vessel - not to just your self but to those that you take as your crew THEN and only then start to entertain these asinine ventures of yours as possible.
> If you wanna kill your self I can show you more creative and less wasteful ways but to jeopardize others both on your boat and on to other boats thats not fucking cool, more than likely your not gonna run into another boat, but the brave and unfortunate coast guard that brave the choppy seas to rescue your dumbass are innocent in all this.
> ...



Well I know you weren't trying to be helpful but I did learn something from this. There are sailors(if you even are a sailor) that resemble the majority of trainhoppers. You know a little bit of uncommon knowledge and think you're just so cool. You're unwilling to help anyone else because in order to be cool there can't be a thousand people knowing about it. But yet you like to act like what you do is so much better than everyone else and they should all do what you do. Also, you're arrogant and like to make things seem more dangerous than they are because dangerous is cool. To think that someone would go buy a boat and take it out with absolutely no knowledge or training is just ridiculous. Not saying there aren't people out there who would do it but I don't recall saying "hey i have no knowledge of sailing and im gonna buy a boat and sail. any ideas?". I didn't even say I was going to do it. I wasn't asking for sailing lessons. I simply asked if anyone does this and if they do, share some experience. 
No one has even said if they've done it, if they know anyone who's done it, or if they somehow know how to do it. I'm just being bombarded with useless sailing advice which in all likeliness you know as much as I do.


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## cranberrydavid (May 9, 2011)

Myechtatel said:


> No one has even said if they've done it, if they know anyone who's done it, or if they somehow know how to do it. I'm just being bombarded with useless sailing advice which in all likeliness you know as much as I do.



Hey man, you're asking for advice on a public internet forum about a way of life that's below-the-radar. What do you expect?

I was trying to be helpful. I gave you a few good pointers and good links based on personal experience. But if you're going to talk shit to the people who take the trouble to reply to you, I guess I don't have much more to say. 

Good luck!

By the way, Diagaro's reply did have attitude, but I think it was meant to be helpful too. It contained a lot of truth, and it had experience behind it. If you read through it again and some of the other boat threads I think you'll see what I mean.


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## Myechtatel (May 9, 2011)

^Don't get me wrong, your post was helpful. And even if it wasn't, at least you were contributing. Diagaro, however, wasn't. And it's shit like that that was all too common on the train forum. As far as experience, thank you for sharing yours. But like I said, Diagaro didn't even mention if he had any or if he was just talking out his ass based on shit he read somewhere. All in all I'm a lot more interested in the living on a boat aspect than the actual sailing. I thought that would've been apparent due to the fact that I posted the thread in "squatting and alternative housing" and not a sailing forum.


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## cranberrydavid (May 9, 2011)

Myechtatel said:


> And it's shit like that that was all too common on the train forum.


This is a little off topic, but in my opinion the trainhopping forum was killed as much by the arrogance of the people demanding information as by the arrogance of the people who were replying.


> Diagaro didn't even mention if he had any or if he was just talking out his ass based on shit he read somewhere.


 Look, when you're talking to people who are living a life of stealth like squatting, trainhopping, liveaboard/sneekaboarding you can't expect them to give you a resume. Part of the reason people are sometimes willing to answer these questions at all is because they are anonymous. I've followed Diagaro's posts for a while and exchanged a couple PM's. From what I've seen he knows his shit, but you've got to judge for yourself. Either way there's nothing to be gained by talking shit to somebody who took the trouble to reply to you and may be able to help you. If you don't like the advice, all you gotta do is ignore it. 



> All in all I'm a lot more interested in the living on a boat aspect than the actual sailing. I thought that would've been apparent due to the fact that I posted the thread in "squatting and alternative housing" and not a sailing forum.





> I've heard of travelers getting sailboats and sailing the coasts because it's very cheap living. Has anyone done this, know anyone that's done this, had any experience with sailboats at all?



This is where I got the idea you were planning to do some serious sailing. On the west coast we see a lot of boats lost, especially between San Francisco and Puget Sound, because there's a prevailing onshore flow, and very few safe harbor entrances in a storm. That's why everybody was worrying about how much experience you had (which, by the way, you never said).

