Hello from Florida...for now.

[casiopea]

Hello Saltinies! Hailing from SoFla. I am a sailing instructor over the weekends and a banking guy over the week (guess what part of the week I am who I am). Anyhow, I am planning a trip around S. America and Carribbean begining of next week. I still don't have my own boat although I have been around boats for years now.

Does anybody want to greet a newcomer and give me good advise on how to approach my endeavours?

Been eyeing this forum for awhile but finally took the plunge.

Greetins all who have done what I seek to do!

Fair Wind All.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by casiopea

... Anyhow, I am planning a trip around S. America and Carribbean begining of next week. I still don't have my own boat although I have been around boats for years now...

An optimist?
I recommend that you get the boat, then depart on the trip - it’s easier sailing, than swimming.
Welcome aboard, and best of luck (finding a boat & planning then making the trip).
Gord

[Sunspot Baby]

Welcome aboard from the crew of Sunspot Baby.

George

[mickmul]

Welcome aboard from Ireland. Give us some more details - if you are a sailing instructor is this dinghies or larger boats, are you venturing forth alone or what crew size? Favour cat or mono? Full or fin keel, size, budget etc. You're in the best information sharing collective there is . . best of luck!!

[casiopea]

I have sailed around the Keys and the Bahamas (Abacos). I've skippered Morgans, Catalinas and C&Cs. So, monohulls upto 42' only. It's good you bring this up, GordMay, because I will be seriously in the market after say May or June...this I believe will give me about a good 6 to 8 months to get to know her and my crew before pushing off.

Mickmul, I am a US Sailing Certified Smallboat and Keelboat Instructor. I will be sailing with two buddies. Chosen because of their personalities rather than their sailing saavy. From my cruising experience this I have learned to be key. I plan to bring them up to speed in the months prior to departure. Our budget is around 40K. I know that there are usually good stability pluses to a full keel but fin is faster. We may go offshore quite far so stability is winning that race. Besides, we are taking a long time off to do this so there is no hurry. We are all in our early thirties.

All, thanks for the warm welcome.

Casiopea

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Casiopea,

"I know that there are usually good stability pluses to a full keel but fin is faster."

Fins are not necessarily faster unless you are pointing to the windward mark. Look at the discussion about full versus fin.

Sounds like you have a good plan and some time. I looked at your first post and you said next week so now I assume you'll be starting to plan next week?

Welcome aboard! Good to have you here at the forum of many opinions. Hope you can find the boat of your dreams and I'm the guy who always recommends no longer than 36 LOD. Make certain your shakedown cruises with your crew includes some moderate to heavy weather to sort out whether they become too ill to help.

Kind Regards,
JohnL

[casiopea]

Oh My! Nooooo, surely not next week! Next week I start my early vacation and I will begin to formulate a plan for my purchase (boat, electronics, EPIRB, communications, etc...). Looking for the best vendors and markets to procure all of these.

I imagine that this is the most tedious yet exciting moment. The itinerary thus far includes pretty much all islands of the Carribbean, South America, Easter, Galapagos, Isla Coco (Costa Rica), San Andres and Other islands scattered in the western carribbean. I guess the offshore passages will narrow down my choices of manufacturers. Any suggestions anyone?

Best,

Casiopea

[SkiprJohn]

Hinckley, Hans Christian, Allied - to start the conversation going. There's lots more but I'll give you those to start with.
JohnL

[casiopea]

Are there any particular years that I should be looking at (keeping my budget in mind) where I will get the most bang for my buck? Or alternately, are there any years where quality fell by the wayside and I should steer clear?

[scallywag]

Casiopea,
What a can of worms you opened. Some people swear by the pre 1980's oil crisis. There were changes in the way fiberglass was laid up. Some vessels ended up with water between the gel coat and the fiberglass. Some bottoms had to be sanded down and a barrier coat was applied. after a certain time period manufacturers pretty well solved the problem. My Allied Princess was less than 40K. I had to replace the thru hulls and seacocks which cost nearly 10k. I still have some work to do before she is sea worthy. Others on this forum will give you more advice. It might take a few days for them to check in.

John

[casiopea]

How about Js? I've sailed these and like them quite a bit. Just don't know how they would fare in the open ocean when passage making. Anybody???

Casiopea

[mickmul]

See if you can find a thread here started by annegibsonwaco . . . pretty much centres on a lot of what you need, and will save you waiting for responses. Should allow you to zone in and make better progress towards a purchase choice. . .

annegibsonwaco has started 2 threads - Goto:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...earchid=199575

[waterworldly]

After looking over all the ads and reviews and opinons on electronics, sails, anchors and such (there are tons, and like aholes, everybody has one), realized that with a used boat, you get lots of extra stuff (on more expensive models, the first owners always tend to buy every "I have it" item you can imagine), so you may want to wait, see what the boat you decide on has, and then sail it a bit before you are sucked in by all the commericals/advertisements/magazine articles for equipment you won't use or need. Beware of scare tactics (you MUST have this or you're going to DIE etc . . . ) Also, it seems that every piece of electronic wizardry they sell does 1000 different things, out of which only about 3 are practical.

[swagman]

Hi Casipea,
Your existing budget is going to be what first helps you compile a shortlist. Use it on one of the web based brokerage sites and get a list of what fits and is around 40 foot or less.
Then get around a see some of the models contained in that shortlist - and this should help you narrow the choice.
Then ask the question again on this site from those who have those models. We've all got opinions - but most of them from people who have not got the boat - and its people who have you should really listen to.
Then balance up all you've heard and go and get out for a sail on each model in the now the much shortened list.
And then you'll be much closer to making a better informed decision.

Do I choose boats this way? Of course not. But you should. Good luck
JOHN

[casiopea]

Mickmul, Waterworldly, Swagman, thanks for the advise. Will surely give the annegibsonwaco thread a try.
If truth be told. I do like Js, but the reason why I ask is because I went with a girlfriend to a tarot reader (don't ask how I got sucked into this) and the tarot reader said that I would be making a trip. A very long trip. She saw water (by now I was a tad bit impressed but given that this world's surface is mostly water this is a safe bet right?) and she said that the name of my companion began or, get this, ended with a J. My girlfriend was elated because her name was Jana, and I was thinking: Is that a Janneau or a J boat? Js start and end in J don't they? The guy was smart though, she was sooo happy that he gave him an extra shekel or two.

Casiopea