Where to start (geographically) for a new cruising family?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Dang! I thought the secret was to stay in the boat!

Naw, you just have to swim faster than the slowest person in your group.

I agree with the others with no experience buying local makes a lot more sense even if it's just for a few years before moving up once you have a better idea of what you want. It just makes it a lot easier when you know the local culture, rules and regulations while trying to figure out the cruising thing.

As far as the Med and sailing conditions, it really depends on what your cruising goals are. For some, it's all about the sailing but for many it's about a vehicle to see the world and the Med has awesome places to visit. If you are smart about it, it doesn't have to kill the bank account (Oh NO!!!! We have to hunker down a 20min euro1.50 train ride from Rome for the winter.)

[anapurna]

If you need train or cruiser? If you projecting visiting the mediterranean, I have a sailboat in Barcelona, I organize sailings close to barcelona one day training, some days sailing up to the north coast, or sail to open sea and visit balearics islands. I have experience with familys and kids, I have references.

See you
Josep

Originally Posted by fursoc

Hi, sorry for another long post. I am new to cruising, in fact I haven't even come close to starting. I posted Should I buy a trainer or a cruiser a while back to find out how to start this adventure by first looking at what boat to buy and when. Well I am now wondering if I should first be asking where is the best place to start a cruising adventure for a new cruising family? Keep in mind we will be relatively new to sailing, and very new to living aboard a boat when we do decide to leave. It’s quite possible we won’t have even owned a live aboard boat at all until we leave.

We live in Newcastle Australia and the most obvious choice is to buy a boat here in Newcastle within the next couple of years. Spend time preparing and learning the boat as much as possible until departure. When it comes time to leave we travel up the east coast and spend our first few months in the Whitsundays really getting to know the boat and each other. The problem I see with this is that I fear travelling North up the east coast would be quite difficult for a “new to cruising” family, and that the Whitsundays would be very expensive training grounds.

Part of me thinks I should be looking elsewhere. Somewhere cheaper and easier to sail. Maybe South East Asia, the Caribbean or the Med. Not only are the living expenses going to be cheaper, but the boat prices are definitely cheaper, the climate is nicer, etc, etc. Obviously this will have it’s own set of problems (difficulty in finding a boat on the other side of the world, being in a foreign land when we are probably at our most vulnerable, etc).

Please guide me oh wise and wonderful cruisers! Where is the best place to learn to cruise and is it worth starting there from the other side of the world?

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

You'd be hard pressed to find a better learn to sail/cruise venue than Lake Macquarie.

Dunno about the cruising aspect, but for the learning part, this is excellent advice. I should have thought of it myself... better by far than sailing in the Hunter or Stockton Bight for a novice. I tend to forget about the Lake because we have a hard time getting in and out due to draft issues (yes, I know that a catamaran would solve that problem for us!).

Jim

[Heg]

Originally Posted by sapient sue

Greetings Fursoc

Hi and welcome to a great style of life - cruising. I think Jim and Ann have given great advice. Starting in an area where you know the local area, language and have great resources is valuable advice. I am glad we did not venture off shore to foreign ports until we were comfortable with all aspects of the boat. When we did gain our confidence we started out with countries not far away - New Caledonia and Vanuatu and in time planned longer passages which took us to our farthest destination Alaska.

I am sorry we have missed the opportunity to meet - we have just traveled passed Newcastle and are heading south towards another summer season in Tasmania. We will be back in the Sydney region in April next year but are happy to answer any queries either through the forum or via the PM system.

Cheers Sue

Alaska eh? That's on our list in a few years time. Can you PM me the route you took please?

[Heg]

We are doing the same as you. We have just bought our first boat ( Fountaine Pajot Lipari ) and it will arrive here in Australia early December .

We bought the boat in Greece and are having it shipped here. It was still cheaper to do this than to buy a boat here. Plus, we couldn't find the boat we wanted here in Oz... We could have flown to Greece to start our journey, but logistically, it was all too complicated. We still have jobs here and a house to sell and the boat being here in Brizzy gives us the chance we to move onboard at our own pace and do more sail training in local waters .