Now if you're looking to liveaboard more than travel, I'd suggest you look at a small cabin cruiser. Of my friends who liveaboard, it's split about half and half, but the cruisers are a lot better laid out for living, both on deck and below decks, they don't cost as much to keep up. If you don't plan on using the sails regularly, sailboats just aren't worth it in my opinion (though they do blend in well in some areas if you're looking for stealth). If you're just moving occasionally you can easily bum the fuel. Just tell the neighbors you're not coming back!


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## Myechtatel (May 10, 2011)

cranberrydavid said:


> This is a little off topic, but in my opinion the trainhopping forum was killed as much by the arrogance of the people demanding information as by the arrogance of the people who were replying.


I never said the arrogance itself killed the train forum. I simply said it was all too common. I agree that there were a lot of people asking stupid questions and not taking responsibility. But like I said, douchebag know-it-alls posting snide replies to questions from newbies is all too common Not just on the train forum but on STP in general. It's like they forget that they were there once and really valued information from those who had experience. There's not a lot of info out there about squatting, hopping, hitching, etc. it's really a grassroots type movement and should be treated as such. You have to be willing to share information. 


cranberrydavid said:


> Either way there's nothing to be gained by talking shit to somebody who took the trouble to reply to you and may be able to help you.


 there's a big difference between "taking the time to reply" and trolling because you don't have anything else to do. 





cranberrydavid said:


> This is where I got the idea you were planning to do some serious sailing. On the west coast we see a lot of boats lost, especially between San Francisco and Puget Sound, because there's a prevailing onshore flow, and very few safe harbor entrances in a storm. That's why everybody was worrying about how much experience you had (which, by the way, you never said).
> 
> Now if you're looking to liveaboard more than travel, I'd suggest you look at a small cabin cruiser. Of my friends who liveaboard, it's split about half and half, but the cruisers are a lot better laid out for living, both on deck and below decks, they don't cost as much to keep up. If you don't plan on using the sails regularly, sailboats just aren't worth it in my opinion (though they do blend in well in some areas if you're looking for stealth). If you're just moving occasionally you can easily bum the fuel. Just tell the neighbors you're not coming back!


 What initially drew me to sailboats was the fact that it didn't require money to move it from place to place, much unlike a car. So I would definitely do everything I could to not use fuel. I've looked at a lot of cruisers and I'm thinking a 25 to 30 foot cruiser would be ideal and can be picked up for 1,000 to 10,000 dollars. I'm currently in Florida so I see a lot of boats as well and craigslist is just full of them so I don't think that will be a problem. But I'm definitely not in a rush. It's gonna take a while to get the money together and I want to travel the states more before I settle down.


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## cranberrydavid (May 10, 2011)

Myechtatel said:


> What initially drew me to sailboats was the fact that it didn't require money to move it from place to place, much unlike a car.



Yeah, sail is really cool that way. It takes a while to really figure it all out, to figure out what the wind is doing at different heights, what the tide is doing, what the currents are doing, both on the surface and down at keel depth, and how to work all the forces against each other to get where you are going, or to learn the patience to wait till the conditions are in your favor. But when you finally master it enough to get where you want to go, there's a real sense of freedom. 

But it's exactly like learning to hang glide in that it's totally possible to teach yourself if you've got a safe place, a lot of time, and a willingness to take some lumps, but it's better to have a teacher before you go jumping off of cliffs.


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## cranberrydavid (May 10, 2011)

...but on your other point...


Myechtatel said:


> I never said the arrogance itself killed the train forum.


No, it was me who said that. What I saw was maybe a dozen or two people who knew what they were talking about and where really trying to help (though sometimes with an attitude), another group of people who wanted to learn and were appreciative of whatever knowledge was shared, a handful of trolls (of course trolls are everywhere and you just ignore them), and an growing mob of kids who thought there was a "secret" besides putting in the work to learn everything you can about trains. Hell, I'm an old fart and a lot of my knowledge is 20 years out of date, but if I tried to help somebody out with a word or two I'd get flooded with PM's asking me to hold their hand and give them the "secret". So I didn't help so much anymore. 



> But like I said, douchebag know-it-alls posting snide replies to questions from newbies is all too common Not just on the train forum but on STP in general. It's like they forget that they were there once and really valued information from those who had experience.


