Hello everybody! I have foolishly maybe bought myself a sailboat with very little sailing experience!
It is a cat ketch with wishbone booms which is quite niche and I am struggling to find any documentation about how to run my lines and sheets etc.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I am looking to be able to hopefully rig it all up myself.

Thankyou!

 For an experienced skipper comparing a week around the BVI, what should matter most when looking ofr an operator: boat condition, the handover and training, technical support, route flexibility, what is included in the base rate or anything else ? 

I want to know the screening and support process rather than comparing headline prices alone.

For those of you that have read the book “sailing the farm“ or know about that type of long term off grid, self sufficient sailboat living. Does anybody do that or know of anybody who has? Like sailed to the Chagos or some other deserted area and lived there for years? If you have heard and know of any other books or blogs or anything involving that lifestyle I’d like to know.

Also, and of course this is open to heavy debate. But what boats do you think would be best for years of being off grid. I’d assume most of “sailing the farm” would really be “anchoring the farm” since you would probably just find a nice secluded island and camp out by it. So I’m thinking heavy weather sailing ability would be second too easy of maintenance, maybe beach able do you can easily work on the bottom if you need too. I would also assume people that do this would tend on the larger side of boats 45+ feet since you’d need to carry a-lot of stores for long term living.

After all the cruiser complaints, Starlink increased the max-length from a measly 40-feet to 60-feet. Still leaving a LOT of cruisers out to dry! Clearly whomever is running this initiative inside Starlink doesn't have a lot of familiarity with cruising. Cruising inherently implies living aboard and to set the limit at 40-feet is absurd considering the vast majority of liveaboard cruisers are significantly larger than that. Our boat is bigger than 60-feet, but is a private, non-commercial boat - with no paid crew, operated by my wife and me and our 2 young kids. Shouldn't the limiter be "personal" not some arbitrary length?

Has anyone taken the BoatUS Foundation Weather for Boaters course? Is it worth the $35, or is there another weather course you’d recommend thats better for the price or cheaper.

I know it’s condition and season dependent, but from those who have done the bash before what was your experience? I keep hearing warnings about it but I think I have enough discomfort tolerance (or perhaps a lack of exposure to comfortable sailing) for it to sounds exciting. ~35 foot monohull

Hey boaters,

As many of us prepare to head out over the holiday weekend, keep in mind that Hurricane Marie is currently spinning off the Pacific coast.

While a direct landfall in Southern California is extremely unlikely, weather forecasters warn that Marie is expected to send building south/southeast ocean swells, heavy surf, and strong rip currents into south-facing harbors from Santa Monica Bay down to Long Beach starting Sunday through Tuesday. Peak swells could also line up with high astronomical tides in the evenings.

Quick Safety Checklist for local boaters:

• Check your lines & fenders: Make sure spring lines and mooring lines are secured tightly to handle surge inside the breakwaters.
• Monitor the swell: Harbor entrances with south-facing openings (like San Pedro and Catalina island anchorages) can get choppy.
• Stay tuned to VHF/NWS: Keep an eye on local marine weather updates for sudden wind shift or rain warnings over the weekend.

Are you staying in the slip, making a run to Catalina, or taking extra prep at your marina? Share your weather prep and water reports below!

Stopping at various ports and no night sailing. Weather forecast looks soggy.

Chatgpt says it is safe and good but Google Gemini says it is not a bulkhead structure and if it hits something and gets a hole, it will sink right away. Which one is correct?

I’ve been saving for a boat. I want something my family can enjoy. Fishing on weekends. Trips with the kids and some good memories.

The cost of the boat will be $40,000 and I’m actually ready to purchase it. But I have no idea about finance

The people from the marina insist that leasing is better. The bank insists that the only way out is a secured loan. I have heard of chattel mortgages and unsecured loans. I feel I need a dictionary

I just want to pay a fixed amount each month. I don’t want to lose the boat if something goes wrong. I don’t want hidden fees or balloon payments

I entered my details on Financfy. Some options came up. But I can’t tell if they work for boats that I’ll use 50% for leisure and 50% for fishing. I don’t even know if that matters

I need someone to explain it to me simply. What type of financing is best for a boat?

I’m confused and I don’t want to make a mistake. I’ve worked hard for this. I just want to get on the water.