We also have the advantage of being closer to the South Pacific when we decide to venture further afield and that holds more attraction for us right now than the Med.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Dunno about the cruising aspect, but for the learning part, this is excellent advice. I should have thought of it myself... better by far than sailing in the Hunter or Stockton Bight for a novice. I tend to forget about the Lake because we have a hard time getting in and out due to draft issues (yes, I know that a catamaran would solve that problem for us!).

Jim

The entry channel was dredged last year. It's pretty deep, IIRC the least depth we saw was more than 2.5m.


I meant learn to cruise as well as sail. There are loads of great anchorages not far apart, which suit all kinds of weather, plenty of public docks and pumpout facilities for practising berthing, easy provisioning, easy access to drinking water.... and it's a really nice place.

[Jim Cate]

The entry channel was dredged last year. It's pretty deep, IIRC the least depth we saw was more than 2.5m.

They keep dredging it, and it keeps filling back in. The area that has always been a problem for us is the "dropoff', and our 2.2 m keel is well acquainted with those (fortunately soft) sands.

A pity, 'cause you are right: it is a nice place to hang out!

Jim

[fursoc]

Originally Posted by Heg

We are doing the same as you. We have just bought our first boat ( Fountaine Pajot Lipari ) and it will arrive here in Australia early December .

Wow. How did you go about doing that? Was that the boat you were after? How did you organise shipping? How much did shipping cost? Did you have it surveyed before you purchased? How much did you save in the long run?

Sorry, so many questions!

[Scout 30]

Having never heard of the Drop Bear I did some research. Sounds like a very intelligent animal:

“The analysis has provided valuable insights into the animal’s hunting behaviour,” Volker said. “It has been confirmed that foreigners are much more likely to be dropped on than Australians.”
Volker attributes this selective behaviour to a number of factors, the most significant of which relates to Australian people’s taste for Vegemite.
“By-products of the interaction between chemicals found in Vegemite and those found in human sweat repel drop bears,” Volker says. “Most Australians eat Vegemite at least once a day, so they permanently exude these chemicals through their skin and are thus protected.”
Drop bears are also thought to be able to discern Australian accents, and seem to be less likely to attack people who have them.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Heg

We are doing the same as you. We have just bought our first boat ( Fountaine Pajot Lipari ) and it will arrive here in Australia early December .

We bought the boat in Greece and are having it shipped here. It was still cheaper to do this than to buy a boat here. Plus, we couldn't find the boat we wanted here in Oz... We could have flown to Greece to start our journey, but logistically, it was all too complicated. We still have jobs here and a house to sell and the boat being here in Brizzy gives us the chance we to move onboard at our own pace and do more sail training in local waters .

We also have the advantage of being closer to the South Pacific when we decide to venture further afield and that holds more attraction for us right now than the Med.

Previous threads on this topic have referenced a big tax penalty if you bring a foreign boat into Australia. Is this something the OP should be concerned with?

[Heg]

x

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Previous threads on this topic have referenced a big tax penalty if you bring a foreign boat into Australia. Is this something the OP should be concerned with?

We are NZ citizens living here. We are classed as temporary residents and therefore can import a boat on a temporary basis. We can have it here for one year and not pay GST or duty. We have to pay a bond that is the equivalent of that but we get it refunded when we leave

[Heg]

Originally Posted by fursoc

Wow. How did you go about doing that? Was that the boat you were after? How did you organise shipping? How much did shipping cost? Did you have it surveyed before you purchased? How much did you save in the long run?

Sorry, so many questions!

No worries. We bought through multihull solutions here in Au. The boat was listed with them but lying in Greece. It was priced in Euros and much cheaper than any boat we would have been able to buy here. Plus , we couldn't find this particular model for sale here.
Multihull organised the survey and haul out for us (independent English surveyor) and organised the shipping. Shipping was $55k USD but even adding that on , the boat was still a great buy. We reckon we saved around $50k aud all up
We pay GST and duty on it but that is refundable in our case as we are classed as temporary residents ( NZ passports and will be leaving AU in less than 12 months)