| | Novice Sailor:
|
| Even after several careful searches, several questions come up
| which still remain unanswered (to me). Its been once said (at
| least once by David West: "The obvious is that which tends to remain
| hidden until clearly explained".)
Bob, for some lunch hour amusement I'll try to answer a few of these,
although as you suggest, I think you've already got a good grasp of
the obvious. I don't know how much discussion this note will generate
as some of the subjects have been debated exhaustively elsewhere in
the conference. But here goes anyway.
| Boat Buying:
| I have seen a number of ads for boats in various classes, with a very
| wide variation in prices for what seems to be very little difference
| in footage; much of the price changes being dependent on brandnames,
| such O'Day and MacGregor (to name 2).
Length is not the determining factor in boat prices, any more than say,
number of passengers might be in car prices. Why does a a Porsche Targa
or a Corvette cost more than a Ford wagon or a Yugo? They only carry
two people, and have hardly any trunk. The answer is: they are designed
for different purposes and built to differing quality standards. Same
with boats. Some are intended for inland pond or lake use, others for
coastal salt water, still others for reasonably long distance or
overnight cruising, and ultimately some for round_the_world jaunts. Are
they daysailers or floating homes (loaded with gadgets & batteries).
Further complicating the picture is the difference between production,
semi_custom, and fully_custom built designs.
To be more direct with your examples of O'Day and MacGregor we'd need
to know exactly which two models you're comparing. As a generalization,
O'Day in it's day (pun intended) built many more models which would
*usually* be considered to be higher quality than MacGregor. [The
problem with all of these discussions, is that it's real difficult to
express opinions without sooner or later insulting someone; as I've now
just done with all the MacGregor owners out there. You'll see this sort
of thing throughout the file.] Somewhere there is a note where folks
were trying to rank all the popular manufacturers. It's very subjective
with no two opinions exactly alike. BTW, both O'Day and MacGregor are
quite low in the food chain, when you consider the complete spectrum of
what's out there; i.e. they're high volume, low cost, production boats.
| Which publication might be used to describe and show pictorials of
| sailing boats, of the various types, classes, and primary use ?
The simplest and easiest to find on the newstands is the annual
publication from SAIL magazine called: "Sailboat & Equipment Directory
199x." The 1993 edition should be out soon. I have some of these going
back a number of years but I'm not that close to you. There ought to be
a local noter who will loan you some of these. Even so, this is not an
all inclusive list of what's available. Shows favoritism, and is slanted
toward regular SAIL magazine advertisers.
| Assuming that some people may not ride out the next few waves of
| DECs' downsizing; what is the next best place to get more/less
| reliable opinions/informatin about sailing type questions (I question
| if a notesfile equivalent to this one is available, but may as well
| ask now). ;^) ??
I don't know of any other electronic forums. Is there a rec.sailing ?
| Typically, are 'private' yacht clubs a good place to get the same
| sort of information we get here in the notes file ?
Those with active small boat sailing programs, yes. Most others, probably
not, although I suppose there may be exceptions. (See comments re: going
sailing.)
| Which magazines/subscriptions are considered 'basic' to novice
| sailors planning to "stay with the sport" for the long term ?
Lots of differing opinions here. Some of the most common ones are:
Sail Must for the novice. Can get boring after the 12th "How
to tack", "How to learn how to tack", "How to teach
someone how to Tack", "Teaching your dog how to tack",
or "Tack'ers I have known" article.
Cruising World Stories about faraway places. Food. Cruising life.
Yachting "Official America's Cup" magazine. Good charter info.
Otherwise minimal content. For the Blue Blazer types.
I love it! Great for 'wasting' time fantasizing about
things you'll never be able to afford, *even* if you
did win the lottery. Mix of power/sail.
Soundings Power and Sail. Really a monthly newspaper. Regional
editions. Largest (64 pages) classified ad section
(Boats For Sale).
Offshore Small scale Soundings. Little less newsy. Lots of ads,
New England coverage only. Somewhat Power focused.
Sailing World Racing oriented. Results, etc.
WoodenBoat Duh? Actually, best coverage of it's stated subject of
any magazine on this list. Lots of plans and 'how to
build' stuff.
Sailing Great Lakes orientation. Rarely seen in New England
newstands.
Ocean Navigator Nitty gritty navigation stuff. Pretty advanced. If you
buy Scientific American strictly to look at the pictures,
you won't like this one.
