The trick is finding a decent boat for $5k-ish, leaving you $5k to outfit and the balance to live on for a year which would be very spartan but not impossible. You are not going to go around in a year.
I would look at a Cal28, or a
Pearson Triton, both have
headroom for anyone under 6' and will cost $4-8k in OK shape with the Triton possibly a bit higher on average than the
Cal.
Cal advantages
a)raised
deck giving great volume below for a 28' boat.
b)quarter berths maximising use of space
c) probably a bit faster
d) probably has
outboard freeing
storage space under
cockpit.
e) Masthead rig
Triton Advantages
a) Somewhat heavier
hull construction
b) better motion and easier
steering at sea
c) Probably has inboard
engine giving better motoring performance in waves. Normally the inboard would be more reliable than the
outboard too but the Triton is likely to have a 40-50 yr old Atomic 4 vs the 0-20yr old outboard on the Cal.
d) reccommendation from Dan Spurr for
offshore work (
Pearson Triton Sailboat)
Among the big things to check before
buying is that none of the bulkheads are rotted out. Some
delamination of the
deck core can be repaired. Once you have the boat you will want to glass over the hull-deck joint. Also you will want to replace the
rigging. Sta-loc or Norseman terminals are the quickest and best way to do the work and preserve resale value. Cheaper is to learn to splice eyes and do it yourself using 7x7 wire. See Brion Toss's The Rigger's apprentice.
Specific to most Cal boats you would want to make sure the
steel beam under the
compression post has not rusted thru. This beam may be buried under the liner so checking may be difficult. The beam is one more thing to check on Cal's but they do a better job of supporting the
mast. See how one owner replaced the beam at
Wilkie's Sailboat Page
Consider adding built-in
water tanks, more
storage for the volume occupied and in the event of a holing thru the
hull into the tank, the boat doesn't try to sink, the tank already had
water in it, you just can't drink it now.
Consider adding a removable inner forestay for a staysail. More sail area in light conditions, better balance in heavy conditions, staysail not as far foreward in heavy conditions, extra
rigging gives the whole
mast better support.
You will need 3 anchors:
A) main is a 25# plow/CQR or Claw/Bruce on 100-150' 1/4" chain & 200-300' 9/16" nylon 3-strand
rope with bow roller and chain pawl (allows you to go without a windlass),
B) backup is a 15-18# Danforth type
anchor on 30' chain and 250-350' of
rope and an oversized cleat; and
C) stern/kedge
anchor is a 10# plow or Bruce on 15' of 3/16" chain and 150-200' 7/16" rope.
D) If you are feeling flush get a 40-50# fisherman/herreschoff/Luke with same
rode as B) for difficult rock and kelp situations.
If you
wind up in the Pacific islands you may want to consider taking some polypropylene rope as it floats and which keeps it away from
coral, on the other hand it is weaker and more UV sensitive than nylon so it needs to be oversized.
A lot of the anchor stuff you might be able to pick up at swap meets if you attend early and stay late. This will save a lot. Some of the new anchors are getting better reps than the Bruce or
CQR but have not hit the 2nd hand market yet.
You will need to a small hard
dinghy with oars, building one may be the economical answer if you have a place to do the work.
You will need to build a selfsteering
windvane. There is a recent book that includes plans or checkout
http://www.mindspring.com/~waltmur/Self-Steering/
You may want to seal some of the storage compartments in the boat using waterproof hatches for access. This will provide floatation in the case of holing. This is discussed at
Atom Voyages | Sailing and Boat Project* Articles by James Baldwin
Make sure you have a drifter, being able to continue sailing in light air really saves on
fuel. If the main is in good shape all's it probably needs is a 3rd reef. Decent
sails can be had from used sail dealers.
For the Cal an outboard of 4hp would push you at 4-5kt in calm water, 6hp would get you to
hull speed in a calm, 8hp would get you
hull speed with 12-18kt
wind or waves against you, over 10hp is a waste of
fuel and extra weight in the stern since it won't push you any faster in a calm and in winds heavier than 18 or so the prop is going to start coming out of the water. Outboard has to be a 4-stroke, almost twice the fuel milage of a 2-stroke and a lot less pollution.
For the Triton, get an
engine manual.
You will need a
solar panel or 2, preferably on a good mount, see above Atomvoyages for one idea. 2 or 3 new group 27 flooded
batteries or a pair or 2 of new 6v golf cart
batteries from a 2nd tier supplier would probably be adaquate if usage is limited. Evans Starzinger has intersting things to say about batteries at
Systems.
To conserve
battery power you want flourescent fixtures in the
cabin, 1 or 2 in main & 1 in v-berth. Incadescents can remain in
head and berths. You will want a
single bulb Tricolor fixture at the masthead for sailing. At anchor get a LED fixture should go with the anchor ball. (
Bebi Electronics-Home of the Finest Marine LED Lighting Products on Sea (or Earth)! is one source that I have heard decent things about.) If motoring and the outboard has a generator/alternator the existing incanscents are fine, otherwise consider replacing with LED.
Limiting the amount of
electronics on the boat will help with
battery conservation, deptho (make a backup lead line), speedo, simple mounted
GPS (no chart plotter with color
screen needing be backlit all the time),
VHF, shortwave, and maybe a stero/CD player are about all you need. You will need a fan or 2 and if you locate them right they can do double duty blowing both over berths and thru the social areas of the main
cabin. If you really need a computer, get one of the netbooks, they are optimized for
low power draw to stretch their batteries as far as possible.
Convert the
Icebox to shelves or drawers for storage. Same with the hanging locker across from
head.
Read the Lin & Larry
Pardey Books SelfSufficient Sailor, CapableCruiser and CostConsciousCruiser.
Read Annie Hill's Voyaging on a Small
income
Read Beth Leonard's Voyager's Handbook
Read lots more
This is a start