Deciding on Boat Type

[Andrei123]

Hi, I have been extremely obsessed with sailing lately.
I live in Ontario Canada so i have easy access to lake Ontario, at the moment i am dreaming of taking a trip from lake ontario all the way to the atlantic and down to the carribeans. I want to have a sailboat capable of being trailered and stored on my driveway for one, second would be the ability to cross the atlantic, thirdly would be budget.
At some point i would love to be able to cross the atlantic go through Gibraltar and eventually (not even sure if its possible) end up in the Black Sea.
Ive been checking out a MacGregor 26x, unfortunately this is waay out of my budget. Also the MacGregor doesnt strike me as an atlantic crosser. I was thinking that an inboard diesel motor would be nice instead of the outboards i see on newer boats.

Any suggestions ?

This would be my first sailboat, i thought of spending something in the 10k range.

Thank you

[Kordie]

Mate - Reality check. You wont cross the Atlantic or even venture far offshore in a trailer sailer boat.

They aren't even built to be left in the water on a mooring!

Simon

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Andrei123

I want to have a sailboat capable of being trailered and stored on my driveway for one, second would be the ability to cross the atlantic, thirdly would be budget.

Surely this post is a bit of fun after some of the previous posts that turn into a bit of an argument...?

Anyway, to the poster. Yes! Of course you can do it! And for less than $10,000.

Happy sailing!


Mark

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by Kordie

Mate - Reality check. You wont cross the Atlantic or even venture far offshore in a trailer sailer boat.

They aren't even built to be left in the water on a mooring!

Simon

Not true at all. There are a FEW..

Cape Dory 25D, NorSea 27 to name two. They aren't 'trailer sailer' in the sense that you want to trailer them in and out all the time, but both can be put on a trailer AND driven w/o special permits with a reasonable size vehicle, ie 3/4 ton truck.

I have a 25D, becasue I live 200 miles from the ocean and the last thing I want is to have to depend on others in-order to get my 25D from here to the ocean and back.

The $10k part is the biggest issue you have...

[Andrei123]

I like the cape dory 25d looks great and does look trailerable like you said. Again, if i employ someone to take it to a marina for me is all the same. The more important point would be to have it at home during winter so i can ... do some stuff to it and NOT incur the marina fees. I could always rent a truck to take it to the sea and back. I havent yet looked into how much they go for.

[Bash]

Reality check #2: If I were to endow you with a suitable boat right now, free of cost, you'd still spend $10,000 getting it ready for an Atlantic crossing.

Start with $3,000+ for a 4-man life raft. Add another $1,000 for an EPIRB. My battery banks cost $1,000 easily.

Right there we've blown half your wad without even beginning to think about such things as provisions, spares, survival gear, sails, et cetera. After those necessities, you should think about solar/wind charging systems ($5,000 on my boat) an SSB radio (about $1,500 installed) and other such niceties.

Crossing an ocean is a big-league venture. Chances of making it on a little-league budget are fairly slim.

[Andrei123]

I realize that, my budget was not for all that stuff. Budget was for a Atlantic crossing CAPABLE boat. The other stuff I can procure as time goes. I do not expect to buy this 10k boat and jump in it and head out to the atlantic

[nautical62]

There are two famous examples of people circumnavigating who chose a Contessa 26 which can be trailered. I owned a 26 Westerly Centaur on a trailer. A few of them have circumnavigated, and some are on the market now for about 3K which I think is quite a bargain. Pacific Seacraft's Dana and Flicka have excellent reputations, but they are rarely cheap. The Norsea 27, Cape Dory and Folk Boats are also capable cruisers.

I may not have crossed the ocean on 10K, but I comfortably sailed the Bahamas for under 15K, and with today's prices think I could buy another Centaur and have it ready for Bahamas cruising for 10K easily. Getting ready to jump across the ocean requires more.

I bought my first cruiser on a trailer sailor with much the same thinking you have. Honestly, I would not choose that route again if longer term cruising is a dream. You may save on storage costs, but you are also have the added cost of a very heavy duty trailer and tow vehicle. You really limit the size boat and boat options by limiting yourself to a trailer. While many small proven cruisers can be trailered, they are not trailer-sailors. Launching and trailering my 7000 lb Centaur was a project.

If I were to do it again, I'd buy an old proven low 30s boat like the Person Vanguard, find a cheap place on the hard and spend a year working on it.

Also consider buying a boat like a Catalina 22, enjoying it for weekend or maybe week trips while you learn to sail and figure out your next step. A boat like that can be stored in your yard and you can probably spin it in a few years at little depreciation.

[sailstoo]

A MacGregor 26 to cross the Atlantic yet it's way out of your budget...this is a joke, right? RU one of the Sailing Anarchy guys pulling us old cruiser types chains...or whatever? ROFLMAO

[Andrei123]

Sadly i wasnt joking about the macgregor 26, they were showing it sailing in fairly stormy weather. I havent experienced any sort of storm at sea yet but it looked fairly bad out there. They were also saying about its speed due to weight or lack there of. Plus the added bonus was the removable keel.

Again, as i read your replies and im checking out those suggestions i am getting to see where the differences are in having a full keel as opposed to a removable daggerboard(MG 26). So far I am thinking between the Contessa 26 and Cape dory 25d, also ive checked out a few Pearson Vanguard's and like it was stated few are cheap. They are not that expensive but for a first I would be very scared to put that much into it, especially having it at a marina.

Having it at home is a great thing, it would be a constant reminder as well as a great opportunity to work on it. I work about 14 hours a day 4 days a week so time is pretty bad at the moment.

But I think that if I get a good chance in a sail boat i can convince my gf to go for a bigger sailboat as opposed to a cottage, a few years down. Then I can definately do some better sailing.

[sailstoo]

Didn't mean to take you lightly but my experiences with MacGregor, though limited, are pretty negative and there's been a running thread on www.SailingAnachy.com about them. BTW, SA is just what the name applies.

Cape Dory's are truly great craft! You cannot go wrong with a CD 25 but putting that rig up every time you wanna go sailing is going to get awfully old. And as a new sailor the last thing you want to do is get turned off before you give this wonderful game a fair chance.

[Boracay]

If you're working 14 hours a day the last thing you need is a boat. Any boat.

Assuming you can get more than a few days off work, and you're actually being paid for those hours why not take a short holiday, book a lesson and a charter somewhere nice and see the good side of cruising.

[Andrei123]

oye
thats a good point
i think this is what kind of got me to think about sailing, get away from the so called rat race. sustainability, the fact that i dont need much to enjoy freedom in what seems like its only available form. Too many people on land imho.

[meyermm]

Mate I think you better start again at the beginning

[Andrei123]

Thank you very much for the input, i think i have narrowed it down to the cape dory or the contessa. I went to the marina today and looked at a few boats, i really cant wait to buy one.