Hello from North Coast BC, Canada

[Murray]

Hello everyone

It all started a couple months ago when my wife said, "We should sell the house one day, buy a boat, and live aboard". Since then I've been googling my butt off, yet the 'big day' is at least 15 years in the future...

We're just learning what's available out there, and the endless possibilities are mind boggling to say the least! So far, cat's with daggerboards in the 35 to 40 foot range, or a Roberts Spray 400C (motorsailer) junk rig seem to appeal the most. How's that for narrowing down the choices

We have no experience sailing, but have spent a lot of time sea kayaking. Our biggest trip was spending 6 months along the coast of BC. We took 2 months going from Kitimat to Bella Bella from mid October to mid December, left our boats there until spring, then paddled to Vancouver on another 2 month leg. We got our kayaks back north, then took 2 months to paddle from Prince Rupert back to Kitimat during the fall months.

That was before the full time job, the mortgage, and our daughter.

Being able to beach our boat is an important thing for us...must be a hold-over from kayaking I guess. We intend to use our boat as a base camp from which to hike and photograph beaches, up rivers, creeks, and mountain ridges on BC's coast. We found so many amazing places in areas like the west side of Porcher Island on Hecate Strait, or around Cape Caution with small protected bays or pocket beaches that dry out at low tide. We want to find and explore more. That's not too much to ask of a boat, eh!?!

So, that's me. I've had enough of lurking and will be jumping into the fray from time to time. Thank's for having me aboard!!!

Murray

[Charlie]

Hi Murray:

Welcome aboard. My boat is currently in Sidney BC. We are hoping to go up to sail her in October. 20 years ago I decided I wanted to go sailing and then 12 years ago I got married but had a verbal prenup that we wuld go cruising. From there we just purchased our cruising boat last month. A Sceptre 41. Nice boat with room for 2 kids and parents. We hope to commuter cruise for a couple months each year for the next few years until we can take off for an extended trip.

Good luck with your plans. BTW you don't have to put the whole boat on the hard to get to shore . You can anchor her where the water stays under the keel and then take a dinghy or Kayak in to terra firma. Do you know anything about inflatable Kayaks. We would like to buy two two man infaltables but don't know where to start looking.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Murray,
Welcome aboard!! Hope you ask lots of questions and go out for a few sails before deciding on what boat you want to buy. Choice of a boat is a very personal thing and should meet the needs of the buyer. I always tell anyone who asks the same thing, 32-35 feet, fiberglass monohull, cutter rigged. Googling doesn't give you a feel for a boat as much as sailing one so find a marina and a club and see if you can hitch a ride.
Kind Regards, JohnL

[Murray]

Hi Charlie...congratulations on getting your Sceptre! October is a great time to see BC as you'll probably experience all kinds of weather conditions, and get to see why there's moss and ferns growing in the branches of the trees (hint - it just might rain a bit).

Sorry, but I don't know anything about inflatable kayaks.

About our plans to beach our boat...we don't want to be limited to just safe anchorages, but want to go back to and discover more nooks and crannies that are too small to be on the charts. As paddlers we discovered that charts are woefully inaccurate when it comes to shoreline details and beach compostion. This led to a couple squirrely landings (dumping surf onto car sized boulders when the chart showed gently inclined gravel...we had to sneak into the very corner, behind an outcropping of bedrock) but it also led to discovering some amazing beaches, coves, streams, and forests.

To venture into some of these spots, conditions will have to be perfect and we'll have to be prepared to stay if the weather turns ugly. Being stormbound for up to 5 days was common on our kayak trip and was no problem, as it gave me more time to photograph Obviously, this will be only possible when the tides are working in our favour.

Anyway's...that's the DREAM...we'll see how reality intrudes upon it...

Murray

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Murray,
Inflatable kayaks. The CMP used to use a model for river rescue. I've tried them out in the bay here in Hilo. Extremely sturdy and no too tippy. Just can't think of the name of it. Will let you know when I come up with a name. You might just talk with a Mounty next time you meet one.
Kind Regards, JohnL

[Murray]

Hi John...good advice.

We're about 15 years from selling the house to buy the boat...so by then we will have had a chance to get some experience. I'll be asking questions for sure! That's why I joined up with you folks here, as I gained quite a bit from lurking and following the links to sites I never would have found on my own.

Murray

[rsn48]

There are places in the world where having a significantly large sailboat that can be beached is an advantage; coastal BC is not one of them. The coast here is not conducive to beaching, especially on a new neap tide.

I would suggest you get some more experience on a sailboat before you "settle" on the "givens and druthers" of sailboat ownership. The one thing the chap who sailed the Catalina 27 around the world didn't like about his boat was the twin keel it had; into the voyage he realized he would have been better off with a standard deeper single keel.

[Canibul]

I think a company called Sevlor or similar makes inflatables with some degree of robustness. And the name Sea Eagle comes to mind, but I dont know if its Sevlors model name or a different company.

actually, I just got off my lazy metaphorical azz and looked it up.
Try
http://www.seaeagle.com/inflatable_k...ult.asp?nav=pl