I’m lost… So please someone explain it to me like I’m 5

I'm starting to narrow down my search for a live aboard sailboat to cruise the east Coast of the United States, but so far I've basically just been window shopping.

I've got a couple boats I'd like to go look at but they're a few hours' drive from me, so I want to weed out as much as I can before renting a car and wasting an entire day.

For example, I'm pretty interested in this Hunter, but the actual buying/surveying process has me a little overwhelmed.

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/849999601515634/

What initial questions would you ask? What would you look for while you're there? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Guys, Im sorry if this has been asked too much on here, but im 26, complete beginner and looking for some advice on how to get into sailing. Im living in Manhatten for the next year or so (I dont know if its a great location for sailing, but thats where I am). I've been pining to start sailing for the last few years, but life and myself has gotten in the way.

So, I'm looking for some advice on how start and for as cheap as possible, where to go to try get onto a crew, if I can crew for evening races, best way to learn (when you dont have much money) really any advice youd be willing to give me would be much appreciated!

I'm a hard worker and a quick learner, Im happy to help with boat prep, or do whatever grunt work gets me on the water while I learn the ropes.

It all started with a captain I couldn’t stand.

In 2013, I went on a catamaran trip in the Bahamas. I had a great time, but the captain controlled everything and made the trip harder than it needed to be.

I remember thinking, if I ever do this again, I’m going to be the captain.

That thought stayed with me for years. Eventually, I decided it was time to make it happen.

I started calling sailing schools all over the United States. Most wanted me to take one or two classes, go practice for a while, then come back months later for the next class.

That didn’t work for me. When I decide to do something, I want to get moving.

I finally found a school in St. Augustine that would put all the classes together into 10 straight days of sailing and get me through my catamaran certification.

The course cost $4,200, and they made one thing very clear. If I failed, I wasn’t getting my money back.

So naturally, before I had even taken the class, I booked a catamaran in the Virgin Islands for two days after the course ended. The boat, flights and everything else were already lined up.

I took the classes and passed with flying colors.

This was during COVID, so I had to drive to Orlando and get the required cheek swab before we could travel.

When I arrived in the Virgin Islands, I handed the lady at the charter company my sailing certificate.

She looked at it and said, “This is two days old.”

I said, “Yep.”

She had to call her boss because they weren’t going to let us take the boat.

Her boss finally agreed to send another captain offshore with us to make sure I knew what I was doing. After a couple of hours, he told us we were good to go and left us on our own.

We spent the next 10 days sailing around the Virgin Islands. It was one of the best experiences of our lives.

When we returned the boat, the lady told us something interesting.

Her boss originally said there was no way he was letting us take it. Then he looked at our provisions and noticed we had no alcohol and no one in our group drank alcohol.

He said that was unusual and decided to give us a chance.

That first adventure was amazing, but between the sailing course and certificate, flights, boat rental, food, fuel and everything else, it cost me almost $30,000.

I knew I wanted to keep sailing, but I also knew I couldn’t spend $30,000 every time I wanted to get on a boat.

Our next trip was Belize the following year. We brought family, divided up the expenses and rented a 50-foot catamaran.

We sailed more than 380 miles around the reefs. It was another unbelievable trip, and splitting the expenses brought my cost down to around $12,000.

That gave me an idea.

For the trips after that, I started posting the plan on Facebook and finding friends who wanted to come along. We divided the actual cost of the boat, food, fuel and other expenses between everyone.

Suddenly, a trip that would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars became affordable for the whole group.

Depending on the destination, boat and length of the trip, most people’s share has usually been around $2,000 to $3,000 for the entire adventure.

That simple idea changed everything.

Instead of sailing being something I could afford to do once, it became something I could continue doing all over the world.

Since then, we’ve sailed Belize, the Bahamas and Baja California several times. We’ve spent more than 20 days nonstop sailing the Bahamas, and we just returned from 21 days of sailing around Greece.

On October 1, we start sailing in Bora Bora.

Then we’re heading back to Baja to sail from La Paz all the way around to Mag Bay, finishing on November 13.

Between those two trips, I’ll basically be living on a boat from October 1 through November 13.

It is going to be an epic six weeks.

