Which Boat to Buy ?

[trevordean]

Hey Everyone.
Im new to the forum and just getting into sailing.
In a few years im planning to cross the pacific north america and continue onward. There are going to be 3 of us onboard for well over a year and I want a blue water vessel that has room for us all and is relieable with some storage. our price range is up to $90 000 canadian. We would like to spend less if we could and make it everywhere safely.
Any suggestions?

[Ozbullwinkle]

Hi Trevor and welcome to the forum. There are many posts asking very similar questions to the ones that you are asking now.

As you are a new forum member you may not be aware that there is a very good search engine so that you can find and review the wealth of information that they contain.

Maybe it might assist you to take a look at some of these first and then maybe come up with a short list of likely candidiate vessels so that you can narrow down your question.

Here is the link to the search for you.

All the best with your boat shopping.

Google Custom Search - Cruisers & Sailing Forum

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

Hi Trevor and welcome to the forum. There are many posts asking very similar questions to the ones that you are asking now.

As you are a new forum member you may not be aware that there is a very good search engine so that you can find and review the wealth of information that they contain.

Maybe it might assist you to take a look at some of these first and then maybe come up with a short list of likely candidiate vessels so that you can narrow down your question.

Here is the link to the search for you.

All the best with your boat shopping.

Google Custom Search - Cruisers & Sailing Forum

It kind of sucks to hear 'go check the older threads' as the reply to your query, but when you're at the beginning of your search sometimes the type of advice Ozbullwinkle gave is absolutely right. I mean, opinions abound here and everyone has an idea of what a person's first boat should be, but those opinions are tainted by personal experience and expertise/background.

If you just go by what the first half dozen of us yokels tell you, it could seriously impair your ability to make a great decision.

That said, if I were buying my first boat and planning on having three adults living aboard for a year together, I'd want something reasonably large (40'), heavy hulled and simply rigged. A 1978 Morgan 41' sloop was my family's first boat, and it was a dandy. We knew nothing about sailing, and it comfortably housed a family of six with children ranging from 3yo to 13yo (along with the family 'dog' at the time, a Yorkshire Terrier). Beamy, with a simple sloop rig and two sails to keep things from getting confusing. The full-length keel also kept us from worrying too much about running aground on sand bars.

So that's the direction I'd say to go, but I'm one voice in a veritable ocean of them. And there are bound to be strong opinions voiced which contradict my opinion. Personally, I'd say you're best off to go cruising through the older threads to get some bearing on what is most important to YOU in a boat. Settle down with a cup of coffee and peruse for a few hours. You'll get more information in a half-day's surfing here than in three months of dock-walking.

[SimonV]

I would recommend you visit the major marinas in your area espesialy those listed as check in ports and see what has been out there doing what you want to do. You may be very surprised at what is being sailed safely over the oceans.

[Adelie]

Is that 3 adults or 2 adult and a child? The 3rd alternative is not worth asking, the 4th even less so.

You will want 2 good sea-berths as a minimum if there are 3 crew aboard, 1 crew is always on watch. Good sea-berths would be quarter-berths (good) or pilot berths (excellent). You can make do with converting settee seats to berths (marginal) every night but it's a pain. The v-berth is mostly unusable underway. A dinette conversion is possible but a poor option due to the conversion time and the special arrangements needed to make a lee cloth work.

If the boat you get is a sloop, consider adding a removable forestay for a staysail. The forestay and it's associated rigging (intermediate shrouds and running back stays) greatly improve mast support in heavy weather. 2 jibs allow you a range of sail areas by dousing and raising the jibs without removing them from the stays. This decreases the number of jibs needed on board as the headsail and staysail cover the wind range that 3 or 4 head sails alone would cover.

With a 90K out the door budget you probably don't want to spend more than 60k on purchase.

Assuming 3 adults you are going to want a boat in the 36-43' range, unless you are a real cozy group then 32 or 33 minimum.

Start by doing a yacht world search (1965 contessa (Sail) Boats For Sale California CA) for boats in your length range and price range (don't forget to convert to US$). This will give a range of boats to look at. Advanced search will let you limit boats shown to boat in regions of your choice.

Next go thru SailboatData.com - sailboat database with specifications, drawings and photos, more than 8000 listings and look at those boats narrowing the list of boat you want to look at.

I expect that you will need to go towards the short end if you want a newer boat and visa versa. My feeling is the boat length goes up faster than the outfitting costs as the boat gets older. That said, be careful not to get a project boat.

[trevordean]

Ill definatly be doing my fair share of browsing over the next short while.
There are going to be 3 adults at this point. Theres a chance the one will drop out on the trip making it 2 of us. Yea were interested in something spacious. I was thinking in the area of 40 feet. Ill have more questions im sure after a little more research. Thanks all.