@hazardwarning My thinking exactly.
@hazardwarning Technically, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, I'm fully qualified to operate a small boat in coastal waters, having completed the relevant course ("Boating Skills and Seamanship") and passed the tests, and I have the still-valid certificate to prove it. Ahem.
In reality, I haven't been sailing in 25 years, so I'm a bit rusty. Also, my wife (who's never been sailing and doesn't really understand it) is likely to be less than thrilled by the prospect of me spending three days away at sea, even if "at sea" is just the Santa Barbara Channel and local waters. So I might not be going along, though it would be fun.
@hazardwarning Oh, that's not a problem, but he still has to sail it back from wherever it is. San Diego to Ventura is about a 3-day voyage up the coast by sail, but it's fairly easy sailing. Just have to stay out of the shipping lanes as much as possible.
@hazardwarning He was hoping to find something closer to home (San Diego is at least a three-hour drive each way), but he wasn't finding anything locally, so I advised him to expand his radius. Hoping it was fruitful advice.
There are a lot of other boats available if you go farther north, to Santa Cruz or San Francisco, but the problem is that north of Point Conception, ocean conditions turn much more stormy and challenging to sail in, since those are west-facing shorelines instead of south-facing or southwest-facing like we have down here (and we have the additional benefit locally of being sheltered by offshore islands).
@hazardwarning Me too. I don't want to see him disappointed again like last time.
@gtwilson On the other hand, you can always roll your car windows down, whereas I work in a modern hermetically sealed building.
Pro tip: if you have a high-fiber breakfast, don't have a burrito and refried beans for lunch.
Don't ask me how I know.
@gtwilson In this case, it actually makes financial sense. He's always wanted to live aboard a sailboat, and since he'll be paying cash for the boat, all he has to worry about is the slip fee and maintenance. He'll be living at the (very nice) harbor in Ventura for less money every month than I'm paying for my mortgage three miles away--and I already have about the lowest cost of living you can have on the California coast, since we bought at the bottom of the market. And he can go sailing on the weekends. :-)
And even better, I can go over and sit on his boat and drink his coffee/beer/whatever when I need to get out of the house.
@c Mit schlag1, natürlich. :-)
// @tewha
Viennese slang for "with whipped cream." If you put that through Google Translate, it won't make sense.