Information/sailing caribbean

[Lazy Geckos]

Hi all!

We are a husband and wife team, the hubby is retiring from the Marine Corps after 21 years this November. We are planning moving to St Pete, Fl and going full speed on our plans to sail the Bahamas and Caribbean for about a year. He does have some sailing/boating experience but is still attending all ASA classes as soon as we arrive to gain skills, then we plan to purchase a boat and sail daily until we decide to depart for the south!

We are looking for solid advice to help us narrow down our boat to a few choices. Mainly a vessel for Florida to Bahamas to Caribbean cruising and living. We want something 40 feet and under. Displacement is concerning us. Too much and it might be a bit slow/hard to get around. Too light and be bobbed around too much or just too light for a liveaboard.

Any suggestions? We've been looking at 17k disp and above but would love suggestions! We seem to like Hunter, Endeavour (although heavy) and Brewers.

Thanks in advance!

[NoShoes]

What a retired ocean going bell hop needs is a catamaran. Perfect for that kind of cruising. Thank you for your service to our country!

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by MXer54

He does have some sailing/boating experience but is still attending all ASA classes...

I hope that YOU are planning to attend those classes also. What are you going to do if he is injured or falls overboard? And on those overnight passages you are going to have to trade off being in command. You need to know just as much about sailing the vessel as he does.

Good luck.

[MARC D]

What is your boat budget?

[Lazy Geckos]

Yes, I am also planning on taking the 101-105 courses, he will be taking more. We are looking for a boat under 100k. We don't need the best thing in the water....just safe, can sail the caribbean comfortably, doesn't look run down. Our list so far is:
35 to 40 feet
17000 disp at least
<5 ft draft for Bahamas and Caribbean cruising
Hunter, endeavour, brewer, sabre seem good

I am not partial to the v-berth as I've slept in them many times...we would prefer to have a bed we can sleep in that's normal shape. Hunters seem to have the most of these but we aren't too familiar with that brand of boat. His sailboat experience is on custom boats (30ft) and my boating was mostly on SeaRays.

Thanks so much for your opinions!

[Gerrycooper56]

For your current plans I think a Hunter would be a good choice but at 40 foot not sure if you would get 5'. We were a 43 Hunter with 5'6"
Draft and could get into Hopetown. Sailed the popular spots in the Caribbean with no problems at that depth. Good luck


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[Lazy Geckos]

Originally Posted by Gerrycooper56

For your current plans I think a Hunter would be a good choice but at 40 foot not sure if you would get 5'. We were a 43 Hunter with 5'6"
Draft and could get into Hopetown. Sailed the popular spots in the Caribbean with no problems at that depth. Good luck


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Great! I've read draft under 5' is the way to go but if it's possible up to 5'6" then that helps! No issues with your Hunter then?

[Gerrycooper56]

No issues really from Florida to Australia


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