What boat to buy for long voyage

[jbpray]

I am interested in buying a sailboat in the near future for both living aboard and sailing to destinations such as: Palmyra Atoll, Hawaii, French Polynesia, etc. I cant spend more than $60,000. Any suggestions on what type of boat I should buy?

[WHOOSH]

J:

As you probably know, there are several hundred models/brands of boat that fit your goals and many thousands of opinions about them.

I''d suggest you ask a separate, parallel question: What will the boat have and look like to satisfy you as it leaves the dock for the South Pacific? By this, I mean what rig mods will be necessary, how much ground tackle will she be carrying, how heavily equipped for short-handed/single-handed sailing will she possess (vane? # of a/p''s?), which sails will she carry, how heavily equipped with electronics and special systems (SSB? watermaker? beefed up DC electrical system/solar panels/wind generator/etc.?) How many charts & pubs will you have aboard (electronic charts, too?) And much more.

My point is twofold in suggesting you work your way back from this question. First, to appreciate the financial side of your goal as it relates to the prep''d boat. There''s no way you can initially select the boat with the financial assurance you can achieve your end goal financially - despite how well designed/built the boat might be - unless you have a clear view of what the end product needs to be in order to suit you. And second, it will help you filter out the boats you do look at. Perhaps electrical bells & whistles are on your ''nice to have'' list but a fresh set of shrouds & stays and a full sail compliment are ''musts'' - knowing this will allow you to weigh the assets of each prospective boat more clearly WRT what you actually need and can afford.

Offhand, I''d say that $60-70K is not a lot of money to adequately prep for a SoPac voyage unless you plan to go in a smaller (<32'') boat with few systems. The safety gear alone, which is hard to ignore in those waters, can put a huge dent in your budget (406, raft, Survivor, ditch kit, decent HF-based wx f''cast capability, etc.). And of course, it''s tougher to find solid blue-water capable boats in the smaller sizes - they tend to be more costly than buyers find acceptable. You could most likely end up looking for a boat prep''d by someone else with the same basic goals, in which case their choices must be adopted by you and/or changes to those choices be affordable.

It''s an interesting, complicated, challenging task...but it sounds like fun and achieveable if approached thoughtfully. Good luck!

Jack

[msl]

Look at an Allied Seawind II.

[manateee_gene]

Woosh:
I disagree!!! Teacher''s Pet III has all the space of most 36''ers, all the equipment you could want all in good working order with spares and she is for sale at $37,500.
Gene

[ford_s]

Gene, What boat is "teacher''s pet III"

[manateee_gene]

A custom designed and built Embroden 32.
The prototype of over 355 of the same design
except stretched built in fiberglaqss and aluminum by the French.
Gene

[namaste04]

Look at a Mariner 36 (the New Hampshire-built ones, not the Far East-built ones.) Nice, solid, seaworthy boat. Here''s one: http://yachtworld.com/listing/yw_listing_detail.jsp?checked_boats=1023414&curren cy=USD&units=Feet

Agree heartily with WHOOSH regarding extra gear. When we were shopping for a boat for a similar voyage, we first made a list of everything we''d have to do to or add to any boat we bought (af course boats that already had any of this stuff were given bonus marks!!) The list included items such as:

liferaft

enough tankage

radar

GPS

good dodger & bimini

windvane self-steering

decent wind/depth/log instruments

SSB radio system

dinghy & outboard

good sails to include storm trisail & storm jib

all standing & running rigging checked and updated as needed

all seacocks checked, hoses renewed with 2x hose clamps, etc

all electrical systems checked and updated as needed (i.e. properly fused, correct wire size, etc.)

windlass

heavy ground tackle

safe LPG system

and other stuff WE felt was necessary for our voyage. The boats we looked at were all over the map as far as how much of this stuff we''d need to add or do. Even doing all the work ourselves, this list could easily add up to $30,000. So, on every boat we looked at, we calculated what we''d need to add and subtracted that from our maximum budget, giving us the figure we could afford to pay for that boat.

In our case, we decided to get a boat we''d need to do A LOT on, for cheap, and spend a year fixing her up. The other end of the spectrum is to get a boat that''s been cruising and recently refit and is ready to go. I suspect you''ll be looking at under 35-ft boats for your budget.

There are some nice well-built west-coast boats like Spencers that you might find, assuming you''re starting on that coast.

Good luck: the search is so fun!

Stacey
http://www.sailnamaste.com

[namaste04]

Okay, it''s Sunday morning and I don''t have any boat shopping to do for myself, so I did a little search on Yachtworld for you.

Of course, you didn''t give any criteria, like age, or whether you prefer a full keel or fin keel, rig, etc. If it were ME... here''s a list of boats on the market that i would look further into, in rough order of what seems most interesting:

Tartan 37

Mariner 36 (not Far East ketch...)

Cabot 36 (Brewer design)

Scanmar 35

Kalik 40

Camper & Nicholson 35

Ohlson 38

35 Spencer

various Pearsons

36'' Custom Bill Tripp

38'' Brewer Custom

Whitby 37

Hughes/Northstar 38

Cavalier 39

Allied mistress or princess

C&C landfalls

Cheoy Lees (watch out for deck & cabin side leaking!!)



Also remember that asking price is not always selling price. Can''t hurt to make a low-ball offer on a boat you really want!

[ddebruin]

There is a Cartwright, I think 36'', available here in Rochester NY that has been there, done that, circumnavigated plus a lot more. It is in your price range although will need updating to make the trip.

[manateee_gene]

Teacher''s Pet III has a whole lot more equipment than you list plus she has done a circumnavigation and a trip around the Pacific. She was completely gone through by a very compentent boatbuilder and upgraded in 1999.
Sample New 10 Sabb variable pitch diesel engine,110 gallon of fuel all below the water line. 135 gallons of water all below the water line, aluminum pilothouse,davits,electric anchor winch loads of anchor gear, excellent sails.
Gene
I''m selling at the age of 66 because I''m having serious back problems otherwise you would not have enough money to buy her.