When I first had the idea of sailing around the world, I knew very little about sailing and had very little sailing experience. I wondered if it was even possible for a novice to buy a boat and sail around the world and if I needed years of experience before owning a sailboat.

I figured if I wondered about this, others may too, so I decided to write a blog post about what I learned. Do you need to know how to sail before buying a Sailboat? Although, you technically do not need to know how to sail when buying a sailboat, there are some really good reasons to start learning before you buy including knowing which type of boat to buy, being able to get insurance, not having to pay a captain, it’s more fun to sail your own boat and you will be more prepared for situational sailing by learning before buying.

Successful Sailors with No Experience

Proof that you don’t need to know how to sail and you don’t need sailing experience before buying a sailboat or catamaran is Vegabond’s Riley and Alena, Jason and Nikki Wynn from Gone With the Wynn, Bobby from Sailing Doodles and Keith and Renee from Zatara, a few my favorite YouTube channels. None of which had any real sailing experience before not only buying a sailboat, but also sailing it around the world. I’m not sure if any of them have completed their circumnavigations yet, but they all have been living and sailing full time for the past several years.

Riley and Alena on SV Vegabond

La Vegabond is one of the most popular sailing channels on YouTube and started without much sailing knowledge before embarking on their multi-year journey. Riley learned on his first monohull sailboat and Alena joined him during his voyage. Neither of them had any experience before they started. Five years later, thousands of nautical miles later and the addition of Baby Lenny, they continue sailing and living on their Outremer Catamaran, making several YouTube videos each week about life on a sailboat. Check them out at www.sailing-lavegabonde.com.

The Wynn’s on SV Curiosity

Jason and Nikki Wynn were famous for their RV YouTube channel called Gone with the Wynn’s. After several years of traveling the United States, they traded the RV in for a Leopard catamaran. They learned to sail after buying the boat by taking lessons on their boat from a seasoned professional sailing school. They bought their boat in south Florida and were not allowed to take it out unless it was skippered by a professional captain or until they received their licensing. On one YouTube episode, while still working on their licensing, they convinced their broker to take them out (on their boat).

A couple of years have passed, and Jason and Nikki are now sailing around the South Pacific after spending time in the Bahamas, Caribbean and Panama. They completed a Pacific Crossing (several weeks at sea) with just the two of them plus one additional crew member. You can follow their adventures at www.gonewiththewynns.com.

Keith and Renee on SV Zatara

Keith and his wife took their four children from Dallas, TX to living full time aboard a 55 foot Beneteau Oceanis sailboat. They later traded up to a sailing catamaran. In a couple of short years, they have sailed all around the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal (twice), over to the South Pacific and Australia and through the Mediterranean. Keith had some experience as a pilot, but not at sailing. Although the piloting helped some with understanding weather patterns, he had to learn very quickly. Now his entire family, especially his 18 year old daughter and 16 year old son, have more experience at the helm than many seasoned sailors. See how they did it at www.sailingzatara.com. 

Bobby White – Sailing Doodles

Bobby White was a commercial pilot that lost his ability to fly after suffering a stroke. Although he has fully recovered, he is no longer able to fly. He decided to buy and sail the world with his two labradoodles, Maverick and Goose. He has sailed both monohulls and catamarans. His dogs don’t always make all of the journeys. We have watched Bobby sail from Texas through the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean and Florida before he lost his mast due to hurricane damage in Puerto Rico. Bobby then captained another monohull from Canada down the west coast through Washington State, Oregon, California and Mexico. After Mexico, Bobby made a huge, Pacific crossing which ended in Thailand where he and his latest crew member, Laura spent several months. Follow Bobby’s adventures at www.sailingdoodles.com.

No Experience – No Insurance

One reason to learn to sail before buying a sailboat or catamaran is because your insurance company will require an experienced captain before insuring the boat. You can pay someone to captain your boat or to sit with you while you captain your boat, but it’s just not the same as sailing on your own, plus it’s a cost that you could otherwise avoid.

Taking a Sailing Course

There are many professional sailing schools like those offered by the American Sailing Association. Many will come aboard your boat and teach you how to sail it. You can also learn on one of their boats. Learn more at www.asa.com.

