Hello!
We’re the
family of six: 42, 38, 12, 9, 3 years old and a newborn dreaming of
buying new for us
boat.
We’ve got only experience as owners boats such a 24” Yamaha bow rider and then 32” Regal
express cruiser. We sailed all around the nearest area from
Fort Lauderdale to
Key West and Dry Tortuga, and also
Bahamas , - the places we only could reach having such a small
fuel capacity and sucks gasoline 750hp engine! Even we had not a big
boat we preferred moving along the ocean and stayed aboard sometimes during 2-3 weeks.
Now when our family’s grown bigger we’re looking for a bigger and larger boat as well for long and safe cruising.
Our plans for nearest future are to travel the
Bahamas and
Caribbean during the summer
vacation and then go further... honestly our the biggest dream is pacific crossing but we could afford it not earlier then in the next 4-5 years.
Our
budget is around 200 000$ maybe plus 20-30К$ for upgrade and
repair
Now we considered two different options
First
Motor-yacht 50-60” long (for example Hatteras 1983-1986 or Defever
trawler )
Second
Sailing boat in size 44-46” 2007-2009 (maybe
Beneteau or Jenneau )
Each decision is a compromise for us and has pros and cons
Power- Yacht
Pros
Comfort and more space for our big
family
More space for
storage , provision,
water and
fuel
More social outside open space
Opportunity to
live aboard in wintertime during
school year (at the moment we’re not ready for home schooling ,maybe a little later) and at this point we could avoid additional expense for rent the apartment, home maintainence...
Cons
The cost of
repair and
maintenance is higher and in case of serious damage could be unexpectedly expensive. And of course we’d like to enjoy traveling but not a long lasting
maintenance.
The cost of fuel is higher as well. But considering
living aboard it’s about the same if you will rent a house plus slip for sailboat at the marina.
This boat is not meant for long trip across the ocean.
Re-seling is more difficult and takes longer time.
Boats offered in this
budget (~200000) is pretty old.
Sailsboat
Pros
Spend less
money for fuel
Maintenance and repair is cheaper and more easier
This is the opportunity to learn something new, to learn sailing and to start living a dream of the long traveling around the world
You can feel more close to nature sailing not listening the
noise of working engines constantly
You can afford newer boat for this
price
Cons
The space for 2 adults and 4
kids is too limited
It’s too small outside as well
It’s dangerous for
kids being on the
deck
It’s impossible to
live aboard. We have to rent the apartment in this case and also pay for keeping the boat at the marina
The operating the sailsboat is more difficult because we don’t have this experience.
It’s less
storage for things,
food and everything you might need during long trip.
We’re looking forward to your opinion and comments which I’m sure help us to make the right decision!