You don’t need to know how to sail to buy a sailboat.

I have lived my life, so far, in small Canadian prairie towns far from the sea. I have always loved seeing beautiful boats sailing on nearby Pelican Lake as I drove past, tales of the sea, (I read the Dudley Pope, Ramage series initially because of the name), and the romantic idea of sailing and the sailing life. I always thought this life was unobtainable unless you were quite wealthy. I was so wrong. In 2009 I bought my first sailboat, a 1977 Sirius 21 swing keel, complete with a trailer for only $4,000.00! It was a pocket cruiser with a sink, port-a-potty, and beds that we could actually sleep on.

I had previously owned a windsurfer (bought at a yard sale for $50) so I understood some of the basics of sailing but I had never actually sailed a boat before. I borrowed books from my local library such as Sailing for Dummies. I joined the Pelican Yacht Club and got my boat into the water. I made 3-4 trips out of the marina out the lake and back using only the motor and not putting up a sail. Then one day a club member came out with me on a light wind day and we put the sails up.

The moment the wind first filled my sails I was completely hooked! It still thrills me every time.

A Mediterranean cruising friend once told me "The overwhelming majority of sailors are not live-a-boards, are not sailing around the world, and have no intention to do so. A few may wish they could but in their hearts, they know it is never going to happen."

This is not about sailing the ocean blue, selling your house, and living on your 40 ft expensive yacht in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. This site is about lake sailing in a pocket yacht, pocket cruiser, trailer sailer, or whatever the name is for a small affordable sailboat that you can spend a few hours, a day, overnight, a weekend, or longer on.

You don't need to be rich to buy a sailboat ...

...but you'll feel like a millionaire when you do!

Cheers,

Daryl Ramage