But that's exactly my point! Some of the greatest wisdom I ever received was from crusty old-timers who said things to me like "Goddamn greenhorn! Don't you have a fucking brain in your head? You'll get yourself killed doing that, and it'll serve you right!" If you'd sit down and listen to guys like that you'd usually learn something, but if you'd diss them and call them arrogant they'll just shut up, and then say "I told him" when you fuck up.




> There's not a lot of info out there about squatting, hopping, hitching, etc. it's really a grassroots type movement and should be treated as such. You have to be willing to share information.


*NO YOU DON'T!* If you work hard to learn something, that knowledge is yours. Sometimes I think it's the only thing you really own. I like to share information and to help out when I can, which is why I check in here at StP from time to time, but *IT'S MY CHOICE* whether I want to share what I've learned with somebody or not! Jesus! I just don't understand where this sense of entitlement comes from! 
And i want to make it clear I don't just mean you. But sometimes I feel like just purging my password and never logging on here again, which is what happened in one form or another to most of the wisdom pool of the trainhopping forum, which is a shame because there are some people who really want to learn, and others who really want to help.

I apologize for the rant. This has been building up for a while.
I hope you find a good boat.


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## Diagaro (May 10, 2011)

In this thread witch I answered in a relatively better mood and it counts that I have had extensive dealings with Anyways I spilled my guts a little more anyone know about living on boats theres your answers
I'm too fucking stoned to try and cross reference and properly argue points in this thread anymore. one thing that sticks out in my fuddled mind is that yea I see alot of people that significantly and sometimes happily and untroolishly posted helpful knowledge - most are listed as "FORMER MEMBER"
or "I'M A DBAG AND GOT BANNED"
I'm going for Dbag B& as I don't give up easily, not even on annoying or ignorant people, not pointing a finger , just saying.


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## Earth (May 10, 2011)

Man, there's some excellent points being made here all around - and not just on sailing either, but I'll throw in my 2 cents if I may (and I hope I'm not repeating anything as I did not read every post here). I've been kayaking since say 1975 thru 1983, then steadly for the last 5 years. Evrything from lakes to white water to tidal rivers to open water. I've been tempted to put a sail rig on one of my longer ocean going kayaks (AIRE Sea Tiger II, which incidently is the ultimate travel boat too) but then my woman last year mentioned she wanted to get into sailing. I said ok - and a miracle occured - I found a 1965 Sunfish - in real good shape - at a real good price - right at the other end of our street - and bought it. Know how many times she aksed about using it?? None. Because she wanted a $150k trimaran, which she could live on. I would argue that it's best to start out small, real small, learn the basics - then build from there. All I got in return was a blank stare. It's obvious as to who grew up rich and who grew up poor as she split from me / here because she couldn't take having to put in work. Anyway, I'm getting a trailer for the Sunfish and am gonna use it later this summer / fall in the Long Island Sound. Incidently I kayak up to 5.5 miles straight out into to an area called the Middle Grounds Light / Stratford Shoals - which is a late 1800's gothic style lighthouse on a rock thats less than an acre in size. Sailboats are no joke - they are great when everything's sorta predictable - but if you are dealing with changing / variable winds - you can get cracked in the head by a boom real fast if not paying attention - or capsised even... Definately make sure you know what you are getting yourself into, and don't expect to sail the world your first season. I trained for 2 solid years on a long tidal river before I even thought of crossing the L.I. Sound in a kayak mainly for endurance and physically being able to be in one for 6 hours at a time. I even got some drunks in a big sport fishing boat to make as violent as a wake as possible to simulate rough water. Now, I'm comfortable in up to 4 foot seas way way off-shore. And what's really crazy is I do all my trips solo. Many talk the talk, have crazy expensie kevelar boats - but they never actually use them, for they are more into the 'social scene' as opposed the real deal. Try to find some folks in your area who are sailing actively - or who used too - as to old knowledge is sometimes better than new. I worked on a couple of fishing boats out of Sheepshead Bay back in my youth, and that knowledge has stuck with me for life. PS: as a final note, my woman split for Seattle, where she plans to sail signs - but I've got a 10 to 15 year plan where if I do it right, I'll be dumping this studio and buying for cash a nice big catamaran live-a-board sail boat. By then I'll have accumulated much experience on different size boats (starting with the Sunfish this year, maybe a Hobie Cat next year) as I know you've got to start small to learn the basics. GOOD LUCK !!


