THE GOODS : For Sail Signs : You don’t have to be rich to buy a boat. But shoring up your nautical knowledge can help you navigate toward a good deal.

The old saw is that a boat is a hole in the water into which one pours money. A corollary is that if the craft is a sailboat, it will add to that fiscal thrill by making you work like a galley slave simply to get it to go.

That may be true if the boat in question has something like “Bounty” written on the stern. But you don’t have to talk like Long John Silver and have forearms like Popeye and have access to the bank account of Donald Trump to tack off into the sunset in your very own sailboat. Today, there are several “entry level” sailboats on the market--craft less than 20 feet long, for the most part--that are simple to rig, transport, store and sail, and that won’t deep-six your bank balance.

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Still, they are boats, which makes them exotic items for many landlubbers. Would-be sailors in Southern California may be able to assemble a Porsche 911 from the tires up, but may still refer to the bow of a boat as “the pointy end.”

Entry-level sailboats are small, fun and relatively inexpensive, but it’s still possible to get a lemon, or to buy a type of boat you don’t really want. The place to begin your search for the right small boat is not, however, at a boat dealer, said Brad Avery, Orange Coast College’s director of marine programs.

“My first advice would be to take sailing classes,” Avery said. “You should at least learn the basics before you start looking around for your own boat.”

Check with recreation and parks departments or community colleges, Avery said, to find beginning sailing classes. The classes are often inexpensive and will teach you everything from how to rig the boat to how to right it if it capsizes.

And, said Tom Schock, president of the W.D. Schock Corp., a Corona-based boat builder, learning to sail in a small boat can be even more valuable than learning in a larger craft with more bells and whistles.

“I don’t believe you become as good a sailor [learning in a larger boat],” said Schock, whose company builds the well-known entry-level Lido 14. “You don’t experience your own weight movement in a bigger boat, or how the boat reacts to your weight. You’re not as sensitive. But in a smaller boat you feel the motion and the action and reaction to everything.”

The principles of sailing are the same for a Lido 14 (the number refers to the boat’s length) or a big ocean-going square-rigger. Rigging and operating most small American-made sailboats have several points in common. Most boats under 20 feet have in common a centerboard, a single mast, two sails (a main and jib) and a tiller. The smallest of them are designed for one small person (the popular, eight-foot-long Naples sabot is generally sailed by children or young adults) and the larger ones are advertised as being able to carry four adults, although some sailing sources say that may be crowding things.

Hull configuration is different for each boat. The Lido 14, for instance, is a classic monohull dinghy design, while the relatively new 13-foot Wave, made by the Hobie Cat Co. of Oceanside, is a break-down two-hull catamaran. Another style, sometimes called a “board boat,” is used by the Sunfish Laser Co. of Portland, R.I., in its flat, quick, monohull Laser, which competes in the Olympics.

All these boats, and many more in their size range, make good learning boats, say sailing teachers and builders, and are often sailed competitively in class races. They are most often used in lakes or protected bays, but can also be sailed in the ocean in good weather.

And, in what might seem at first to be an incongruity, they’re often seen at Southern California yacht clubs, not far from huge pleasure craft. Which is why, several sailors say, yacht clubs may be the best place to buy and sail entry-level boats.

“The best place to buy a small boat is at a yacht club bulletin board,” said Jaime Malm, UC Irvine’s sailing coach. “Most yacht clubs are private, but usually the public is welcome to come in off the street to write down the details about a boat for sale on the bulletin board.”

The difference in price between a new and used boat is often far larger than the difference in quality. For instance, Malm said, a Laser may sell for $3,500 to $3,800 new, depending on extra equipment. A 10-year-old used Laser in good shape, he said, might sell for about $1,000.

How do you tell if a boat is in good shape? The hulls of most small boats are made from fiberglass, Malm said, so it’s important to look for signs of delamination--that is, any peeling of layers of the fiberglass or wearing away at any point.

“You want to look for any structural thing like stress cracks and spiders--anything that looks like a spider web in the fiberglass,” he said. “One sign of delamination is that [the hull] is wet inside.”

Delamination can also affect the wooden parts of the boat: the centerboard, the tiller and rudder. “Watch for wood finishing that looks unmaintained or very dry,” Malm said, “especially if it’s not painted with lacquer or varnish.”

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You also have to remember that a boat is not simply a hull, mast and sails, Orange Coast College’s Avery said.

“Another key in buying a used boat,” he said, “is to make sure you get all the parts that are supposed to come with it. You’ve got to be aware that if somebody sells you a boat without a centerboard you’re going to end up paying maybe $500 for a new centerboard.”

Ask where the boat has been stored, Avery said. In a garage and under a cover is best.

Are the boat and its trailer registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles? That’s required, Avery said, and if the boat and trailer you’re buying don’t have current papers, “it can get expensive. Boat registration costs $5 a year, but the trailer is more expensive. It could cost you well over $100 in DMV fees and penalties to bring everything current.”

Another state law that needs to be satisfied is the one requiring flotation vests for all children under 11, although it’s best to have vests for everyone on-board, Avery said.

Can’t store the boat in a garage? If it’s stored outdoors, you’ll need a custom-fitted canvas cover, and that will cost between $300 and $400. And if the boat will sit in a storage yard, the storage fee “will be at least $100 a month, so you want to be sure you’ll be using the boat,” Avery said.

Use means maintenance, a subject that Malm said spurs many opinions. Malm believes that the amount of boat maintenance is an absolute: You’re going to be doing a lot of it. “A boat, even a small one, is probably harder to maintain than a nice car,” he said. “We don’t dip our cars in salt water and leave them out in the sun day in and day out. The wear and tear of being near the ocean amounts to a lot.”

Still want one? OK, but which one? To become noddingly familiar with several models, from monohulls to catamarans to board boats, all of different sizes, speeds and design and handling characteristics, Malm suggested reading sailing magazines.

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There are still plenty of entry-level boats, both new and used, for sale in Southern California, say sailors and dealers, but the market has declined in recent years.

“It’s the times, it’s economics,” Schock said. “When guys were graduating from college in the early ‘60s and starting a family, they had a lot less income. Yuppies didn’t exist yet. So starting with a 14-foot boat seemed very natural. Now, when you talk to a young couple, they’re not starting a family in their mid-20s, they’re in their mid-30s. Age and lifestyle have changed dramatically. A bigger boat is more fitting to their lifestyle, and they have more money to pay for it.”

As a result, Schock said, a 23-foot boat may now be considered by many to be “entry-level.”

Still, one- and two-person boats continue to sail the waters of Southern California, and new models continue to be produced by manufacturers.

One, the 13-foot Hobie Wave catamaran, is enjoying high sales, said Hobie Cat Co. spokeswoman Ruth Triglia. “You can transport it on the top of your car, it comes fully apart so you can store it in a carport, it’ll carry four adults and you can rig it in 10 minutes.”

It’s not exactly the Britannia, but it’s yours for about $3,000. Which would seem to validate yet another sailing corollary, specific to entry-level boats: The smaller the hole in the water, the less money you can fit into it.