Coastal Cruising Mostly Intra-coastal waterway (southeast US coast)
cruising. Low key, low budget, folksy production.
Doubt you'll find this in NE either.
Practical Sailor The Consumer Reports of sailing. Product comparisons
and 'how to' stuff. No advertising, very opinionated.
Bi-weekly. Expensive! (To my knowledge this is
subscription only.)
And a couple from across the pond (UK), very hard to find on the average
newstand:
Yachting Monthly
Yachting World
Sail, Cruising World, and Yachting are pretty predictable in that they
will each have the annual commissioning, decommissioning, and charter
directory issues.
There are also more 'members only' magazines available from boating
organizations such as the Power Squadron, USYRU (US Yacht Racing Union,
which actually has a new name now) and several others.
| Which stores (bookstores) generally carry fair selection of sailing
| books / magazines in the So NH or Central to Eastern Mass area ?
For magazines, in So NH, try the malls. In the GMA try "The Paper
Store" (Maynard, Acton, Hudson, etc). Other places near the water;
Marblehead, Boston, Newport. For books, any bookstore will have some.
Selection increases as you get nearer the coastline. There are many
mail-order catalog and member book clubs.
Above all, if you are really serious about gathering information, the
Newport RI Sailboat Show (always starts the Thursday after Labor Day)
is an absolute must attend event.
Otherwise, find someone to take you sailing. The more often, the
better. Race, cruise, doesn't matter. (There's hardly a boat owner
around who wouldn't trade a couple of days on the water with you for a
few hours of bottom sanding, painting or waxing assistance in the
spring.)
Sign up for a Power Squadron or Coast Guard Auxiliary boating safety course.
JR
|
| re: Several Novice questions on Sailing .. 6 of 6
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -< Tell us more about what you'd like to do. >-
>Who knows, with a little more detail we might keep this note going
>after all. Knowing that both you and your wife have a mutual interest
>helps a lot. What are your goals, short term and long. For example:
On the practical side, we could just keep up our membership in RPSC;
get qualified as competent sailors (ie know how to sail without being
a hazard or a liability), and use the boats in L. Quinsigamond, Charles R.
basin, and Lowell. At some point we're going to get tired of the little brown
house; the Lowell Damns and the water inlet; and the Hatch Shell .. perhaps
even wanting to venture up to Acadia NP, P. Town, or Nantucket ...
On this end of the scale, I feel something similar to the 17' foot 1974
O'Day Daysailers, trailerable and launchable from the 'community pier'
or the 'community boat ramp' is what we're looking at. I like the idea
of taking a few people out (4 perhaps) for a few hours sail; perhaps around
the lake. Reasonable single person handling; and a 'fun' boat .. stable
enough to have lunch comforatbly; pull up to that 'magical deserted beach'
for a few hours of solitude with the missus ...
Later, will come the elecronics; position finder, cruises up and down
the Coast of Maine; down the the Vineyard (no, i don't know why?. its there !),
and possible further.
Initially, its got to be under (around $2,000); ideally under 1K. I've
seen ads for a few under $900.00 in relativley land-locked towns away
from the main stream of life (pun intended)... But what are they, in terms
of quality .. if addtional parts / sail are necessary, can they be obtained
(like a new centerboard or a rudder; mast steps .. how often do they really
break ... delamination .. some fiberglss does delaminate ... wood boats ..
ar they worth the extra trouble (or are they like old houses .. nice, historic,
and lots, lots, $$$$$$$ extra work for small gains).
Trailers ... what to look for; how good/big do they need tto be .. are the
ones that tilt worth the extra $$$; is an 'extendable tongue' really needed.
I may be new to sailing, but I bring knowledge about many things from the past
(my Dad was rigger in the shipyard, and also did some steeplejack work;
I've researched fibglas fairings, I've repaired a Loran for an employer,
designed electronic readouts for the Fathometer(R); worked brackwater surveys,
and bought submarine cable, and am fully aware what a 3 foot sea is to
a 14 foot boat; coupled a mini-ranger to a HP PLotter for Marine Survey
Work (as well as done core samples) ... I know how to take care of canvass,
although most sails are not canvass anymore ... I guess Kevlar is the
sail of choice now .. and it won't rot either ...
Its just that I've never Sailed or owned a boat (other than a canoe) ...
Thanks for the good info ... its been helpful ..
/Bob
|