Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyMdRSailor
Hiya Ribbet!
Welcome to CF! 
Boy... There sure are a lot of logistics and obstacles involved here!
The honest truth is that I haven't made it back out to CA to show and sell the boat.... It really shouldn't be too awful difficult to get a buyer on the hook, as I had about 5 "very" interested plus the usual tire kickers...
Also, she's got an excellent headsail, simply a hanked one...
What kind of handicap do you have? Companionway steps are going to be an obstacle on most boats??? Maybe we can help you pick a good fit for your needs.... I think you should post a new thread with the question! |
Thanks for the welcome.
Well the logistics and obstacles would be a challenge, I'm the first to admit, but not insurmountable, and what an adventure in the process. I have never seen one of these boats over here (though they are a bit reminiscent of a
Maxi in exterior looks?), and I think a lot of people might like to see one.
For perspective, I am used to travelling all across
Europe solo on my motorbike(s), carrying 3+ months of
food on it, and am used to setting up
food for the day with breakfast, using food flasks that keep stuff hot for 12+ hours, and it has paid off well for me at times (e.g. stuck in Hungary in 2011 for an extra 5 weeks due to appalling
weather that made it unsafe to travel). But my motorbike days are now over, sad to say, and they were a pretty good way and a
cheap way, for me to chase the sun.
Stairs, and so a companionway, aren't too bad at the moment (yours looks to have good hand holds), plus, after a few weeks in dry heat and in
salt air, things start to ease up dramatically (I even start to get my hearing back) - hence the enthusiasm (even if it did surprise me) of my Dr for me getting a lot more time in that
environment.
Basically all my problems stem from an initial bad car crash (if I hadn't gone to a neighbours funeral a week earlier, who was killed in the same type of
accident in the same spot, with all attending agreeing that the safest thing to do when we turned onto that particular road, was to undo our seat belts, I'd be as dead as that poor lady) which gave me glaucoma in both eyes, and then the damage done by Beta Blocker eye drops (I basically have no memory of the following 6+ years until the eye drops got changed, but apparently I was a very good barman during part of that time - when the pub was
sold, customers tried to buy it to keep me there, which is the greatest compliment I have ever been paid in my life, and I managed it on auto-pilot *laughs*). It's the eye drops that make me deaf (along with tinnitus) believe it or not, and they cause so much fluid to be made, I almost drown at times during my sleep (so dry heat and
salt air really rock). Along the way I got prescribed Statins (deadly stuff, wrecked my muscles and who knows what else - dry heat eases things well), plus Bendroflumethiazide (gave me Gout, accelerated through me with also prescribed aspirins, which has now given me arthritis in every joint - again dry heat rocks). Then there was the eye specialist with a lousy aim and no
concept of only shooting what you aim for, that managed to weld up the inside of my right eye when it was fully dilated, so it can't shut down in bright light, and because the right one won't shut down, neither will the left one - took ages to get to the bottom of that, and learn about the right coloured tints and coatings to have on glasses to
work best, and be able to actually go outside in daylight (I get
arc eye from fluorescent lights, believe it or not). I thought I was turning into a vampire. *laughs* There's a few other things been triggered along with that lot as well.
So on a serious note, I pretty much need an uncomplicated rig with everything running back to a nice secure
cockpit, though after a few weeks I may be able to manage a
manual windlass ok (50:50 odds I think). Probably well enough to get home anyway (not many places I want to drop
anchor in the Atlantic). Never used a
windlass before, I was strong enough to pull up pretty much any yacht
anchor at the time, so a manual may prove to be even better than I imagine.
I'll be cracking on with doing the RYA refresher stuff and
ICC (in dry heat and salt air hopefully down in
Spain or Portugal), and they, along with some chats with instructors, should highlight important changes that I will need to consider and make.
I'd like to do an initial 'Beginners Course' next month (hopefully early) as a
cheap refresher to help get back in the swing of things, and maybe set me up the end of next month to do the 14 day Advanced Crew up to
ICC standard. I can then do the
Marine VHF resit and a
Radar Course from home with local facilities (both are one day courses, though I could also perhaps include them with the Advanced Crew/ICC at the same time - have to see how it goes).
I was thinking of something around 32 ft as being optimum for me (along the lines of a Marieholm 32, which is influenced by the
Folkboat, which I always liked), so the
Morgan 33, to me anyway, is 'pretty much ballpark'. Long
keel, safe, comfortable traveller, small enough to be economic to run and maintain, big enough to have
family and friends come along now and again, that sort of thing.
There's certainly plenty of choice on the market at the moment, and something suitable within my
budget does seem to be readily available with care (I do think over the next few months, selection is likely to improve dramatically too - perhaps particularly this side of the Atlantic), so even though I am serious, definitely put me right at the bottom of your list of prospects, and see how it goes. Hopefully the one at the top of your list does the necessaries for you.
Once I have done the Courses and have the ICC etc, will probably be the time to do a 'Boat Wanted', but one like your
Morgan 33 looks to be very suitable for performing a conversion for disabled sailing with.
May your
sale happen in the very near future, and result in massive grin factors for all concerned.
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