Help Please --- First Time $1M+ Purchase

[Twinship]

Originally Posted by PaulForster123

Hi all, your assistance would be most appreciated...
We have decided and at long last in a position to sell up and sail off full time and are considering our first Catamaran and have found the boat of our dreams a Sunreef 62 30 months old one owner and out in Tahiti. We are in the UK during lockdown and are needing help with relevant info we should be considering with the broker.
Yes novice sailors, just a formality we know, first boat ownership lol.
We would like your kind assistance in the sort of questions and information we should be asking prior to undertaking expense in surveying.
Our general considerations have been around taxes and country registration, mooring, maintenance, warranty issues, ongoing ownership costs.
The list is endless however you don't know what you don't know so any help you kind people can offer will be much appreciated.
We are planning on circumnavigating full time over the next decade and are looking to be out on the water in the next 4-6 months subject to this Covid fiasco.
Kind regards, family of 4 in cold dark Yorkshire...soon to be in warmer waters.

We are a family of 4 from Yorkshire and we made the lifestyle change last July. Happy to give you any advice you need but would prefer to do that over the phone. PM for details.

[SV_Sweet_Ruca]

Originally Posted by smj

Paying a retainer to a guy on a forum named PirateGuy..............

[Beach Panda]

Originally Posted by PaulForster123

Hi all, your assistance would be most appreciated...
We have decided and at long last in a position to sell up and sail off full time and are considering our first Catamaran and have found the boat of our dreams a Sunreef 62 30 months old one owner and out in Tahiti. We are in the UK during lockdown and are needing help with relevant info we should be considering with the broker.
Yes novice sailors, just a formality we know, first boat ownership lol.
We would like your kind assistance in the sort of questions and information we should be asking prior to undertaking expense in surveying.
Our general considerations have been around taxes and country registration, mooring, maintenance, warranty issues, ongoing ownership costs.
The list is endless however you don't know what you don't know so any help you kind people can offer will be much appreciated.
We are planning on circumnavigating full time over the next decade and are looking to be out on the water in the next 4-6 months subject to this Covid fiasco.
Kind regards, family of 4 in cold dark Yorkshire...soon to be in warmer waters.

In reading this, I'm really quite happy that you and your family are looking for a much greater quality of life. For me, and most others here, there really isn't much more value to life than the Wind and the Water... which are the same 2 things a sailboat needs to survive.

One thing I am concened for you, which no money in the world can address is misery. Specifically, how is everyone when it comes to tolerance for the "motion of the ocean"... ex: Sea Sickness?

Unless the boat is only going to always be on the hard... and circumnavigation seems to indicate the contrary, first explore that. There are a tremendous amount of Used Boats for sale in Greneda, Panama, and other Caribbean local's from people whom meant to start out, similarly, and ended up quitting quite soon.

Just asking... up to you to check that part of your upcoming life scenario.

What's the saying???? Miserable Wife... Miserable Life????

[Sindbaad]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Notwithstanding issues mentioned by others.


We know nothing about your background.



Moving - permanently 10 years on to a boat?

never having owned a boat!

never having lived on a boat!

never having been on this boat!

the boat is in Tahiti during a pandemic!


A 30 month old boat does not have a warranty, the fact that you are even asking about a warranty indicates your naivety.


A 62ft cat is a massive vessel in all respects.


"taxes and country registration, mooring, maintenance, warranty issues, ongoing ownership costs".



This is just money lots of it and will be the least of your worries, if you can't fix things yourself, on a massive complex vessel, then finding skilled people that you can trust with your life and that of your family is a much harder task.


"Parking" a 62ft cat in a marina is not like parking a car, even in a articulated truck you can stop if things start to go wrong.



Boats are not like houses. Not fixing the roof on a country mansion means the roof leaks, not fixing something on a boat means you and your family could die.



Do you even know that it is still cyclone season in FP at the moment?


What you are suggesting is akin to a first flying lesson on a commercial airliner, on a long haul flight with 200 passengers on board, with no maintenance or ground crew.



I hate throwing cold water on peoples dreams and I wish you every success in your adventure.