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## Myechtatel (May 10, 2011)

cranberrydavid said:


> *NO YOU DON'T!* If you work hard to learn something, that knowledge is yours. Sometimes I think it's the only thing you really own. I like to share information and to help out when I can, which is why I check in here at StP from time to time, but *IT'S MY CHOICE* whether I want to share what I've learned with somebody or not! Jesus! I just don't understand where this sense of entitlement comes from!
> And i want to make it clear I don't just mean you. But sometimes I feel like just purging my password and never logging on here again, which is what happened in one form or another to most of the wisdom pool of the trainhopping forum, which is a shame because there are some people who really want to learn, and others who really want to help.
> 
> I apologize for the rant. This has been building up for a while.
> I hope you find a good boat.


Yeah I completely agree with that. I think you misunderstood. My point is that while it's extremely common for travelers to say that others should do what they're doing in order to avoid working, etc; when questions on how to do so, they refuse to give answers. that's what i think is stupid and hypocritical.


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## hamikman (May 15, 2011)

Can't resist putting in my $0.02. I just finished replying to someone else's similar question on another thread. Its there if you're interested in my opinion on aquiring a boat. I liveaboard a smal sailboat in British Columbia. Sailed it offshore south to SF last fall and brought her home this spring. Like the other guys here with boat knowledge I think you have to learn a lot of shit before you head out onto the ocean. Even SF Bay (especially actually) can be deadly. If you're going to coastal cruise w coast there's few places to run and hide so you have to know what you're doing. Off shore can be more violent but there's a lot less to hit. On Canadian w coast lots of islands etc making for excellent gunkholing etc. But I digress. If you want to get some experience really the best thing is to make friends with sailors. Take beer, food, cook etc, etc and get them to take you sailing and get you to do hands on work. Taking coast gaurd courses etc will do a ton of good too. Theres a lot of reading to do as well. Sorry to burst your baloon but it nothing like pirates of the caribean. Theres also the whole culture of long distance crewing. There are many skippers with boats too big for them and wife etc to handle alone (stupid fucks with little dicks but thats a whole other topic) and so they want crew for thier trip to Hawaii or Tonga or even down the coast to SD or where ever. These guys will often take inexperienced people and teach them the ropes so to speak. What they will teach will be minimal though and it would be up to that person to try and absorb as much as they can. These skippers typically want a deck monkey to pull, scrape, paint, cook and do that trick at the wheel in the wee hours. All that said it can be a great experience on the right boat so if you can cook, have a basic mechanical knowledge like your average guy its not impossible to get these gigs. Its actually a fairly common way of getting to New Zealand or where ever for some people. There used to be a book published called "The Seagoing Hitchhikers Guide". There's likely a website about it. There are definitely websites for getting crewing positions. It can be competitive- for example if a greenhorn and I were wanting the same crewing position - guess who'd get it? Unless that greenhorn looked like Marisa Tomei, cooked like Martha Stewart and was a sex adict. Ya thats right, women get crewing positions quite easily. Hope that was some help.


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## Diagaro (May 15, 2011)

Also a greenhorn will get grabbed over a seasoned salt (from what I've heard) 'cause the greenhorn is a blank slate adn will not do in leu of what the cap'n wants, what he'd/she'd been learned on a previous cap'ns boat - I.e., you don't wanna take set in stone knowledge on someones boat as it will almost alwase be THE WRONG way to do the deed in question.
applied experience: purse sainer in puget sound fall of '09


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## Shannon (May 18, 2011)

Hi! I don't claim to know much, but maybe I can help? I crewed some on cruisers around Palau and Philippines. 

First, a really good resource for learning the very basics of sailing is the Cal Sailing Club in Berkeley. Seventy-five dollars and three hours of volunteering gives you three months of unlimited hands-on sailing instruction with their dinghies, and, eventually, keelboats. I don't know of such a deal anywhere--if you're serious about this, it would be worth relocating to the Bay temporarily. They're good folks.

Second, if you just want a cheap place to stay, research marinas where you can dock your boat. I wouldn't expect less than a hundred or more a month even in the boondocks (and that may be in areas with no facilities, where you're basically squatting), and much more in population centers. But again, others know better.


