Where To Start ? All The Good Cats Are In ...

[POH]

We've quit our jobs and committed to a Carib --> Panama --> Oz trip.

Now we need a boat (you may have seen my other threads on this!)

2nd week of September I'll be footloose in NYC and will head to Carib/Florida to start looking.

Without a specific boat locked in as top priority, where do you guys suggest should be my first destination?

Martinique? Ft. Lauderdale? BVI?

Don't want to spend a fortune traveling around, so also interested if anyone has a place to crash in those spots or needs/wants crew to move around Carib etc. (couchsurf is next best option). Also happy to just have a drink if any forum members think I should come to their neck of the woods.

[tamicatana]

FWIW, when I was looking, all the cats I liked were in France.

[POH]

Yeah - there look to be (and I keep hearing about) great deals in Europe.

Deal I made with the wife was one major ocean crossing - adding an Atlantic crossing on a) hurts the timeline we are hoping to have - really restricts time in the Carib and b) would not make for a happy admiral.

We looked into it, but it's Florida/Carib and best deal possible.

[Kettlewell]

The Internet is your friend--search, search, search, and do your preliminary work there. But, overall I think your best bet is Florida: lots of boats, lots of boats for sale, relatively cheap place to rent cars, drive around, stay, fix up the boat, get it ready, etc. Plus, then you have the Keys and then the Bahamas right there to do your shake down sails in. I personally find it tough to buy a boat and then immediately head off on it to Panama and then Oz. If possible, take at least a year to get the boat sorted and then go the next season. Once you leave the U.S.A. everything boat related becomes much more difficult and expensive to accomplish. Sure, it is possible to get gear flown into Panama and then installed, but it is much easier and cheaper in Florida.

[Sand crab]

South Florida is the center of the universe for cats and most likely all boats. The 2 biggest multi dealers are headquartered there and there are many other multis offered by the other brokers. And the BVIs are just a short jump if you want to go. What is your budget? I have 4 that have caught my eye.

[laforge24]

how is this site
Annonces Nautisme catamaran alu Toute la France - leboncoin.fr
maybe again far off, but I can help U crew it to the caribean, season correct!
traduction included

[laforge24]

or here
Tweedehands Zeegaande Kajuit catamarans, Second hand bridgedeck cabin catamarans
traduction included ! :-)

[Thumbs Up]

Eventually we will sell our Hitchhiker 40, we're in Rio Dulce now but will be in Panama this spring. This is the boat when it was still in South Africa:

Heads Explorer - YouTube

[simonmd]

Im on a mailing list for a company called The Catamaran Company and they always seem to have alot in the BVI......

Catamarans for sale

[barnakiel]

I would go to Florida. Plenty of choice there.

b.

[barnakiel]

BTW if you want to buy a cat in Australia then a friend of ours has one for sale there. PM me if you are interested.

b.

[karabil]

yachtworld.com
st martin has many, is central, and cheap to fly to from new york - use jet blue as cheap, direct and includes baggage.

[Kettlewell]

Keep in mind the issues around purchasing and registering the boat too. I'll assume you are Australian for the moment, which would mean you can't get U.S. Coast Guard Documentation on it, but you probably could still state register it someplace like Florida, which might be able to work as you sail around the world, but might not. You would likely have to pay sales tax in Florida to register it there. I'm not sure what it would take to put Aussy registration on a boat purchased in the U.S.A. or in the Caribbean. But, whatever it takes, you will need to get legitimate papers proving ownership, registration, etc., all in your name, or else you will run into all sorts of problems at every border you cross. The situation is probably different as to how to register/document it in each different country you might purchase it in. Something to research.

[snort]

The indispensable for brokerage + private listings:
http://www.boats.com/boats/search/search_form.html
and this one:
Sailboat Listings - sailboats for sale

Everything I like is floating somewhere on the Florida coast. Too bad I'm on the other side of the continent (at least as far as catamaran hunting is concerned).

[maxingout]

Some people get good buys on boats coming out of charter.

I always tell people to take a paper and pencil with them when they look at a used catamaran. Write down everything that needs to be fixed, changed, and upgraded for a sail to Australia. Add all that stuff in to the purchase price to figure what the real costs are.