TUPAIA;
You are not throwing cold water on dreams, you are setting out a fire about to start.
As you mention a 62' catamaran is an enormous boat for somebody who has never sailed. To contemplate this adventure is pure ma..ness.

[Leannepine]

I don’t want to sound negative about your dream but here are some things to consider. We have owned two large yachts our latest is 65 feet, the thing I noticed moving up from a 47 foot yacht to 65 is the huge price difference in cost of part replacement in the larger boat. It’s not bring on another thousand its more like bring on an extra ten thousand. I have worked in marinas and handstand yards and we have had a few of these boats here all of them with professional crew. This is a big boat that will take a lot just in day to day running. This is not like owning a home there are things to do and repair on a boat of this size everyday and you will need lots of knowledge to do some of these tasks. This is a huge cat and I would not recommend it as your first boat. Just docking it will take some skill I have seen professional crew struggle in difficult conditions.
Finding slips and haul out yards to stay and do work on boat will be more difficult and way more expensive. Cat slips are usually 1.5x the normal slip rate. Bigger is not alway better but if you have a big cruising budget go for it just remember your running and maintenance costs will be around 10% of boat value so you are looking at $100k a year.
Also FP is closed at the moment along with the rest of the Pacific so a boat in FP will be hard to move. I wish you well in your upcoming adventure life on the water is way more fun than on land.

[Coltrek]

To avoid having a really bad experience that will ruin the boating lifestyle for you and your family, I would STRONGLY suggest buying something around 18 feet, that you can flip and drain, (like a Mobjack) and sail that a lot for a year or so.
a family here bought a hot 35' Beneatau, did very poorly with it, his wife would not sail with him . . . some sailing friends he made, told him to get a small boat, they got one of those hot little J boats, around 22 foot - years later, they are still sailing that, love it, and has gotten very good at it.

[BuzzLi]

Mr. Help Please,
Everything you are hearing from this very knowledgeable group of sailors, you need to heed quite straight forward and with great admiration.

Getting into the, "I can't stand this present Covid lifestyle anymore and I want out", attitude may get you into deep seas you may not be able to handle and this could mean some very negative consequences you may not want to endure.

My suggestion is similar to a few of the others, take some time to have some experience on a vessel with an experienced sailor and build up some experience and certification levels for being on the water. This will allow you time to feel the life on the sea, provide you with the ability to get a better rate on your insurance and see if this is exactly what you feel is the best for you and your family.

While you're going through a period of time of educating yourself and family on some vessel to learn what it means to be onboard, you should really look at what type of vessel will be best for you in the extended future. For example, I realize you want to go to warm places, which seems to be everyone's desire, boardshorts and bikini's but our sailing world is vast and encompasses such wonderful passages as the Northwest Passage, something you should consider in what type of boat you ultimately want for the next 10-15 or 20 years, especially with children, they may indeed grow to love the sea and want nothing more to do with the land living lifestyle. Maybe a Cat isn't the best choice.

Buy yourself a new boat that can be perfectly designed just for your family needs and world cruising experiences so you don't find yourself stuck with something that limits your possibilities. The time it takes to build the best suited vessel for liveaboard and a blue water cruising lifestyle, you'll have the time to become quite Salty, I believe this is the best scenario for you and your family, experience time on the water, all of you learning the winds, currents, navigating, etc.

Have a look here and think a bit more about your choice of vessel for a future lifestyle that will indeed take your breath away. Asia Fine Yachts
Exploration 52
Explorcat 52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ93MsZd7Xk

Good luck... Fair winds and following seas!

Buzz

[JamesPNW]

Originally Posted by PaulForster123

Hi all, your assistance would be most appreciated...

We have decided and at long last in a position to sell up and sail off full time and are considering our first Catamaran and have found the boat of our dreams a Sunreef 62 30 months old one owner and out in Tahiti. We are in the UK during lockdown and are needing help with relevant info we should be considering with the broker.

Yes novice sailors, just a formality we know, first boat ownership lol.

We would like your kind assistance in the sort of questions and information we should be asking prior to undertaking expense in surveying.