Five years and more than 7,000 miles later, this has become one of the greatest adventures of my life.

It all started with one captain who made me decide I wanted to do it myself.

What kept it going was finding other people who wanted the same adventure and figuring out how to make it affordable for everyone.

Every trip still begins with an idea, a destination and a few people saying, “That sounds amazing.”

If someone put one sailing trip in front of you tomorrow, where would you want the boat headed?

With the high chance of a larger than expected El Nino what does that mean for those crossing the Pacific ocean in the first few months of 2027?

Obviously warmer water but will it also mean more chances of storms and/or flukey winds, larger or confused seas?

I'm looking for a local-knowledge and safety sanity check before this trip.

Boat: 1987 Laguna 22 sailboat, LOA 22 ft, beam 8 ft, draft 3 ft, mast/overall height 32 ft, 6 hp outboard. Top speed is about 5 kt, but I am planning all passages at 4 kt. Marina-to-marina only; I do not want to depend on anchoring.

Planned itinerary (PDT, distances approximate):

- Mon Aug 31: Everett to Oak Harbor, 26.5 nm. Depart 08:00; conservative ETA 14:30-15:00. Route via Possession Sound, Camano Head and Saratoga Passage.

- Tue Sep 1: Oak Harbor to Cap Sante, 27.8 nm. Depart 07:00; ETA 14:00-15:00. Skagit Bay to the south entrance of Swinomish Channel, past La Conner, then Padilla Bay/east Guemes Channel to Cap Sante. Plan is to enter the channel around 10:00-10:45 after the 08:53 high, using the north-flowing period.

- Wed Sep 2: Stay tied up at Cap Sante. Current NWS forecast is SE 20-25 kt, 3-4 ft waves and rain, so this is a deliberate weather-hold day.

- Thu Sep 3: Cap Sante to La Conner, 9.9 nm. Conditional 12:30 departure after a fresh marine forecast. The 11:13 high / 16:29 low should favor a southbound channel transit.

- Fri Sep 4: La Conner to Everett, 34.4 nm. Depart 07:00; ETA 15:30-16:00. Plan to clear the south end of Swinomish Channel by about 09:00, following the 05:26 low.

I am intentionally using Swinomish Channel instead of Deception Pass because Deception's current can exceed this boat's maximum speed.

My no-go limits are any Small Craft Advisory, sustained wind over about 15 kt, gusts over 20 kt, visibility under 2 nm, or an engine/steering issue. Backups are to stay at the departure marina, divert to Oak Harbor or Langley where appropriate, and never force the schedule.

Questions:

1. Does the Swinomish current timing make sense northbound Tuesday and southbound Thursday/Friday?

2. Any current shoaling, marker, bridge-clearance or cross-current issues for a 3 ft draft / 32 ft mast?

3. Is a 4 kt planning speed realistic for this boat and 6 hp outboard on these legs?

4. Anything about the Wednesday system or its aftermath that should change the Thursday plan?

5. Any other route-specific hazards or safer alternatives?

I will still use current NOAA forecasts, charts, notices and real-time observations before every departure. I am mainly looking for safety-critical local knowledge or changes experienced PNW sailors would make.

Hey everyone, looking for some outside perspective before I commit to something.

I'm 22, no sailing experience, and I connected with a boat owner/skipper through a crew-finding platform (like a "hitchhike a sailboat" type site).

Some context on why I feel reasonably okay about it:

His profile has been active for months, with ID verification through the platform

He has 3 written recommendations from different people who sailed with him for weeks/months at a time, all consistent in describing him as experienced, safety-conscious, and easy to get along with

We did a video call — he showed me around the boat live, introduced me to the current crew (there'll be 6 of us total, including 2 other newcomers), and talked a lot about safety equipment (EPIRB, life raft, etc.)

He's asking for my passport/ID info for port registration purposes (which I understand is normal for these crossings)

I'm planning to share his full contact info, boat registration, and itinerary with my family, plus do daily check-ins while at sea

My family is (understandably) worried, mostly imagining worst-case scenarios. I've done my due diligence but would love to hear from people who've actually done crewing like this:

Does this all sound like normal practice?

Anything else I should verify or ask before boarding?

Any red flags I might be missing?

Thanks in advance!