Third, you might want to preview the lifestyle beforehand. There is NO PERSONAL SPACE on a 37- to 45- ft sailboat (that's the size you're looking at). No space for aerobic activity, really, either, unless you like swimming in the surrounding waters or jogging in one place.
Finding a gig on cruisers is all about who you know, so make connections with other fellas at the dock. The Seafaring Hitch-hiker's Handbook, referenced earlier, is outdated by now (I read it while on my second yacht). Most anybody can be taught anything, the yacht owners are looking for someone that they can comfortably share a very small space with. Likewise, get to really know the person that you'll be working for before accepting any position--you're putting your life into his hands. It should be someone you can get along with well under the most trying circumstances, who won't screw you over. 

I could stand to be corrected. Hopefully this might be somewhat helpful to ya.


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## hamikman (May 18, 2011)

Shannon- that sounds like excellent advice. The berkely place sounds like an awesome deal for a beginner.


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## Diagaro (May 18, 2011)

Here comes Mr. negativity again . . .
The BerCal sailors will tear you apart if you cannot take critisizem let alone have no beginner knowledge of boats - I.e., if you cannot understand "helms alee" or "slacken the tack line" or if your told to "go aft and wait for instructions" and you look at the captain like hes speaking greek your sailing life will be short lived, you WILL NOT BE WELCOMED BACK ABOARD AGAIN. 
If you want some one to hold your hand and teach you EVERYTHING step by step, go to the small pirate marina at the far west end of 5th off Embarcadero, south of Jack London square and ask around for mike. not only does he have shitloads of shitty boats slipping through his fingers he also is a key contact in the greater bay area for learning anything about anything - but he is a fucking PIRATE Real fucking deal, don't trust him hes a shyster and an underhanded sneak, but if you can defeat him at his own game if you have any brains, just don't fuck with the housies, they will fry you. that is all I have to say about sailing in the bay.


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## cranberrydavid (May 18, 2011)

OK, let me tell the story of how I learned to sail, FWIW.

I grew up in a commercial fishing community. My dad and my uncle both fished from time to time, so I know something about boats and water. 

Later, when I was going to the University of Washington, living below radar to save money ( dumstering U Village for my food, selling plasma on the Ave for my cash, and sleeping on campus in the back of my car) I'd often park at night behind the stadium down by the lake. I'd wake up to the sound of the rowing club and the sailing club going out to practice.

I decided I wanted to teach myself to sail, so I got a 25 cent copy of Royce's Sailing Illustrated and started reading through it at random. It's still one of the best sailing books out there. 1000 useful facts, good pics, and fits in your pocket. Then I'd sit and watch the boats for hours, trying to make sense of everything I was seeing and reading. Sometimes I'd catch lines or help people carry gear, always trying to be helpful.

After a week or so, when I'd figured out everything I could on my own and people were starting to get curious about the weird guy sitting on the bank, I introduced myself to one of them, told him i was trying to teach myself about sailing, and asked if he'd mind answering a few questions. I made sure they were intelligent ones. 

He was pretty cool and asked if I wanted to join the club, but I just shrugged it off and let him know I couldn't afford it. A few days later people started inviting me to go sailing, and going out of their way to explain things to me. Some of them were pretty clueless, but I probably learned more from them by watching them screw up than I did from the aces. Or maybe not, I don't know. 

30 years later I'm still sailing.

Lots of small boat time is really valuable for training reflexes. They capsize faster than large boats, but you don't usually get hurt. That's the only way I know to learn the "Spidey Sense" of how hard you can push a boat before she's about to bite you, and how to handle helm and sheets to bring her back under control in the second or two you have before she goes over. I've been right to the edge of a knock-down on a 68 footer off shore in a storm, and although it feels different than an el Toro on a sunny day on Lake Washington, the old instincts still let you know that you're poised to be fucked!


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## Diagaro (May 19, 2011)

Excellent! brings a tear to my eye!


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## cranberrydavid (Jun 14, 2011)

A cool bit of sailing video. Not my type of sailing, but there's a lot to be learned from this. Nobody panics. Everybody does their job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=x1MOsI1BfbM


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