I think I've told everyone by now that I want to live on a sailboat, so by popular demand, I'm now going to go over how I plan on doing this. First of all, I just passed my boater safety test online (necessary for all Washington state boaters under age 30 operating a vessel with 14 horsepower or greater) so congratulations to me. Now there are just a couple of steps left:
- learn how to sail
- hire a boat inspector
- look at sailboats with a boat inspector
- buy a seaworthy sailboat that meets my requirements (28-36 ft, nice galley, adequate head, comfortable berth)
- find a place to moor said boat - probably in Lake Union since they don't allow live-aboard boats on most of Lake Washington
- Sail the boat to its new home
The only problem is that learning how to sail, finding a boat, and getting moorage are kind of a catch-22. In order to learn how to sail you have to either own a boat or know people who sail. In order to meet people who own boats and know how to sail you have to be part of a yacht club or own your own boat. In order to be part of a yacht club you usually have to own a boat and know other boaters. It also helps to be part of a yacht club in order to get moorage because sometimes there are discounts and other perks.
So somehow I have to meet people who are part of a yacht club. I'm pretty sure that hanging out near the yacht club with a sign that says "Please let me in your club" won't help. Instead, I'm going to hang out in a boat store and accost random people to get them to talk about their boats if they walk near me. I also got a book out of the library about boats that I am going to pretend to read in conspicuous places until somebody who is a boater comes by and sees our common boating interest and talks to me. Or else I'll just wait until July when the Seattle Yacht Club offers sailing lessons to the public...
P.S. - I went to the store to buy myself a plant friend but unfortunately they were out of aloe plants.