Quote:
Originally Posted by gene80
Similar situations we are in. I'm 28 and my wife is 26 and we are also looking to get a boat. Where are you located in S. Florida. My inlaws have a place with a canal dock in Lighthouse Point and we're looking to get a boat. Would like to take 6 months off from work to do some Caribbean sailing similar to yourself.
I've been looking at the 343s and 373s. Do you have any lessons learned you might be able to share? Any expenses turning out to be much higher than forecasted?
Regards,
Gene Nix
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We are in Fort Lauderdale. Live in a neighborhood west of I-95, so the biggest "lesson learned" for us was to realize how few boats there are that have undera 55' mast! Its not so much a boat learning...but a house learning. In retrospect, I would have waited out a bit longer in the housing market and bought a house east of I-95 with no fixed bridges. Now, this 343 is pretty much limit of boat I can get without chopping masts down...although I hear that Valiant 40's can fit under at low tide.
As for the boat - I've learned that these Beneteaus are great boats for the money. Dollar for dollar, they have Catalina's beat...and I just wouldn't consider a Hunter. Interiors are a bit Euro and they do have quirks. But the hulls are solid and so are the systems. We love our 343...and we are still learning her quirks. They are light boats though, so be ready for a rocking ride and reef early is another learning.
As for expenses - well, my monthly diver costs were a bit unexpected. That and the fact that we're going through zincs like pez right now. There is some hot boat out there, and its going to get expensive to track it down in my canal. Another lesson is that outfitting a boat is freakin expensive!!!! The boat comes well equipped, but everything from sheets/pillows to scrubbing/cleaning materials to dinghys and boat hooks...its all adding up. I've only outfitted her out 25% and already spent about 10% of the boat purchase price in boat stuff. I'm a popular guy at West Marine...no that isn't a good thing :-( Try and work there before buying a boat!