Teaching another newbie sailor

[Captain Kidd]

I was 43 when I bought my first sailboat (1999). Growing up our family was not a water family. I'd been on a friend's cabin cruiser a couple times, a runabout once, and that's about it. I'd taught myself to swim but wasn't good at it. I became enamored with sailboats living near Baltimore and its inner harbor. I wrongly concluded sailing was for the rich. My hobby was golf.

We moved to NC and golf became impractical, but we lived near a beautiful recreational lake on the Roanoke River. While browsing a trader newspaper (no Craig's List or Market Place in those days), I accidentally came across an ad for a sailboat, a Kells 23 with trailer and motor for $3k. I thought I could probably come up with that. My shed had just burned down from a lightning strike and I had $1000 left over from the insurance settlement.

I drove an hour and a half to look at it. Took my wife back a few days later and offered the guy $2500. I was half way back home when he called me to accept the offer. A friend loaned me his Blazer and I went back and picked it up.

I knew ZERO about sailing. My wife said you're not going out until you read something about how to sail. I bought "Sailing for Dummies", written by a husband and wife who were formerly Olympic sailors, and I went solo sailing!

It was a steep learning curve, but 26 years later, 3 pocket cruisers, 4 boats built, and 25 years on TSBB, and I'm still sailing.

[Après Vous II]

As someone returning to sailing after 50 years, my greatest fear is "What detail have I forgotten that is going to come back to bite me?"

[Riley Smith]

Some people write checklists, I just remember!!! (Hey, we're after ADVENTURE not sofa time!!!)     

Yes, those things WILL bite too, won't they?