Dream of Sailing as a living

[jbanta]

James
It''s your life to risk if you wish but if I were going to be making crossing to do coastal crusing I would do so in a boat made for blue water. have you checked the Pacific Seacraft line of boats? Each one from the Flica thru The Voyagemaker are built with blue water in mind. There are others just as good but for my life and money I would go that way...

[oceanguy]

Jeff & James,

James, I''d stay away from Pacific Seacraft if you don''t want to pay a heafty price. You can buy two Beneteau 42cc''s for one 42ft P.S. And from what I''ve read (since I can''t find anyone on here willing to answer my questions on them) the 42cc''s are great bluewater boats. Just type it in a web search and you can find lots of articles from third parties, to parties with an investment in it, and they both say the same thing; it is well designed and great for both coastal cruising and bluewater (it''s designed for bluewater though, to make Jeff happy). The price for a new one is about $185k at a sailaway readiness. Great standard features. Since it is a new designed I really couldn''t tell you used prices, but in a couple years, you might be able to find a couple 5 yrs old ones on sale, for maybe 1/4 the price. That''s what I''m planning to do. If anyone got any other ideas, please tell...I''m a humble person.

[ABullard]

There are lots of good cruising boats out there. Practical Sailor has a two volume set of boats they recommend.

PS are great boats, but the new ones are not really set up for long term cruising. Almost all new boats are built for the weekend sailor or short term cruiser.

I bought a Mariner 39 CC two years ago. This boat is 21 years old and in great condition. It is blue water proven having sailed from Florida to Tahiti, Alaska and Peru. The first owners lived on the boat for 18 years. Its layout is ideal for cruising, plenty of space. I went and looked at all the new boats at the St Pete boatshow last year and quite frankly would not trade my boat for any of the new ones.

And the cost was only $75,000 with no major refitting required.

So be willing to look long and hard. There are great boats out there.

Tony

[JeffC_]

Oceanguy,

I''d like to highlight what I consider to be the two most important pieces of sage advice in this thread:
<ol><li>Jeff H''s remarks are right on the money: take the time to learn to sail first on a small keelboat that will actually teach you what you''re doing. You''ll become a better sailor faster, and weekending will give you a small taste of "cruising." You can always sell it later.<p><li>A 42-47 footer is a lot of boat to sail short-handed, especially if you <em>haven''t</em> taken time to develop your skill on a smaller boat. If you set your sights on a LOA (length-over-all) somewhere in the the middle or upper 30-foot range, you will still have plenty of room for 3 people (it''s a boat, not an apartment) and save tons of cash that you can use to refurbish whatever needs attention.<p><li>Effort required to sail the boat and hours performing maintenance increase <em>exponentially</em> as the length of the boat increases incrementally. This will afffect everything from changing/reefing sails while underway to bottom-painting to hours of scraping/sanding, & varnishing, etc. All the ground tackle (anchors, chain, etc.) will by necessity be larger, heavier & more difficult to manage, and/or require electric windlasses, etc., which increases the complexity of your systems and charging requirements.</ol><p> The list goes on…

[Jeff_H]

One minor point, I would say that "Effort required to sail the boat and hours performing maintenance increase exponentially as the ''displacement and to a lesser extent length'', of the boat increases incrementally." It is my sense that displacement rather than length that really controls so much more about size of the boat in terms of sail area,ease of handling, maintenance costs etc.

Respectfully,

Jeff

[flysocal]

We love ours. It has so many features that we wanted in a cruising boat. We won't get to sail away for a few years to come, but when we do, our 440 is the one for us!

There's a brand new owners site now.


It's up and running!

catalina440 dot org

Good luck on your decision.

[Giulietta]

I think that since the thread you just woke up from the dead is from 2003, the guy already decided....

But...we never know...some people are real slow deciders....

[RandyonR3]

Theres something that the trail of this thread has left behind but as any person out there cruising knows well. maintence and the ability to do such is a major part in choosing the boat you plan on sailing.
Awhile back a good friend of mine said they should change the name from Cruising to "REPAIRING YOUR BOAT IN EXOTIC PORTS"
From the time we purchased our boat, some 4 or 5 years ago, we've replaced almost every piece of moving parts on the boat. understand the retro-fit was our choice as we brought a mid 80s vintage FIRST 42 up to newer standards.. and every part of the boat, I've done the repair or replacement myself. Not bragging, but stating a fact.. Parts break and if you want to cruise at a low cost, you have to do the repair yourself, so find a boat or size that you can manage by yourself.
As boat type, we chose a proven race design, the designs (when built) were state-of-the-art, The materials were the newest and strongest avalible. the hull was designed fast and strong and the rigging built to withstand the riggors of offshore racing for multiple days at a time. we will never as cruisers put the boat through half the load the racers would have put on it... Its strong, its fast, its comfortable, and sails like its running on tracks...
If your looking for a boat to cruise with.. take a good look at what people are using these days, and not what people are dreaming of..
The reality of it, people are using what they can, and they make it work.
Like the guy who sailed the hollowed out log from Panama to the South Pacific.. With a 5 gallon bucket of granola and a couple jugs of water!

[wind_magic]

Originally Posted by oceanguy

Short of having ALOT of money saved up, what can you do to earn money as you sail? I hear chartering is already a packed industry.

One seldom used way to earn money is to not spend the money you already have.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Except a penny saved is actually a lot more than a penny earned. Every penny you earn gets taxed anywhere from 30% on up depending on what country you are in, so it's really only 70% of a penny by the time you get it. Whereas a penny saved is not only a penny saved but also a penny generating interest, so it is in effect a SUPER PENNY that will feed you if you save all of it's cousins too. Saved pennies are very grateful.

This method of saving money and generating interest is virtually unknown in the United States where a penny saved is only collateral to use in borrowing large sums of money.

Also, if you know of any good books, non-fiction prefered, that cover all the aspects of long-term cruising and good destinations, please drop a line. Thank you.

"Voyaging on a Small Income" by Annie Hill, ISBN 1-888671-37-8

Definitely non-fiction.

[brianbsalty]

Hi, Everyone !
I am new to this site, I am also new to the sailing world(not totally) . Though I am not unfamiliar with the open water . I have spent my fair share weeks COMMERCIAL FISHING . I am living in the out skirts of New Orleans, Louisiana now . Now days I run a construction small(small company big head aches) . Since the hurricanes in 2005 I have managed to pay off my house I lived in before and purchase in full the one I am living in now(nothing fancy just home). In the mean time I bought a boat it's a, 44 gulf star ketch . I have now got this burning desire to get as far away from this place as possible(no offence to home town) I just want to see so much of the world . My number one desire is to sail to the Philippines . I am just worried about cost of living ! I would like some in put on this once gone I wound not have any income though I am sure that I would rent both my homes out . I am still not sure if that would be enough income to survive . Another thing that has me pondering is the threat of "Pirates at Sea" some of my freinds tell me that if I plan on traveling I better travel along with several boats because solo is unsafe in the open waters . I know I am new to this so any advise will be taken in full