Our general considerations have been around taxes and country registration, mooring, maintenance, warranty issues, ongoing ownership costs.

The list is endless however you don't know what you don't know so any help you kind people can offer will be much appreciated.

We are planning on circumnavigating full time over the next decade and are looking to be out on the water in the next 4-6 months subject to this Covid fiasco.

Kind regards, family of 4 in cold dark Yorkshire...soon to be in warmer waters.

I would spend a lot of time doing boat research and try out a few cats (renting) before committing to a $1M used boat purchase. A 62 feet cat for 4 is too roomy. Lagoon, FP or Leopard 50 or 52 Owner version would be plentiful. Big boat is also much harder to find docking and manage by 4 inexperienced sailors. Also the captain is expected to do everything on that 62ft.

[Tillikum]

Originally Posted by PaulForster123

Hi all, your assistance would be most appreciated...
We have decided and at long last in a position to sell up and sail off full time and are considering our first Catamaran and have found the boat of our dreams a Sunreef 62 30 months old one owner and out in Tahiti. We are in the UK during lockdown and are needing help with relevant info we should be considering with the broker.
Yes novice sailors, just a formality we know, first boat ownership lol.
We would like your kind assistance in the sort of questions and information we should be asking prior to undertaking expense in surveying.
Our general considerations have been around taxes and country registration, mooring, maintenance, warranty issues, ongoing ownership costs.
The list is endless however you don't know what you don't know so any help you kind people can offer will be much appreciated.
We are planning on circumnavigating full time over the next decade and are looking to be out on the water in the next 4-6 months subject to this Covid fiasco.
Kind regards, family of 4 in cold dark Yorkshire...soon to be in warmer waters.

Interesting scenario Paul.

As as at least two previous posters have mentioned, the first question is whether you and your family will be seasick. No point even accepting a free boat until you find that out, particularly as you say you intend to make long ocean passages.

So, down to Hull or Scarborough you should go, for a nice family sail in the roughest weather you can find, on a boat between 40 and 60 feet perhaps?

If seasickness is a fact for even one family member what will you do? Perhaps a 6x6 expedition camper and overland travel? Or maybe a canal barge through the rivers and waterways of Europe? At least in a barge you will get the kind of space you seem to want with some of the freedom.

If your primary goal is to escape the impending Brave New World Order then perhaps offshore is your best bet, but how long can one stay away? As long as health and money hold out I suppose, but the return will be to what, with what? Swiss citizenship might be a better choice while you have the capital to obtain it.

The logical boat for a novice family heading offshore is the safest, strongest and most sea-kindly they can get. A steel (Corten) monohull and probably a twin-keeler to allow easy grounding. intentional and unintentional! There was mention on here of a very experienced off-shore sailor from the UK who had his steel monohull built with half inch thick bottom plates. Might as well put the ballast somewhere it will do some good! Watertight bulkheads are the next item on the list.

You need a ton of manual and mechanical skills and knowledge to survive independently for long periods, electrical skills as well. Do you have them? You can go "by guess and by golly" if you want, but all your eggs are in the one basket physically and financially. Do your wife and children have such skills, or at least the likelihood of developing them? The ocean is the last frontier in a sense and being afloat a thousand miles from anywhere is akin to being a homesteader a thousand miles from anywhere: you need all the skills and equipment for independent survival you can get. Not to mention the ability to think on your feet and improvise

Presumably you will have considered your children's ages, education, health, interests, inclinations and future needs and how to provide for those? Are they up for the rough and tumble, and more to the point, are you and your spouse? How well do they understand what you and your wife are considering? Do they want to go? Certainly, if they're too young to argue, you have to make the choice for them. Tough choice. What do the grandparents think about not seeing them for X number of years?

You've probably considered all these things, so please don't be insulted if I assume too much from your post!

Those huge saloons in cats seem so appealing in warm, sunny anchorages, but when one's family and finances have cast off together, I'd go for durability and survivability myself. The anchorages will be just as nice in a monohull and you'll sit on the hard when the tide goes out with no worries about cracking the glass or where to find that expensive haul-out.
Here's wishing you every success in the great adventure!

