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I think I have a problem. The kind of boat people tell me I should get, and the kind of boat I like are not exactly the same....so I need a boat, but what to get?
Let's start with what I want to do with it. So here are some basic requirements.
1. Cruise and stay aboard full time. I don't say liveaboard, because I'm looking to actively move from place to place, probably not staying in a single place more than a month, unless waiting out a weather season. But I will be living aboard. Cruising, we'll call it cruising full time. I am wanting more space than I have had in the past. Standing headroom. I am six feet even.
2. Of a size and design I can single hand. Everything from raising anchor alone, to raising sails, pulling into a slip. I want it easy to sail alone. So no forty footers, even if they are a blow out deal. Plus the cost and time of maintenance gets too high over mid thirties for one person.
3. Sail on the California coast, either from San Francisco to San Diego, or start in Southern California and cruise locally, with trips to the Channel Islands and Catalina to hone my skills and ready the boat. Then go to Mexico for winter and then Hawaii or the South Pacific. We don't know when that will happen, so we can start by finding a boat that is good for California coastal and likely Baja, with the ability to cross the pacific.
So that's the basics of what I need, here is what I understand and what I want, and why I think what I want contradicts what I need.
There is a spectrum of boats. On the left side of my mental diagram lie boats like albin vegas, Pearson tritons and cape dories. Heavy, old full keel boats with thick fiberglass, slow, but built like tanks. Able to withstand heavy weather. On the right side are hunters, Catalina's and the like. Lightly built, but with most of the cost going into a spacious modern interior. Creature comforts. Great to liveaboard and sail in protected waters. In the middle are boats like ericsons, newports and islanders and cals. Properly done able to safely take you anywhere. Spacious inside, but not too spacious. Moderately heavy, moderately fast.
I want a mid to late eighties fin keel, 30 feet, that is clean and nice and either well kept or mostly restored. It's high on my want list to be crisp and clean throughout. I want one of the mid range boats. Like an ericson 30. I also want an Olson 30, for whatever reason I really like the full on race boats, but hopefully you can convince me to stop looking at those. But I am looking. There's also a CF27 that looks pretty good, but I really like the Olson 30.
I had never seen an albin vega in real life that I knew of, one came to the dock and my friend said I had to go check it out. We had been talking about all these older boats and that they were what I needed. I looked at it and hated it. To me they are ugly, old and small. So narrow. Very outdated looking. But if that kind of boat is the right tool for the job, I'll get the right tool. It's just not appealing. But even if I didn't like land rovers, I wouldn't take a Ferrari across Africa.
I've been told it's a good time to buy a boat. I'm looking at craigslist everyday. I'm not finding much in the Bay Area, but a good amount in SoCal. If anyone knows a better resource than Craigslist though I am all for it.
Let's start with what I want to do with it. So here are some basic requirements.
1. Cruise and stay aboard full time. I don't say liveaboard, because I'm looking to actively move from place to place, probably not staying in a single place more than a month, unless waiting out a weather season. But I will be living aboard. Cruising, we'll call it cruising full time. I am wanting more space than I have had in the past. Standing headroom. I am six feet even.
2. Of a size and design I can single hand. Everything from raising anchor alone, to raising sails, pulling into a slip. I want it easy to sail alone. So no forty footers, even if they are a blow out deal. Plus the cost and time of maintenance gets too high over mid thirties for one person.
3. Sail on the California coast, either from San Francisco to San Diego, or start in Southern California and cruise locally, with trips to the Channel Islands and Catalina to hone my skills and ready the boat. Then go to Mexico for winter and then Hawaii or the South Pacific. We don't know when that will happen, so we can start by finding a boat that is good for California coastal and likely Baja, with the ability to cross the pacific.
So that's the basics of what I need, here is what I understand and what I want, and why I think what I want contradicts what I need.
There is a spectrum of boats. On the left side of my mental diagram lie boats like albin vegas, Pearson tritons and cape dories. Heavy, old full keel boats with thick fiberglass, slow, but built like tanks. Able to withstand heavy weather. On the right side are hunters, Catalina's and the like. Lightly built, but with most of the cost going into a spacious modern interior. Creature comforts. Great to liveaboard and sail in protected waters. In the middle are boats like ericsons, newports and islanders and cals. Properly done able to safely take you anywhere. Spacious inside, but not too spacious. Moderately heavy, moderately fast.
I want a mid to late eighties fin keel, 30 feet, that is clean and nice and either well kept or mostly restored. It's high on my want list to be crisp and clean throughout. I want one of the mid range boats. Like an ericson 30. I also want an Olson 30, for whatever reason I really like the full on race boats, but hopefully you can convince me to stop looking at those. But I am looking. There's also a CF27 that looks pretty good, but I really like the Olson 30.
I had never seen an albin vega in real life that I knew of, one came to the dock and my friend said I had to go check it out. We had been talking about all these older boats and that they were what I needed. I looked at it and hated it. To me they are ugly, old and small. So narrow. Very outdated looking. But if that kind of boat is the right tool for the job, I'll get the right tool. It's just not appealing. But even if I didn't like land rovers, I wouldn't take a Ferrari across Africa.
I've been told it's a good time to buy a boat. I'm looking at craigslist everyday. I'm not finding much in the Bay Area, but a good amount in SoCal. If anyone knows a better resource than Craigslist though I am all for it.
