Scarlet,
(I started this reply yesterday, but got sidetracked....hopefully you find some of this helpful...)
I'm glad you enjoyed the
boat show...they can be fun!!
I hope you don't mind some constructive (but unsolicited) comments....
--- Please do yourselves the favor of not coming to conclusions yet!!
I realize this is probably just a turn-of-phrase, but I also wanted to assure you that having an open mind and NOT making snap judgments/conclusions after one
boat show, will give you a much better chance of choosing the
boat that is right for you and your application...
And, this just might be the first conclusion to come to, too soon...
Please understand that while we ALL wish we had more
money, the facts are that NOBODY needs every feature that is touted as
necessary in a boat, nor every accessory / gizmo / app / etc. that everyone at a boat show wants to sell ya'!!!
It can be easy to say, but hard for some to actually believe....especially since every magazine and many
internet sites also tout the latest and greatest...and the implication is that if you ignore all this "expert"
advice, you are surely doomed to die a slow painful death at sea!!
The truth is, you'll spend what you have / what you can afford.....so do NOT let all the fancy features and nifty systems pull you down the dreaded path of thinking you need "a LOT more money"!!
My first
cruise was as a kid with my parents, in the mid 1960's....and I've sailed and cruised (on/off) ever since, including multiple Atlantic crossings, etc., and I've made my living (between sailing/cruising) in
electronics the past 30 years...
So, about 10 years ago, I bought and equipped my
current boat according to my desires and application of long-range ocean cruising (see bottom of
posting for link to pictures, including some of my most recent Atlantic crossings), but understand that all of this isn't a necessity!!!
My parents started cruising (part-time at first) in the 1940's....and by the time they
sold their last boat in the mid 1990's, they had cruised/voyaged from the
Great Lakes, throughout
Florida and explored every nook 'n cranny in the
Bahamas and the entire
Caribbean (except for
Cuba and Jamaica), sailed across the Atlantic multiple times, cruised
England and
Scotland, the Orkneys and Heberdies, as well as
France,
Spain and
Portugal....and a few seasons cruising the
Med (prior to the end of the Cold War), including the of-the-beaten path locales, such as Yugoslavia,
Turkey, N.
Africa, etc. as well as the common locales like
Greek islands,
Spain,
France,
Italy, etc...
I can remember (when a teenager) being the ONLY Americans cruising the coasts of
Turkey....where I experienced some of the most wonderful people in the world....
{actually of all the places I've cruised over my life, my top cultures are
Bahamas,
Portugal (particularly the Azores), Spain (particularly the "coasta del sol" and the Canaries), Turkey, and ???? (the next 5 are all tied)...but I digress!!!}
I could ramble on, but my point is this:
In all their voyaging/cruising, in all those years/miles, they never had
GPS,
Chartplotter, nor computer.....no
internet, no sat
phone, etc....
NONE of that was even available / invented yet....
No
watermaker, etc....we just took on good
water where we could and we had NO issues...
(yeah, if you had the space/room for the 6' radome, and the
electrical power to run it, if you wanted a sat
phone, you could've spent > $10,000, in 1970's dollars, on an INMARSAT A terminal....and in their last decade or so,
GPS satellites were launched and some
GPS receivers were becoming affordable....but other than that, NONE of that was available...)
And, guess what we all survived just fine!!!
(Even some of the inexpensive stuff that some will tell 'ya is a necessity, usually aren't....as an example, and although I have 'em on-board now, I've sailed the Bahamas for decades without "Explorer's Charts", etc.)
The bottom line here:
If you really get down to it, what you need is this:
a) a boat and crew that keeps the water on the outside and mast/rigging pointing up...
b) a hi-quality, and deviated, steering compass...
c) a handful of some paper charts, and a wristwatch...
d) a decent supply of fresh water and/or a way to catch rain water...
e) enough money and/or an income, to "live" on
If you have the money / income for the above, you don't need much more....
Almost everything else is a "want" not a "need"....
If you look at my current boat and see where I've cruised, you may think that I'm the "pot calling the kettle black", but please understand that I'm NOT...
I'm just trying to impress on you that a truly wonderful, rewarding, and safe life can be had out cruising/voyaging WITHOUT having a lot of money, nor buying everything that "everyone" says is necessary....
Some of the stuff is nice to have, but isn't necessary...
The more you sail/cruise, and speak to those that did this in the days before GPS, etc. the more you'll grasp this...
I'm a
monohull sailor, and I openly disclose here that I think most cats are ugly....but that doesn't mean I can't be objective..Scarlet PLEASE forgive my bluntness and please do NOT take this the wrong way, but...
But, if the monohulls you went on (not sure which ones) had (in your experience) too much "motion in the ocean" right there at the boat show, at the
dock...it leaves me wondering if sailing is actually something that you both would enjoy??
Maybe I'm reading too much into your brief statement above (and if so, my apologies and please ignore the following), but boats do move around a lot...even at
anchor in a cove somewhere, you'll get some motion....and when at sea the ocean is not flat (at least not very often!).
I realize we all have our own personal preferences and we all experience things differently, and I know that monos and cats DO have different "motions", so I'm NOT being critical here, rather I'm just trying to impress on you the facts that all boats have motion, and until you get out and sail a few boats in your desired range (40' - 50'), both mono and cat, AND see how they lay at
anchor, etc. you will not be able to make any hard and fast decisions on which boats have the motion you desire and which don't make the cut...
(also be aware that SOME newer designs tend to sail around at anchor as well...but that's a whole 'nother discussion, for another time...)
While I wish you well in
Annapolis... In my opinion, you
MIGHT be better served by not going to the boat show, or even spending some of the money budgeted for the October Boat Show on SAILING....
Get out on the water this summer, anywhere and anyway you can....take day sail trips, sign up for
sailing lessons, befriend some single-hander at a local marina, etc....
I don't know where you are, what sailing there is nearby, nor what your current experiences are...but (in MY opinion) after the
Miami show, spending more time and money going to
Annapolis and not getting out sailing would be a waste!!!
Scarlet, sorry if I sound a bit "opinionated" (but I guess after 45 years on the water, sailing, and cruising on/off....ya' just get a bit "opinionated"
I understand that EVERYONE is different and EVERYONE has different desires/opinions, etc....
I just hope you find some of mine helpful.
Fair winds.
John
s/v Annie Laurie
More boat photos here...
http://www.c470.jerodisys.com/470pix/foto_bot.htm