Pacific Sailing

[Islandinquisition]

Hello All,
Just a warning; I don't have much sailing experience so if my question is stupid I'm sorry.
I am looking to buy my first yacht. I would ideally like to buy a yacht straight up that I could sail in the pacific ocean safely when the time comes that I feel ready. I'm under no pretense that I can just head off straight away, and know that I'd probably need to upgrade the rigging, ad safety equipment etc. However fundamentally I would like the hull to be safe.
I have been looking at 24'ers that I could afford.
Currently am looking at a Pacific 24' shoal draft, but don't know if the shoal keel would make ocean sailing too dangerous?
Thanks for anyones time!

[tomperanteau]

If you're talking about the Pacific Seacraft 24, that is one of my favorites. It is waaay too small for our needs, but from an engineering and aesthetic standpoint, it is a beautiful and well laid out boat. Big for a 24 footer.

I'll let others speak to the technicalities of the keel and the ocean crossing abilities. But I will say that I would not want to cross in something that small, although it can be and has been done. In our adventures to 30 plus miles offshore into the Pacific, we have encountered seas in the 6-9 foot range frequently and been out in a gail with 15+ foot seas. We were glad that we were in a larger boat.