Opinions on cheap coastal/ Caribbean cruiser that can be single handed and lived on.

[reed1v]

Cheapest, biggest, and easiest is any Columbia, starting with the 26 footer. Huge room, dirt cheap, stout hulls, and easy to sail. Ugly as all get out, but then you do not care about that, right? A mid 30-36 foot Columbia will have all the room you will ever need, even full head room. Get up to the 40 foot range and you got a monster of a boat. Could even sublet some of that space.

[Isailerman]

I have a 32 endeacour that ive been fixing for 3 years, no boat money, is why but.
look one up, has all you need but air. you can add ac i did works great.

[a64pilot]

The Nonesuch is a really unusual boat, not mainstream at all, maybe hard to sell cause of that, but I think a very good boat for your intended purpose.
I don't know about their headroom though, but check it out first of course, throw out a low ball offer, you might be surprised

Oh and I wouldn't have a boat without AC, reason is it's not expensive, but for those times your in a Marina and there is no real wind in a Marina, it's a life saver.

[Cap Erict3]

There is a Bristol 30 posted on here for the price of the dockyard fees. This model boat has many avid fans.


Going for a cheap boat is going to cost money and time on the back end. How much depends on .....


Good luck in ur hunt.

[SVTwilight]

The Tartan is the pick of the list that you provide.

Dont sweat the headroom. Underway you wont be walking straight up and on any boat you sail a lot you quickly adjust to the available headroom, I too am 6'3"

[LTDsailing]

FlyingBasset,

Another thought for you - what if you started at the southern Caribbean and worked your way back up? There are lots of boats available here in Grenada. Along with the sailing school, we are also brokers down here. I have four decent cruising boats available here between $35K - $42K. If you want to raise the bar - there are lots more available. Drop me a private message or email me directly at Chris@LTDsailing.com and I will send you more information.

Enjoy the voyage!

[TTranscendence]

I've got the boat that suits you and she is for sale.It's a Cascade 36, in great order, which I sailed from Ireland to the Caribbean in 2010 and have cruised the Islands each winter for 3 months since.
My wife had a stroke a few months ago and I've had 5 stents so I have to sell.
I don't want a great boat to end up as another one of those sad abandoned dreams at the back of the boatyard.
She is in the BVI, on the hard in Nanny cay.
I'm 6'1'' and it does me.
Very fully equipped and I sail single handed most of the time.
We can discuss everything and perhaps it would work out for both of us.
Don't know how to make direct email contact to send photos and so on.
My email is transcendencekinsale@gmail.com
Michael

[Dave22q]

If you can find a Morgan 33 in good condition at $15-20k you can stay in budget and will have a lot of space. Of course you will not win any races,

[Ramblingman]

I'd go with the Tartan or the Nonsuch.

Personally I love the way the Nonsuch sails but it's a personal choice.

The Bennie is if it is like the one in Spain suffers from the same issue the Tartan has - A Volvo Penta Engine. Expensive parts, quickly sunsetted support and "outdated" overnight. The Nonsuch has a Westerbeke, you'll get support and parts till you are in your grave.

Yes you can repower - it was on my list of any VP powered boat like the one I own now. Do that right away and sleep at night knowing you have a good engine for many years after the warranty period.

That all said - what about a Gemini?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by FlyingBasset

I know this has been asked before (and would appreciate any links to threads of a similar request) but thanks a ton in advance for any advice!

I suspect you are letting yourself be influenced by books etc. about old designed "blue water boats" and it is leading you down a rabbit hole of being uncomfortable. Reading a book that is 20+ years old about boats that were 20+ years at the time puts you pretty out of date.

I think you should look for something like a Catalina 30-36 etc. The trip you are describing is really just coastal cruising so even if you have brought into the old boat thing there is no reason to lose all the space and comfortable. By far that 2000 Bene is the best boat for your plans.

[Thorne]

I guess since I own one of those old "Blue water" boats that have been around long enough to write books about, live on it a good portion of the year and plan on owning it for another 20 years I am prejudice.


But.


But it has to be said that there is a reason there are still "Old Blue Water" boats out there.


They don't sink as easily as some newer boats.


The "Bolt on Keel" approach is great but they do rip off and that is a bad thing I've heard.


My old, mono hull, shallow draft, full keel boat is not fast, but I grew up racing Cat's and to me all mono hull boats that you can live on are slow. Something about the difference between 30 knots and 9 knots.


I know that "Investment" is not "The Cool" reason to buy a sail boat but I'm looking at the asking price other people who have a boat like mine have posted, ( an old, slow, full keel boat) on the classifieds and it is still over 100,000.


Cool thing is you can get into one cheaper than 30k and fix it up.


It's what I did.


Course if your not into "Fixing" things, then living on a sail boat is probably not for you anyway.


But if it is, then having 2 heads, 3 berths, nice sized galley, really nice captains area, nice dining area, great storage, flexible sail configuration, limited teak on the deck, nice teak trim on the interior, 2008 Perkins motor, 160 gallons of fuel, 150 gallons of water, hot showers, air conditioning, ain't so bad.


Course, it won't win any races, some would say it is slow. ( yes it only does 7 - 8 knots, not 9, under sail )





I say, yup, and it will still be slow 20 years from now, and I won't lose sleep over my keel getting knocked off or loose when a channel has shifted.