James
Listen to Jack, he helps me all the time! The only thing I could add (since I am ready to cruise, but not there yet...oh..so close) is to keep in mind is that if your budget for a boat is around $12,000, you should plan on about 1/2 of that sum or more to outfit an old boat to cruise. Now, we don''t have any fancy electronic gadgets on our boat,so I don''t say that you have to have that stuff, but we had many "essentials" we simply had to buy, for sailing 1 mile offshore or 1000 miles offshore, there no difference. For instance: a real sextant and SR tables (used is many times good enough) a reliable
handheld GPS, cruising guides (again, used is many times good enough),
SSB,
VHF radio, some new cushions for the cockpit, 3 fittings for the galley
stove, 100 feet of new
anchor rode, a couple of Wichard
shackles, spares for the engine, and a couple of good bottles of Kentucky Bourbon....well, all that can rack up to $6,000 pretty quick. So, just make sure you have enough in the budget to outfit her safely. You may look at a used Com-Pac in the 30 footer range. I think they made one. I''d go in my little Com-Pac 19 if my wife were willing.
Good Luck and fair winds
Paul G.