Learn to Sail a Small Sailboat First

As mentioned through this post, it is not required but may be better to know how to sail before buying a sailboat. You can start by taking a sailing course on a small sailboat. The sails and boat may be different, but the basic techniques and mechanics are the same. In fact, it may be even better to learn on a small boat because a small boat respond faster (almost immediate) to any changes that you make to the sails, giving you a better understanding of what and how each change in sail position and maneuver affects your progress.

Study Boating Rules and Regulations

Another thing that you can do is to study up on the boating rules and regulations. If you are going to keep your boat in a marina in a certain location, study up on the wind, currents, maps and charts. If you know where you are going to call home base when you first purchase your boat, then study up on that area. If you are going to be sailing on the ICW, then study up on it. Here is a great link to safety information that you should be familiar with https://www.uscgboating.org/images/420.PDF

Read Sailing Books

Sailing is a very old hobby and profession. There are hundreds if not thousands of books on sailing. The American Sailing Association (ASA) has several books and resources available for new sailors. I recommend reading and studying them. The information learned from the ASA will help you with practical knowledge about sailing and will also help you to pass your tests and obtain your certification. Check out the poplular American Sailing Association Books and also ASA Books on Amazon.

Volunteer as Crew

Another great way to learn to sail before owning a sailboat, is to crew on someone else’s sailboat. Larger boats are especially always looking for crew members. Getting to crew on another sailboat gives you the experience of seeing how others do it. You can go down to the docks on a morning when there is a sailing regatta event and start asking if anyone needs crew. There are also websites where boats post for crew they may need.

Watch YouTube

YouTube isn’t just for learning how to fix a leaky faucet, it is also a great resource for sailors and up and coming sailors. There is so much useful information. Yachting World has how to sail videos. Individuals have how to sail videos. Some of the sailing entertainment video channels like the ones I mentioned above have excellent information on everything from learning to sail to how they maneuvered certain obstacles (situational sailing) to safety to gear. All are so very informative and are almost (yes I said almost) like gaining experience while sitting at home watching. Of course, nothing replaces actually doing, but everything you can learn before buying your sailboat is an advantage once you are on the water.

Sail Close to Shore

If you decide to learn to sail after buying your boat, the best advice that I have seen once you take your sailing classes is to sail close to shore. Study the charts and do your research on the area before each sailing trip so that you know what the challenges and obstacles are like bridge clearances, reefs, shallow areas, sand bars, currents, weather, etc. The more you know about an area, the more confident you will be. Staying close to shore allows you to get help if you need it. It also allows you to familiarize yourself with your boat. This is good advice that many experienced sailors also heed.

Sail Conservatively

Another excellent piece of advice that I have learned is to always sail conservatively. That means never taking any chances and never sailing beyond your skill set. Start out slowly and take baby steps to gradually increase your distances.

All Good Sailors are Patient Sailors

Part of sailing safely means being extremely patient. Never take any chances. If you have a schedule to keep, make sure you leave yourself a lot of extra time to get there. Wait for the perfect weather windows. It is better to wait out weather for a few days than to permanently wreck your boat or worse yet endanger yourself and your crew.

Charter a Sailboat

Another great way to learn and familiarize yourself with sailing is to charter a sailboat. This may mean a day charter close to home or spending a week on a charter vacation. Find a sailboat similar in style to the one you are planning on purchasing. While chartering, you will have plenty of time to talk to the captain and learn about the boat and how to sail it. There are charter companies that specialize in teaching and you may want to hook up with one. This is an excellent way to spend a vacation and learn while doing. Read up on sailing before leaving for your trip so that you have a basic understanding of how things work. You will get more out of your charter sailing experience.

Sail Libra

Sail Libra is a step up from a charter and combines chartering with learning how to sail. This is a good way to find out if the sailing life is for you before investing in a boat. Check out the website saillibra.com. Sail Libra charters generally go between Florida and the Caribbean and teach the crew how to sail and gives you firsthand experience on what its like to live aboard a sailboat. It also specializes in giving real life experience on doing a crossing, which can last a few to several days at sea.

See you sailing!