2 questions, please...

[solitario]

No jokes please. This one's got me scratchin my head:

Officium nautam dē ōtiō hodiē vocat.

Duty calls today sailor's of leisure???

Also, now that you see how new I am to Latin, how long (in years/decades) would it take to understand this guy?

multos gratias et valete bene,
solitario

[benissimus]

No jokes please. This one's got me scratchin my head:

Officium nautam dē ōtiō hodiē vocat.

Duty calls today sailor's of leisure???

Here the subject is officium, as you said, but the object should be the word "sailor", not a genitive "sailor's". Also, we rarely translate de as "of" and never in the sense of possession; I'm guessing you have some experience with Romance languages?

Anyways, I would translate this as "Today, duty calls the sailor from leisure."


Also, now that you see how new I am to Latin, how long (in years/decades) would it take to understand this guy?
Well, that depends on a lot of factors, namely your skill for learning a language and how well/often you practice your Latin. You could be able to read that in as little as a year if you go at a reasonable pace, or in a few months if you follow an intensive course.

[solitario]

Salve benissime! Molte grazie. Should take me about a year or two.