[Westcliffe01]

If Phil Collins couldn't obtain resident status in Switzerland, I doubt someone with a spare million has a chance....

Originally Posted by Tillikum

Interesting scenario Paul.

As long as health and money hold out I suppose, but the return will be to what, with what? Swiss citizenship might be a better choice while you have the capital to obtain it.

[McMaxie]

Originally Posted by Gary_T

I love these posts as they make me seem less crazy (which my family thinks I am)

Got five more years before I retire and have house paid off and kids no longer living at home. Plan is to sell up and buy a catamaran and the two of us sail the world. Basically stuck inside watching you-tube videos has awakened the dream. Did a bit of sailing as a teenager but none since - so really all I know is what port and starboard are and what a sail looks like. The plan for the next few years is to learn how to sail get experience make sure both of us are onboard with this before we make an "investment" (which is nowhere where $1,000,000 - more than likely a used 40'). Then once we've made the plunge use the Caribbean as a training ground before venturing to Pacific.

In the meantime absorb as much info as possible.

Exactly my plan. Best of luck. Perhaps we will meet in Caribbean in 6 years. 🙂

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by JamesPNW

A 62 feet cat for 4 is too roomy. .

You mean it is too roomy for you

Lagoon, FP or Leopard 50 or 52 Owner version would be plentiful.

Borderline at best for us, (2 and a cat)

Big boat is also much harder to find docking

Big boats don't necessarily need docking,
We haven't been in one in 4.5 years.

and manage by 4 inexperienced sailors

I'll give you that

Also the captain is expected to do everything on that 62ft

How so?
My wife and I share the responsibility around, its not all left to me.
I know plenty of people on 60+ fters and its the same for them as well.

[Dave Isom]

Greetings and welcome aboard, I’ll assume your post is genuine and you’re not another “armchair sailor.“ You’ve asked this forum for advice and I don’t wish to sound negative but....what you’re proposing is like a child saying “ I’m going to buy a Ferrari and drive it around England and back to Yorkshire !” Is that ok ? Have you ever been on a Sunreef 62 ? It’s a massive yacht, about the size of a tennis court.Its probably an ex charter boat and for a million bucks there will always be hundreds of boats for sale around the world. Have you been to Tahiti ? It’s surrounded by reefs and when the trade winds are piping it can “ blow a dog off a chain !” I’ve been sailing for 56 years and have sailed around the world, mostly solo and still I’d be nervous trying to handle a cat the size of the one you’re proposing to buy. Imagine parking it in a tight marina berth with the wind blowing 25 knots...oh boy ! Ok, if you’re serious here’s my suggestion. Firstly, find out where your nearest seaside port is where you can do a sailing course , maybe Whitby or Scarborough ? Do that basic training with more than one member of your family, ie your partner and a couple of your children. Buy a small production cruising boat of a well recognised brand which you can easily sell. Something under 30 feet is plenty big enough and take that out only when you are confident enough in mild weather to start or.....find an experienced person who can go with you. Learn how to reef a sail, heave to, ( vital to know) change a headsail or furl it, how to jibe safely, how to pick up a mooring when the wind is blowing, how to anchor,navigate, read tide tables ( learn the “ rule of twelfths” !) get your boat in an out of a marina berth, pull up to a wharf without damaging your or other people’s boats, how to BLEED YOUR DIESEL when you run out of fuel...and much , much more ! As you can see, the list is exhaustive. This can all be learnt but it will take time. Forget about your dream boat in Tahiti, it’s just an impractical fantasy for where you’re at presently. In cold, grey Covid ridden Yorkshire Tahiti seems like a paradise where you’d rather be. The reality is something very different. Start with the basics and become knowledgeable and gain some experience lest you do something rash and risk you and your family’s life, or put them off sailing for ever. Good luck and please heed the advice given by all in this forum.

[Uncle Bob]

My first reaction was, is it school holiday time, a bored teenager trapped in covid lockdown perhaps?
Still is.

[s/v michaela]

If you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you want a cat that big,,, I know of a beautiful 62' lagoon that will be for sale soon in San Diego. The owner traded up to new a 77'. Pm me for the owners contact info.