What would you guys recommend..?

Hollymari · #1 (**permalink**) 11-05-2010

I actually saw my first catamaran up close and personal today - AND WOW! They shouldn't make those things to be so seductive and such. The guy down at the dock, pier - whatever - let me get a look inside of it and I just started drooling (I think). As soon as I got back home I began crunching numbers as far as what it's gonna' cost me. My budget, following what my dad is hopefully gonna' pour in, is gonna' be around $20,000. Not bad but, it does mean I have my limits. I certainly want nothing less than 30' and I'm almost sure that I want a sailboat (to help with the fuel costs). I've actually found some pretty amazing prices on the size that I'm looking for, and hopefully, I'll be able to put the rest towards other worthwhile things. *I still have to do the sailing class*... I recently started scuba diving courses like, 3 days ago and I'm sucking up the knowledge like crazy. I've NEVER had this much interested in learning anything....

HollyMari A.

bljones · #2 (**permalink**) 11-05-2010

hollyMari, I am gonna whisper 3 words in your ear that will fulfill all of your sailboat dreams in side of your budget:
Hunter. Cherubini. 30.
Like this:

1980 Hunter Sloop Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Forgiving boat, relatively well built ( in this price range), good accomodations, easy to resell when you inevitably decide to move up.

SD agrees with me, as much as he'd probably love to see you on a boat with two or more hulls. Any good multihull that any of us would recommend to you in good conscience is gonna definitely break the bank.

MARC2012 · #3 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

HM started following your thread on cf ,very interesting but then some of the replies started looking like a Russian novel(too long).Not big hunter fan but multi,NOT ONE OF THOSE.Best of luck.marc

cb32863 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

Hey Holy, not sure if you have seen this link Boat Selection It's got some really good information in it. Some is pretty much common sense. From all the poking around I have done for my own aspirations, that are a few years off, I am thinking you want something that has some speed to it as well as durability and of course sails well. It's all a compromise with boat selection. I don't know enough to recommend specifics but I am more than willing to share the information that I have found. I also have a nice order from Amazon of design related books coming next week.

Bluewater Boats Has some good information that you may want to just read about other boats out there. There is also the Boat Reviews here, its in the Resources menu. Good luck with your search and I am looking forward to hearing more about it.

CB

Allanbc · #5 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

Hollymari, because you are working on a tight budget, I think your choice of boats will be limited by your budget. Since you are not sure about what you want, I suggest looking at lots of different boats in your price range and a little over. This will help you see what you like and don't like.

When I was shopping for my last boat, I had a short list of boats that I liked (and I ended up buying one off my short list). I did look at lots of different boats both in and just over my price range. I took digital photos of every boat I looked at and carried a notepad and took notes. Sometimes we looked at 10 different boats in a day. It helped us to keep track of what we liked and didn't like about each boat we looked at. We ended up buying a boat that was just over what we wanted to spend. We compared it to another Pearson 365 and decided that if we spent the price difference fixing up the other boat, it wouldn't be as nice as starting off with a good boat. We had the money and that worked for us.

Any boat you buy will need work. Some of it is easy and inexpensive if you do it yourself. Some of it is expensive even if you do it yourself. Make sure you get a good marine surveyor to check the boat. Right now, it is a buyers market and there are many good deals out there. You don't need to really rush buying your first boat. Take your time and get what you want, at the price you want, and the needs work you can afford to do.

Hollymari · #6 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by MARC2012

HM started following your thread on cf ,very interesting but then some of the replies started looking like a Russian novel(too long).Not big hunter fan but multi,NOT ONE OF THOSE.Best of luck.marc

Hey.. you can't do that. You can't leave a line like this without dropping me some knowledge to support it. I need to know why you don't care for Hunter's PLEASE. I don't think you guys here on this forum realize just HOW MUCH of a lifeline you are for me as I'm going into this boating thingy. I like TAKE IN just about every piece of advice you guys give - even if it's something I don't really care for hearing. And in the future, if you don't want to leave me a reply b/c of all of the others, just email me... Holly_andrieson@yahoo.com.

HMA - as someone referred to me.

Hollymari · #7 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by cb32863

Hey Holy, not sure if you have seen this link Boat Selection It's got some really good information in it. Some is pretty much common sense. From all the poking around I have done for my own aspirations, that are a few years off, I am thinking you want something that has some speed to it as well as durability and of course sails well. It's all a compromise with boat selection. I don't know enough to recommend specifics but I am more than willing to share the information that I have found. I also have a nice order from Amazon of design related books coming next week.

Bluewater Boats Has some good information that you may want to just read about other boats out there. There is also the Boat Reviews here, its in the Resources menu. Good luck with your search and I am looking forward to hearing more about it.

CB

From what we're looking at, I'm looking to go between $15 and $20 thousand here. Like I've said, this is all HEAVILY reliant on a few financial factors kicking in - in my favor. That's why I'm not counting my little chicklets before they hatch.. lol. Thanks so much for this though. The list we're compiling as far as what we're going to need continues to grow, but I'm not deterred. What's even MORE exciting is I have my friend Nicole excited about doing this as well...

cb32863 · #8 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

Might want to edit that post with your e-mail in it. There are bots that search forums like this for e-mail addy's and then the spam gets out of control.

MARC2012 · #9 (**permalink**) 11-06-2010

HM google 20 small boats to go anywhere.marcps remove em!

AlanGSYS · #10 (**permalink**) 11-07-2010

Cats are nice. You should read the bible first; Chris White's "The Cruising Multihull". You can have any two of these three aspects of a multihull; Good performance, luxurious accommodations, and low price.
For under 30K you can get a Stilletto 27.